Singing the Budget Cut Blues

As a public-private institution, my University receives a significant portion of its funding from the local government (in addition to grants and funding from the Federal government).  Unfortunately, our local government is pretty much incapable of managing its funds, so all the government agencies and public-private institutes (like the University) are feeling the squeeze.

This time around, although our Senate is claiming that it will restore the 8% it claimed in salary reductions for all government employees beginning in 2010, simultaneously, it is proposing to make an across-the-bard 5% budget cut.  For our University, this means that all open positions are frozen, faculty on short-term contracts (including me) must be defended by their respective department chairs and college deans, class sizes may be increased, and a number of other uncomfortable measures may be implemented.

Why am I writing about this?  Because, ultimately, my concern is my students.  Government cuts affect me, absolutely, but they also affect my students.  Larger class sizes mean: 1) Teachers are more stressed, 2) teachers cannot spend as much individual time with students or on assignments, and 3) students begin to feel lost in the mix.  Larger class sizes and overload (teaching more than 12 credits per semester) also cut into whatever personal and family time professors have left.  Professors are also heavily pressured to complete significant research, to attend conferences, and to present their research--although the University has a paltry amount of funding dedicated to funding those endeavors.  There are absolutely no funds for faculty to take significant time in order to complete research, unless they write or apply for grants themselves (but they still have to give credit to the University, even though it didn't give them any support in the process).

The end result is, inevitably, unhappy, stressed out professors.  These, in turn, lead to discontent students suffering from lower quality instruction.  How do we combat these inevitable outcomes?