Students will pay higher tuition. There will be fewer classes and fewer professors. Campus buildings will be shut down, sold or leased.<\/p>\n
If the Alaska Senate\u2019s budget plan comes to pass, this is what will happen at the University of Alaska Southeast.<\/p>\n
Dale Anderson is Juneau\u2019s delegate to the University of Alaska Board of Regents. Last week, he was called to a special meeting of that board. The meeting was called after the Alaska Senate approved a budget that calls for cutting state support for the university system from $325 million \u2014 a figure approved by Gov. Bill Walker and the Alaska House \u2014 to $303 million, a drop of $22 million.<\/p>\n
The University of Alaska Southeast alone faces a cut of $1.7 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s easy to say the cuts that are proposed in the Legislature right now, especially at the Senate level, will be devastating to the effectiveness of the programs that we have,\u201d Anderson said by phone from Seattle. \u201cAll the campuses, not just UAS, will really feel the effects of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Alaska Senate has proposed the cuts as part of its plan to erase Alaska\u2019s $2.8 billion deficit. That plan, if enacted, would have consequences, university administrators say.<\/p>\n
Jim Johnsen, President of the University Alaska, called the proposed cuts \u201cdevastating\u201d last week in Fairbanks, and he repeated that assessment during a Wednesday visit to the Empire\u2019s offices in Juneau.<\/p>\n
UAS Chancellor Rick Caulfield, speaking in a separate interview, agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe president said it. It would be pretty devastating. It goes to the core of what we\u2019re trying to do,\u201d Caulfield said.<\/p>\n
If the cuts are confirmed, they would mean a loss of 8-10 staff jobs in Juneau.<\/p>\n
One of the university\u2019s associate degree programs might go away, as might its certificate program for automotive technology, Caulfield said.<\/p>\n
At its Sitka campus, UAS might be forced to suspend its certificate program in law enforcement.<\/p>\n
Caulfield said he would attempt to make the cuts through attrition \u2014 simply eliminating unfilled positions \u2014 but he might be forced to fire people if the cuts are severe enough.<\/p>\n
Caulfield and Johnsen each emphasized that this year\u2019s proposed reduction can\u2019t be viewed in isolation. Cuts since 2014 have had a cumulative effect.<\/p>\n
In fiscal year 2015, the state contributed $371 million from its general fund to the university system. That figure has already fallen by more than 12 percent. If this year\u2019s Senate cuts are accepted, the decline will be almost 19 percent.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a small institution like we are, it sort of becomes death by a thousand cuts,\u201d Caulfield said.<\/p>\n
In addition to the Senate\u2019s direct budget cuts, the Legislature has suspended funding deferred maintenance projects statewide. Much of that money had been going to the university system.<\/p>\n
The Senate has also proposed eliminating the Alaska Performance Scholarship program begun under Gov. Sean Parnell, something that might reduce the number of Alaskans who can afford college.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf these programs were to be eliminated, it would be a triple whammy for the university,\u201d regent John Davies of Fairbanks said in a prepared statement last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a hit not only because of the revenue foregone \u2026 I\u2019m concerned about them not going to college at all,\u201d Johnsen added Wednesday.<\/p>\n
UAS Vice Chancellor Joe Nelson, who has been involved with the program, called it \u201cone of the most innovative things we\u2019ve had a governor do in a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you unpack these things and if you throw away the Alaska Performance Scholarship, you\u2019re unpacking what\u2019s been a pretty successful combination,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s where I would use the word devastating.\u201d<\/p>\n
None of the cuts have been confirmed. The House of Representatives has proposed an alternative idea that includes no cuts to the university system but asks Alaskans for an income tax and cuts to the state subsidy of oil and gas drilling.<\/p>\n
If someone has concerns about the proposed cuts, \u201cI would encourage students and their families who are benefiting, to speak up, and employers too,\u201d Caulfield said.<\/p>\n
Until the House and Senate agree on a compromise, nothing is certain except uncertainty.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty clear we\u2019re going to be a ball in the air \u2026 until those pieces come together at the end,\u201d Johnsen said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact reporter James Brooks at james.k.brooks@juneauempire.com or call 419-7732.<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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