Face of Nation : The University of Alaska could lay off more than 1,000 and cut dozens of programs, thanks to a dramatic slash in money it gets from the state – a 41% cut from a line-item veto by Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
University officials say the $130 million cut could prove disastrous for Alaska’s future, endangering local economies, school employees and rural programs for Alaska Native students. They have pleaded with the Legislature to override the veto in a vote Wednesday but say they have little hope that will happen.
Higher education observers have been watching the fight in Alaska closely. To some, the budget cuts represent an attack on the value of college.
On June 28, Dunleavy, a Republican, vetoed more than $400 million in items in Alaska’s budget, seeking to balance it. A third of the cuts came from higher education spending.
Alaskan oil production and worldwide oil prices have declined in recent years, so the state has used billions in savings to balance its budget. But it’s running out of money.
“Everyone can clearly see that the state of Alaska can no longer afford to continue down the path of oversized spending, outsized government, and out-of-line priorities,” Dunleavy said in a June 28 speech. “These are difficult times that require difficult decisions.”
At the University of Alaska’s Anchorage branch, Chancellor Cathy Sandeen predicts around 700 layoffs and 40 programs eliminated if the Legislature fails to override Dunleavy’s veto Wednesday. UAA employs 1,562 people and has 162 degree and certificate programs.
Higher education activists have warned the cuts could send Alaska’s brightest students out of state for college. UAA would try to keep programs tied with in-demand jobs, such as health care, business, engineering and aviation, Sandeen said.
“It’s clear that the voters and our elected officials want the university system to be smaller,” she said. “That’s our job if we don’t receive the override, is to figure out how do we maintain highest-quality, best level of access for our students within a smaller footprint.”
At the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Chancellor Dan White said the cuts would reach far beyond the classroom. While White said the campus’s leading Arctic research program would suffer, the biggest impacts could be to the role UAF plays in the local community.
Of the hundreds of millions of dollars the university spends each year, “most of that goes into the local community, in the form of salaries, property taxes, and contracts to businesses,” White said. “Not only do people value education for their kids and for themselves, they value the university for their business and the economy of the region.”
Fairbanks is Alaska’s third-largest city, yet its fairly isolated location is valuable for contact with rural Alaska Native populations.
