Professors question security funding

President William Brody addressed faculty concerns regarding the effect of new security costs on Homewood school budgets at a faculty assembly meeting held last Tuesday. Brody pledged at the meeting that costs would be spread across the University's divisions.

In an e-mail to the student body immediately after the death of Linda Trinh, Brody wrote that he and the deans of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences (KSAS) and the Whiting School of Engineering (WSE) had pledged an initial $2 million from their budgets towards security.

However, some faculty members balked at the notion that these two schools should pay for the costs alone.

"There was concern that other divisions of the University that have a stake in Homewood would not be contributing," said classics professor Matthew Roller, who is also the chair of the steering committee for the faculty assembly. "The main concern of the Homewood assembly was that the financial burden be distributed in a more egalitarian manner," he said.

"The impression was that the Arts and Sciences and Engineering schools would bare the burden," said Near Eastern Studies Department Chair Raymond Westbrook. "We're certainly more comfortable now, but we'll have to monitor the situation."

Roller emphasized that there was no disagreement about whether or not more money was needed for security, only on from where it should come.

"There is no question that money needs to be spent," he said.

The budgetary issue was added to the agenda at the faculty assembly meeting, where Brody assuaged some concerns by promising that a portion of the money for security would come from the president's discretionary fund and other divisions, such as the School of Professional Studies and Business Education (SPSBE). He did not give precise numbers at the meeting.

Executive Assistant to the President Jerry Schnydman saidthat approximately $450,000 for upfront investments would come from the discretionary fund.

"The general impression is that a fair allocation has been worked out among the schools and the central administration," said Dean of Undergraduate Education Paula Burger.

Senior Vice-President for Finance and Administration James McGill declined to say exactly how much other divisions would be contributing, saying that budgets would not be finalized for months.

However, Schnydman did say that he did not see why other campuses, which pay for their own extensive security, should have to contribute large amounts towards Homewood security. He added that he had not heard a word from faculty regarding this subject, and that the faculty assembly meeting was effectively a "non-event".

KSAS and WSE faculty argued that students from many other divisions, including the Medical School, School of Public Health and SPSBE use the Homewood facilities on a regular basis. SPSBE holds classes on Homewood. Faculty, staff and students from other schools often exercise in the Recreation Center. In addition, many students from those schools live in Charles Village and will likely benefit from security improvements in the neighborhood.

Part of the issue stems from the financial system through which the university is run. As opposed to many other universities where all revenue is distributed through a central administrative office, at Hopkins each school collects and spends its own revenue, paying a "tax" to the central administration to keep the university running.

"The schools are independent. It's every cup on its own bottom," explained Roller.

Some believe that this system leaves schools that are less like likely to attract large research grants and gifts, like Arts and Sciences, at a disadvantage, and that these schools should receive more support from other parts of the university.

"In an ideal world, it would be nicer if a poor humanities department would be supported by richer departments. But one has to be realistic," said Westbrook.

Many faculty members feel that as the center of the university, the Homewood schools are vital to the standing of the university as a whole.

"The reputation of the Arts and Sciences and Engineering schools play a crucial part in the reputation of the university as a whole," said history professor Judith Walkowitz. "That's the reigning way of thinking in academia."

McGill, who runs the university's finances, said that Hopkins has been using this system for quite some time and he believes it works very well.

Physics Department Chairman Jonathan Bagger, who was in attendance at the faculty assembly meeting, believes that the current financial system has unresolved issues.

"I would say it's a huge problem, the decentralized nature of Hopkins," he said. "It's a huge problem for the Homewood schools."

"The long term solution to this is to be raising more money to support the Homewood schools," said Bagger.