Campus Budget
Chancellor Holub Comments on Stimulus Package
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March 24, 2009
To Campus Community:
Today I had the privilege of being in Boston to hear Governor Deval Patrick outline his plans for the federal stimulus money, and to hear him speak eloquently of his support for higher education in our Commonwealth. I was pleased to represent our campus at this gathering.
This announcement was an important step for our institution, and I personally thanked the Governor for his support. In the Governor's plan, $81.6 million would be allocated to the UMass system in fiscal 2010, with approximately half that amount coming to our campus. While this action by the Governor is not final, and the ultimate budget for the Commonwealth will not be determined until later this summer, we applaud his leadership. As Governor Patrick has said, this stimulus money is not a panacea, but it will take the edge off of very difficult financial circumstances.
As you know from previous messages, over the past months we have focused much of our energies on generating support for higher education, and UMass Amherst in particular, through the federal stimulus package developed by the Obama administration.
The Governor noted that over the next two years, Massachusetts will receive an estimated $1.88 billion to support early education, K-12, and higher education. In the coming weeks, we will continue to work with the Governor and legislature to build support for both higher education and UMass Amherst, and, going forward, to determine federal stimulus support for fiscal 2011.
In the note I sent to campus earlier today, I shared my recent testimony to the Joint Committee on Higher Education, in which I emphasized the critical role that higher education plays in the success of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We will continue that work and strong emphasis.
Over the course of the next few weeks, we will provide the entire campus community with updates on the budget process, and we will provide further details as they become available. It is our sincere hope that the stimulus funding to UMass Amherst will mitigate the possibility of layoffs resulting from our projected $46 million budget deficit. We also want to do all we can to lessen the impact of the fee increase passed recently by the Board of Trustees, and hope to rebate as much of this increase as we can based on the stimulus money we receive.
We will plan to be in touch with parents of our students, with alumni, and other key supporters in the coming days to garner their critical support for the institution, and to engage them in the legislative process. We will also support our faculty and students as they join us in advocating for UMass Amherst.
Chancellor Robert C. Holub
