Campus Budget
Chancellor Holub Addresses Students
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February 25, 2009
Dear UMass Amherst Students:
I've written to you several times over the last few months to try to keep you posted on the ongoing fiscal crisis here at UMass Amherst and how we as a university community are responding to it.
There has been speculation and assertions made about the budget plans that, frankly, aren't accurate. Today, I want to tell you what we know about the current budget situation, and to provide you with as many facts as I can. It is critically important that we as a university community communicate openly and honestly, and work together to face the serious challenges ahead. As you know, we've created a Budget Planning Task Force of faculty, students and staff to assist in this process and to make recommendations - and they have been hard at work discussing budget cuts, fee increases, reorganization plans, potential layoffs, and other issues tied to the upcoming budget year. I expect to receive additional recommendations from this group soon and will, of course, share with you my decisions on how we go forward.
We are also very closely monitoring the federal stimulus package, and have worked very hard with our federal delegation and now with state officials to ensure that UMass Amherst receives as much support from the stimulus plan as possible. Our goal is to use this funding to mitigate as much as possible the impact of our budget crisis on fees and to do all we can to avoid layoffs in our faculty and staff ranks. While we are pursuing all options, we also must recognize that the next fiscal year and beyond will bring exceptional challenges. In fact, in the next fiscal year, we are facing a budget deficit of $46 million. This deficit will require significant budget cuts, as well as, unfortunately, fee increases. No one likes raising fees, I certainly don't, but our current fiscal realities, and our commitment to maintaining the quality of a UMass Amherst education, make this unavoidable.
In the proposal for fee increases, we are doing all we can to mitigate the impact on students.
For undergraduate students, there are provisions to minimize the impact of the proposed fee increase - particularly for our students with the greatest financial need. The proposed fee increase of $1,500 a year is coupled with a new and enhanced package of financial aid. It will produce new financial aid funding of about $7 million - with roughly a third of the money raised by the fee going directly back to students.
In other areas, the impacts of fee increases have been overstated. For example, of the approximately 5,750 graduate students, 90 percent will not see any increase in their mandatory fees or tuition. This fact has been overlooked by many when discussing fee increases. The bottom line, so to speak, is that our proposal is to increase curriculum fees by $520 a year for full-time, in-state graduate students and $1,020 for full-time, out-of-state graduate students. Fewer than 600 of these students pay any tuition or curriculum fees.
Opponents of the fee increase aren't taking into account the fiscal realities. We're still facing serious budget cuts even with the fee increase, and disastrous cuts if we don't see this increase. For next fiscal year, even with the increase, we are likely to be forced to cut 50 faculty positions, 30 lecturers, and 150 teaching assistants, although we are hoping the stimulus funding will reduce or eliminate the need for these actions. These cuts would come with painful reductions in everything from student life programs to maintenance. Without the fee increase, things will be even bleaker.
Even in light of this, there are people who vehemently oppose any fee increases - even as we deal with the real impact of layoffs, cancelled classes and curtailed programs that such a cut will bring to our campus. Opponents of a fee increase speak passionately of the harm that such increases will do. I understand that view, and join these people in not wanting to raise the costs of an education. But where we part company is in what we are willing to do to achieve that goal. I stand with those students, faculty, and staff who have urged me to do all I can to defend and protect the quality of the education that we offer. I agree with them that doing grave damage to our institution in this time of great economic uncertainty is the wrong answer now, and the wrong answer for students and for our future.
Those advocating no fee increase haven't offered a viable alternative to massive cuts that would destroy the quality of our campus. The only "solution" they offer is that we should all advocate harder for state dollars, but that strategy is not apt to be successful in our current economic climate. But I do agree we must fight for our campus, and we must make every effort to gain support. I encourage those of you who love UMass Amherst and value your education to get in touch with your state and federal representatives and urge them to support UMass. And I encourage you to talk to others on campus that oppose the fee increase, and urge them to take a more reasoned approach to the reality we face.
Personally, I do not want to see a large increase in fees; I agree philosophically that the University is a public good and should be better supported by the citizens of the Commonwealth. But I also have to face the reality of our economic crisis, while at the same time trying to preserve the quality educational experience that our students want and deserve.
Please join me in saving quality education on the Amherst campus. Thank you for your help.
Chancellor Robert C. Holub
