The Massachusetts State House
Photo credit: James Trosh
Over the past few weeks, Chancellor Robert C. Holub has continued to email the campus community with updates on the budget crisis. His latest news is Governor Deval Patrick’s proposed allocation of $81.6 million in federal stimulus money to the UMass system in fiscal year 2010.
If the plan is approved, approximately half of that amount would come to the Amherst campus, easing the impact of the current $46 million budget deficit. The final budget for the stimulus money will not be determined until later this summer, but Holub has outlined in his emails the effect that the stimulus money would have on the campus if the budget proposal is approved.
Holub hopes that the stimulus money will mitigate “the elimination of 80 full-time positions, 160 part-time teaching assistant positions, more than 100 staff positions and a variety of reductions to operations and campus life” that the current budget deficit would necessitate. He has also stated his intent to “lessen the impact” of the $1500 student fee increase recently passed by the Board of Trustees. The hefty increase has outraged many students, but possible rebates could lower the increase by as much as $1100.
However, Holub also stated that he plans to go forward with his planned reorganization of the university’s colleges, as he believes that it will ultimately be beneficial to the campus regardless of the possible influx of federal funds.
Patrick announced his plans for the stimulus money at UMass Boston on March 24. Holub also spoke at this event, both on the merits of UMass Amherst and on the impact that the current budget crisis could have on the university. The speech, which was e-mailed to the campus community, toted UMass Amherst as the only public campus in the state with the designation “very high research activity” from the Carnegie Foundation and as 18th amongst 50 leading colleges in the nation with regard to “return on investment.”
Although Holub says that government officials have been adamant that the stimulus money is not to be counted upon as a solution to the budget crisis, Holub believes that it would greatly ease the pressure caused by the sudden drop in funding from the state announced this January. To promote the governor’s proposed allocation of the stimulus money, Holub is launching an advocacy effort by encouraging parents of students and alumni to voice their support for the plan to their state senators and representatives.
