From the Wall Street Journal - "Tulane Announces Downsizing In Wake of Hurricane Katrina":
Battered by Hurricane Katrina, Tulane University announced a major downsizing that will eliminate the jobs of a third of its medical-school faculty, do away with 22 programs of study and suspend eight sports.
While this is understandable given the financial situation, this could be worrisome for the future of New Orleans. As I said earlier, how Tulane copes will be a leading indicator of the future.
But, there is a bright point in this story:
Because of changing health-care needs and the reduced population of New Orleans, university officials said they plan to downsize the medical school's clinical operations and put added emphasis on research and educational programs.
Keeping the research programs is key.
As the Wasington Post - "After Katrina, A Leaner Tulane" puts it:
Administrators say the long-term plan -- which will ultimately reduce the annual budget by $55 million -- is to create a stronger and leaner undergraduate school by focusing on strong programs in such areas as architecture, business, arts and sciences while jettisoning some engineering programs that were not as highly rated.
Tulane could come out of this as a stronger school - and one that can lead the nation in educational reform. That would be a positive for the future of the Big Easy.
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