Spring Break
Oregon schools not alone; UW also faces cuts, tuition increase
UW to lose men's and women's swimming teams, see a 14 percent increase in tuition
Kate Welter
Issue date: 5/11/09 Section: News
The University of Washington, like OSU, is facing the startling effects of the nation's recessive economy as it looks to cut a significant amount of the school's budget for the next two academic years.
On April 28, UW President Mark Emmert announced to the public that the State Legislature passed a biennial budget through House Bill 2344. The bill reduces state funding to Washington's six public, four-year universities. The UW will be taking a 26 percent, or $214 million cut, the largest in all of higher education in the state.
"Beginning July 1, one-quarter of our funding from the state will no longer exist. It is unprecedented in state history, and as far as we know, it is by far the largest reduction in state support to a flagship university by any state in the nation," Emmert stated in his online university blog.
The amount of cuts in the budget that is proposed for higher education in Washington is the second highest for any state in the country, coming in right behind Nevada.
Due to this large reduction in state federal funding, the university faces no choice but to increase its resident undergraduate tuition by 14 percent, or $875 for the 2009 to 2011 school years.
"The impacts of the state's budget cuts will be felt across our university community. A large percentage of our operating expenses involve people and jobs, and taking cuts of this magnitude without affecting jobs would be impossible," Emmert said.
The university is stressing that it will do all that it can to give a minimum 60 day notice to those 600 to 800 staff members who will be losing their jobs. The types of jobs that the university will try to focus on cutting will be in the area of administrative and support units rather than academic units.
The university will be presenting the budget to the Board of Regents in the middle of this month. The board is the one that will approve or reject the budget.
A final approval will be announced in June.
On April 28, UW President Mark Emmert announced to the public that the State Legislature passed a biennial budget through House Bill 2344. The bill reduces state funding to Washington's six public, four-year universities. The UW will be taking a 26 percent, or $214 million cut, the largest in all of higher education in the state.
"Beginning July 1, one-quarter of our funding from the state will no longer exist. It is unprecedented in state history, and as far as we know, it is by far the largest reduction in state support to a flagship university by any state in the nation," Emmert stated in his online university blog.
The amount of cuts in the budget that is proposed for higher education in Washington is the second highest for any state in the country, coming in right behind Nevada.
Due to this large reduction in state federal funding, the university faces no choice but to increase its resident undergraduate tuition by 14 percent, or $875 for the 2009 to 2011 school years.
"The impacts of the state's budget cuts will be felt across our university community. A large percentage of our operating expenses involve people and jobs, and taking cuts of this magnitude without affecting jobs would be impossible," Emmert said.
The university is stressing that it will do all that it can to give a minimum 60 day notice to those 600 to 800 staff members who will be losing their jobs. The types of jobs that the university will try to focus on cutting will be in the area of administrative and support units rather than academic units.
The university will be presenting the budget to the Board of Regents in the middle of this month. The board is the one that will approve or reject the budget.
A final approval will be announced in June.
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
Be the first to comment on this story
Comments by registered users are approved by default.