Today University of New Orleans (UNO) officials presented the school’s budget plan before the Louisiana State University System (LSUS) Board of Supervisors, the governing body for the state’s universities, as UNO faces $14 million in cuts with the 2011 fiscal year (beginning July 2011) — when its share of federal stimulus dollars run out.

UNO will aim for a leaner, more efficient and nimble university, retaining programs and departments determined by three criteria: economic interest and viability to the city and region, student demand and interest, and reputation. Programs of interest to the university include its jazz, hotel and tourism administration and engineering studies. (Download UNO’s budget presentation here.)

UNO Chancellor Timothy Ryan sent this letter to the school’s community earlier this month:

“… This plan is a serious restructuring plan for the University of New Orleans that much thought has gone into. It is not an attempt to make a few cuts around the edges and continue to do the same things we have always done at a reduced level. UNO has always provided a terrific education to a large number of students at a low cost. Our restructuring, as presented in this plan, will require that we focus on academic areas that have high student demand, have the maximum economic impact, and that have achieved high levels of distinction.

Second, be assured that we will take care of our existing students. If a program that you are majoring in is on the list of programs to be eliminated, we will make sure that you are accommodated. We will facilitate transfer to other, closely related programs. Our faculty will work with those of you who are very close to your degree to get the necessary credits to graduate in that field. You are all UNO students and we want you to graduate from UNO. If all else fails, we will work with you to transfer to another university if that is what it takes to serve you. We will do what it takes!

Third, the programs that will be retained reflect a complex matrix of student demand, program costs, and academic reputation. Those programs that are being discontinued are not bad programs. We have no bad academic programs at UNO. If you are a faculty member in one of these programs, this action is not a reflection on your quality or of the quality of the program. It is simply a reflection of the very difficult economic times we are in and the tough choices that need to be made in order for UNO to prosper.

Finally, don’t let the fact that we have prepared this plan lead you to believe that we have stopped fighting for you, our students, our staff, and our faculty. Nothing could be further from the truth. I will continue to fight as hard as I can for adequate funding for the University of New Orleans as long as I am alive.

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The Roots of Music are getting a boost from Hollywood next weekend. Actor Tim Robbins hosts a fundraiser for the music program 9 p.m. Saturday, May 29 at Republic (829 S. Peters St.). Performers include Ani DiFranco with Jon Cleary, and Robbins will perform with members of the Preservation Hall Band. The Roots of Music Marching Crusaders will also take the stage with Rebirth Brass Band. (Roots of Music founder Derrick Tabb is the band’s snare drummer.)

(Photo by Cheryl Gerber)

CNN, which featured Tabb as a CNN Hero last year, will film the event and the program throughout the day as it rehearses in the afternoon before the show.

Tickets to the event are $25 general admission (buy ‘em here; they’re listed under Ani DiFranco). VIP tickets are $125 and include an open bar from 9 p.m. to midnight and a cocktail hour from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. with hors d’oeuvres from Capdeville.

Read more about Roots of Music in this Gambit cover story.

The law of unintended consequences is immutable, and it has an equally immutable corollary that could be called the law of collateral damages. Both can be summed up by the old adage, Be careful what you wish for — you may get it. I’ve learned to watch for both when people talk about “reform.”

Here’s a prime example both laws at work: The fate of nearly 600 former (now retired) Orleans Parish public school employees — mostly teachers — who lost their jobs after the state takeover of New Orleans’ failed public schools after Hurricane Katrina.

In the rush to reform public education after Katrina, the state allowed the newly created Recovery School District (RSD) to take over 83 percent of the city’s public schools, all of which were identified as “failed” schools. In taking over those schools, the RSD also took control of the local and state money allocated to those schools — based on enrollment at each school.

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(Above quote from Ryan Bascle, University of New Orleans student and Save UNO Coalition member, addressing the UNO community.)

Hundreds of students, faculty, staff and other members of the University of New Orleans community held a mock jazz funeral for the school this afternoon — a tongue-in-cheek protest to rally against the school’s immense budget cuts, and a call to the community to fight against them and more looming cuts expected in the next fiscal year.

Hit the jump for two more video clips of the protest.

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Screenshot taken from this Craigslist Ad

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In this economy, the desperate search for jobs can lead people pretty much to do anything. More and more, recent college graduates are seeing the job market get smaller and smaller and are more likely than not working in the service industry or some other field that’s not related to their major and making far less money than they would have say, ten years ago.

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The problems are many and diverse, so much so that, in such a troubled economy, people have found a way to make money off of all those unemployed kids sitting on their parents’ couch. The whole idea of spending six figures on a tuition when you’d be incurring that debt for years to come has to weigh on the minds of many a college student (even the wealthy ones), and fill them with (at worst) crippling anxiety and (at best) the desperate urge to succeed where so many others have failed.

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Or as a student at Tulane or Loyola, you could circumvent your education and just put an ad on Craigslist offering $200 for a 30 page accounting term paper (not including sources) and completely lose the sympathy of any and all people (including fellow students) working hard to pay off debts or string enough freelance part-time jobs together to pay the rent. (Context: One could make more writing a 1,000-word feature story than doing this).