The Budget/Elimination Crisis of 2011

In 2011, with the state of Nevada facing a massive budget shortfall, the Governor proposed a drastic cut in funding for higher education. In an attempt to accommodate this funding cut, UNLV administrators proposed the elimination of various departments and programs in a series of "vertical" cuts. The UNLV Philosophy Dept. was one of the programs put on the chopping block. But with the help of the APA, the Leiter Reports, and the local and national media, we mobilized both the academic and non-academic communities, and showed the administration, the NSHE Regents, and the state Legislators the absurdity of the idea of a university without a Philosophy Dept. Below are some links to more information about this crisis and the Dept.'s struggle against elimination.

 

Crisis Information & Responses:

Click here to view the Leiter Reports' discussion of UNLV's proposal to eliminate the entire Philosophy Dept. and major/minor. (Includes contact info for all the Regents of UNLV)

Click here to read the American Philosophical Association letter, urging all members to contact UNLV's President, Provost and Dean of Liberal Arts, charging them to reconsider the proposed elimination of Philosophy at UNLV.

Click here to read the American Philosophical Association letter to the NSHE Regents, urging them to stop the proposed elimination of Philosophy at UNLV.

Click here to read Todd Jones's Boston Review article, "Budgetary Hemlock," about the importance of philosophy in higher education and the costs to society of eliminating it.

Click here to hear Bill Ramsey interviewed on KNPR's "State of Nevada", about the importance of philosophy in higher education and the devastation that eliminating programs would cause at UNLV.

Jessalynn Strauss's article, "Got Philosophy?" supporting the Dept in Vegas Seven Magazine

Greg Blake Miller's article, "In Praise of Sneaky Irrelevance," supporting Philosophy in Vegas Seven Magazine

J. Patrick Coolican's article, "Philosophy has shaped civilization, yet UNLV plan would cut it," in the Las Vegas Sun

Mayor Oscar Goodman's statement supporting the Philosophy Dept. in the Las Vegas Sun

A list of contact information for most of the Nevada State Legislators.

A hopeful April 2011 update on the status of the Philosophy Dept. at UNLV.