Fall semester at UNLV brings mix of optimism, concern

By Erin Dostal

Monday, Aug. 23, 2010 | 6:36 p.m.

UNLV’s campus was abuzz with a mix of excitement and anxiety during the school’s first day of classes Monday, with students buying books and lining up in droves to buy Starbucks coffee before their classes.

Many students and professors entered the school year feeling uneasy after state budget cuts slashed the school’s budget by millions of dollars, prompting layoffs and program cancellations.

“I work for the student union, and we’re one of the few departments that’s bringing in money,” said 21-year-old Matt Kimball, a junior studying theater, political science and journalism. “Yes, I’m definitely concerned.”

Kimball said he usually worked 20 hours each week at the union, but his hours were cut to about eight per week. It’s something he blames, in part, on state budget cuts.

UNLV professor Jeff Waddoups, who teaches statistics and labor economics, said the College of Business had seen cuts and layoffs in the past year.

“We’re teaching bigger classes,” he said. “They’ve changed the way we do our work.”

Waddoups, who has been teaching at UNLV for more than 20 years, said classes that used to have 60 students now have up to 270 students.

“Our benefits have been cut, so we’re kind of wondering how that will work out,” he said.

Despite the cuts and apprehension, Waddoups said he was excited to have the students back after being on campus without them all summer.

“It’s great. I love the electricity in the air,” he said, smiling while sitting at a picnic table with a colleague outside the student union.

Kathy Webb, 48, a junior studying sociology, said she was excited to get back into classes. Webb, a mother of four grown children, said she decided to go back to college to advance her career.

“I’m just excited to be back on campus,” she said, perched in front of a computer at Lied Library. “I love to learn.”

Webb said that being a non-traditional student wasn’t as strange as she thought it might be. She said there are several students at UNLV like her, and that her previously work experience often works to her advantage.

“I can relate to the teachers,” she said. “Even the traditional students are glad I’m there because I ask questions.”

Sheranda King, 18, a freshman from Las Vegas, said she felt “empowered” to be on a big campus on her first day of college classes.

“It’s like a new beginning, starting over,” she said, sitting on shaded steps north of UNLV’s student union.

King said she chose to major in psychology after budget cuts prompted the university to get rid of her intended undergraduate program, marriage and family therapy.

The freshman was unfazed and optimistic, saying she still might go into special education or other careers after graduating.

Students currently enrolled in the marriage and family therapy program – as well as students in other eliminated programs – will be allowed to finish, but UNLV isn’t admitting new students to those programs, UNLV spokesman Dave Tonelli said.

Ana Marrero, 36, was handing out planners, sports schedules, maps and bottles of water from a tent as part of UNLV’s Welcome Week.

Marrero, who is earning her doctorate in education, said her tent had been busy all morning. The group had handed out 10 boxes of planners and 20 cases of bottled water, she said.

“It’s weird because last week was the end of summer, so you saw maybe two people on campus,” she said. “Now, you see the hustle and bustle.”

Handing out information at a booth near the Lied Library on campus was Mattie Goins, a 26-year-old staff member with the University Christian Fellowship.

A 2006 alumna of UNLV, Goins said there used to be more student groups actively recruiting while using booths on campus. Now, she said, there are only a few.

“It made it more exciting,” she said, gesturing to the area around her booth. “We’re slightly dead, with no other groups or organizations.”

Goins said she wasn’t sure why the change occurred, but said her booth, which featured an interactive art project for passers-by, had gotten significant foot traffic during the morning.

Tonelli said official enrollment numbers for the year won’t be available until December, after all students have completed registering for and dropping classes. He said early indications show enrollment will be about the same or slightly lower than what it was for the 2009-2010 school year.

Even so, he said the campus seemed busier than usual on the first day of class.

“Students everywhere you turn,” he said. “It’s a very nice moment for us after a summer were we’re really desolate.”

Tonelli said although budget cuts have students concerned, the situation didn’t put a damper on students’ return to the university.

“Underneath it all, we’re in a situation where we’ve sustained cuts and we may have more … I think it’s below the surface,” he said. “When you look at all the fresh faces, that’s very exciting.”