Cal State University Northridge (CSUN)
CSUN Withholds Deaf Center Funding: Forces 'Successful' Deaf Center Director to 'Quit' and Take The Blame For CSUN Administrations Lack of Fiscal Responsibility Cleary can't come up with funds to support successful NCOD program...
March 20, 1990 Originally Published
By JOEL ANDERSON, Daily Sundial
Dr. Victor H. Galloway who resigned as Director of CSUN's National Center of Deafness March 6, said Sunday there was nothing he could do to prevent the financial problems the center encountered.
Galloway, who is deaf, said that NCOD experienced greater success this semester than anticipated, thus requiring additional funding which it did not receive. That, plus the continuing shortage of interpreters led to the center exhausting its budget and running out of money. His resignation was allegedly a mutual agreement between himself and the university, but that was according to the administration. According to Galloway he was falsely accused of financially mismanaging the program and fired in order to save face for the administration which failed to find resources for the program Galloway had turned into a phenomenal success.
"The university's concern was that I did not catch that problem soon enough for the university to be able to handle it," said Galloway, who came to CSUN Aug. 1, 1986. "They called it a fiscal mismanagement and I know in my 20 years as an administrator that the buck stops at the head's desk. I have to expect that. If I was in the top position similar to Cleary's, I probably would have taken the same action."
CSUN Administration holds Galloway 'accountable' for creating 'successful' program, but refuses to fund 'success' instead passes the buck and blames Galloway...
Galloway said that he did not mismanage funds and there was no way he could have forseen the financial problems NCOD encountered. As the situation developed, he knew he would be held accountable for problems the center had.
"In the middle of November (1989), we first realized the cost of notetaking had increased sharply," Galloway said. "At that time, the interpreting cost was increasing at a normal rate but the cost of notetaking and tutoring really caught our attention."
Galloway said that because the quality of notetakers and tutors had improved, the demand for them rose dramatically.
"At that time we had 217 students for the Fall semester," he said. "Every year since the beginning of the support services, the number of students always dropped from fall to spring semester. So we thought perhaps we'd be alright. But much to our surprise, the number actually increased for the first time in history to a record-high 227."
"I am confident that the administration is scrambling like mad to find a way to continue to support services that the deaf students need and deserve."
The result of the increased enrollment was both good and bad. To Galloway, he said it showed that the center was doing its job well -- perhaps too well. The average grade point average had risen, but so did the cost of supporting the needed services.
"I started to see that problem early in February. then I started running around to see if there was any way we could change the funding formula," Galloway said. He added that of the other 19 California State University campuses, 18 have a various number of number of deaf students and are funded through the Office of Disabled Students, CSUN, though, cannot claim that because all its funding is done through NCOD -- whose level has remained the same since 1984-85.
"I learned in February that the only way we can change the funding level was to submit what they call, 'program change plans,'" Galloway said. "At the time I said we're not changing the program at all, we just need money for increased numbers of students. And I was informed that any significant increase in the number of students can be considered a program change. Eureka. But it's too late now."
The plans must be submitted and then, according to Galloway, will take effect in 1992. It does not, however, alleviate any problems that NCOD may face in 1991.
The nearly $1.2 million annual budget NCOD operates on is composed of state and federal funding. However, with the increase in student services and state funding having remained the same for the past seven years, federal funding ($700,000) cannot support NCOD alone.
"A lot of the money from the state was for staff," Galloway said. "In the beginning we had $238,000 for direct services and it's remained the same all those years over the same period of time. The cost of adjustments for support staff has increased about 38 percent -- that had to come out of that $238,000 allotment and also there's been an increasing university tax that also had to come out of the support service money. This year we were hit with 153 percent increase in the university tax. We had to take $29,000 from that allotment."We we're doing our job so well that the demands for services had increased," he said. "The demand simply outstripped the available supply."
Galloway said a focal point he sees as a problem is in the title, "National Center on Deafness," NCOD is recognized as one of the leading institutions for deaf studies and the foremost on the west coast.
Administration likes 'National" recognition but won't fund it...
But Galloway said using the word "National" leads people to believe it receives a large portion of national funding like the two other deaf institutions -- Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. and National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) in Rochester, N.Y. However NCOD does not receive the same amount as the two institutions on the east coast and operates with a much smaller staff.
"Because of the name, 'National Center on Deafness,' I was really forced to spread myself thin," Galloway said, adding that he didn't know where the title came from. "We get calls and letters from all over the country asking for information. With a variety of research programs and so on with a very limited staff, I had limited funds also."
Comparatively, Gallaudet and NTID both have a mandate from Congress to provide leadership in the area of deafness -- nationally and internationally. Galloway, who has worked at both Gallaudet and NTID and also as the Superintendent of Schools for the Deaf in Austin, Texas and Pennsylvania, said NCOD does not have that kind of mandate from the outside.
"I understand that they decided on this name because they had students from all over the country. But really, we don't have the funds to operate as a national center," he said.
Galloway said the NCOD had been working on different types of positions that would provide the benefits and have opened five new interpreter positions so deaf students could continue their studies and not get silenced midstream.
Cleary kicks the "top dog"...
Galloway, who graduated from CSUN in 1965 and used the services of an interpreter, said there is no doubt interpreters are a valuable commodity and deserve the benefits. CSUN has not been able to retain many of its interpreters and others suffer from Carpaltunnel Syndrome -- a pain and tingling sensation in the fingers, hands and sometimes elbow -- due to overwork. He said there are presently 85 interpreters at NCOD but there have been as many as 125 in the past.
"Everytime a corporation gets into trouble, they kick-off the top dog," he said. "Having been in administration all those years, I have to look at it professionally. I am confident that the administration is scrambling like mad to find a way to continue to support services that the deaf students need and deserve."
Galloway said ironically that lately some students have had to go on without interpreters, but it was due to lakc of interpreters, not money. "You cannot stop services at any college and university in the country. They know that," he said, citing section 504, the amendment to the Rehabilitation Act against disabled individuals by companies or educational institutions receiving more than $25,000 from the Federal Government.
"So the communication services at NCOD couldn't say we're out of money," he said. "They have to continue to provide the services and there's money through the end of this month. They are looking for money to continue beyond April 1."
Editor's Note: CSUN President James W. Cleary poured countless hundreds of hours (and millions of CSUN dollars) into his 'dream' that CSUN house a top sports program to one day participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. His efforts failed miserably, losing many millions of precious dollars over a long period of time. Mismanagement ? Fiscally Responsible ?
In 2001, CSUN President Jolene Koester dumped the football program, which was costing the campus $1 million a year but only bringing in $26,000 in gate receipts.
And Cleary's dream ? His dream of developing 100 acres of CSUN's north campus (site of the famous 'Newport '69 Pop Festival featuring Guitar great Jimi Hendrix) to include a hotel, stadium and student housing collapsed under harsh criticism from neighbors.
"...there are things wrong with higher education; why not seize the opportunity to solve them?" -- James W. Cleary
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