UN State Museum to Cut Research

[Scott L. Gardner]

From:  Scott Lyell Gardner,  Ph.D.
         Curator of Parasitology
         H.W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology



Dear Colleagues:

To deal with the massive budgetary crisis in the State of Nebraska,
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is scheduled for another round of
extreme budget reductions this spring. On March 10, 2003, Harvey
Perlman, Chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln announced
that the Research Divisions in the University of Nebraska State Museum
(UNSM) will be closed.  Staff (including collection managers) will be
employed until June 30, 2003 and faculty have one year from the time
of receipt of the termination letter (expected this week) to find
other employment.

The elimination of this major center is another major blow to global
research in systematics and taxonomy and highlighting the continuing trend
of institutions world-wide to decrease emphasis on basic research in
taxonomy and biodiversity.  With this one myopic move, hundreds
of years of taxonomic and systematic expertise is being
deleted from the ranks of practicing taxonomists.  Parasitology, vertebrate
paleontology, mammalogy, entomology, and botany are being decimated
as is the public program section in the Museum.

Included in this deletion of the State Museum is the Harold W. Manter
Laboratory of Parasitology, which is maintained within the Division of
Parasitology in the UNSM.  The HWML has very active programs in
parasite systematics, taxonomy, and biodiversity with world-wide
scope.  The lab currently has a full time curator, collection manager,
one full-time externally funded curatorial assistant, several National
Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduate (R.E.U.)
students, and graduate students.

>From what we know now, both state funded positions (curator and
collection manager) in the HWML are slated to be eliminated if the
budget proposals put forth by the UN-L administration are accepted.
Of course this will also adversely affect the graduate and
undergraduate program in the lab.

In an e-mail letter on March 10,2003 to the faculty, students, and
staff of the University of Nebraska, Dr. Perlman made the following
proposal. "1.  Eliminate the Research Divisions of the State Museum
and Master's degree in Museum Studies ($1,103,614) (Eliminate eight
tenured faculty positions, 12 managerial/professional positions and
two clerical/technical/service positions) Eliminate the research
divisions of the State Museum and the Master's program in Museum
Studies. The Museum would cease to have a research faculty, and eight
tenured positions would be eliminated.  The Museum would continue to
maintain collections of particular distinction or Nebraska importance,
including Vertebrate Paleontology, Invertebrate Paleontology,
Parasitology, Botany, and Entomology; these collections would continue
to be available to support teaching and research by university faculty
and others. Collections that will no longer be a focus for the Museum
would be transferred responsibly to other museums through
deaccessioning, long-term loan, or outright transfer. Some tenured
Museum faculty may be re-employed in academic departments. The
Master's program in Museum Studies will no longer be available."  See:
http://www.unl.edu/pr/chancllr/2003-5budget/

Please be advised that we will know more about the actual consequences
of the program reductions around or on April 15th, 2003.  So, for
those of you with specimens out on loan from the HWML, I encourage you
to expedite your studies of the specimens, as the loans may need to
recalled after the middle of April.

I fully expect that I will put together a plan to allow the HWML to
continue operations, but will advise the systematics community of the
status of the lab on or around April 15, 2003.

Please send any comments or letters to:

The Academic Planning committee
c/o Dr. William Splinter, Interim Director
The University of Nebraska State Museum
307 Morrill Hall
The University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0338
e-mail:  wsplinte at UNLNOTES.UNL.EDU


Thank you.


Scott


<_<_<_<_<_<_<_<_<_<_>_>_>_>_>_>_>_>_>_>_>_>_>_>

       "People love conserving the hot and furries,
       but they don't like conserving the wet and slimies."

Scott Lyell Gardner, Ph.D.
Curator of Parasitology
Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology
W-529 Nebraska Hall
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0514

Tel:  402-472-3334
Fax: 402-472-8949
E-mail: slg at unl.edu
http://hwml.unl.edu
http://lamarck.unl.edu/woodrat
http://asp.unl.edu
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