UMD Plans To Cut Over $5 Million From Next Year’s Budget

We have longtime faculty who don't know if they are going to have a job next year," said UMD Faculty Union President Scott Laderman

DULUTH, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Duluth is planning to cut more than $5 million from its budget for next year.

The potentially major cuts is causing concern among faculty and staff members at the university.

Many are worried their jobs could be on the line.

The substantial budget cuts are an attempt to recover from a longtime deficit the university has been trying to recover from for several years.

An email was sent out to faculty and staff earlier this month from umd chancellor lendley black announcing plans for the hefty cuts.

Depending on what is ultimately decided, nearly fifty faculty or staff members could lose their jobs.

“Morale is extremely low. There is a tremendous amount of fear on campus right now. We have longtime faculty who don’t know if they are going to have a job next year,” said UMD Faculty Union President Scott Laderman.

The university has been running a deficit since 2012.

Budget cuts have been made for several years to try and help…

The Director of  Marketing and Public Relations says the “structural imbalance” is causing them to make such a large number of reductions.

“What happens is when you have leveled or decreasing state funding and enrollment that is a little up and down, we run into the situation where our costs go up every year, and the revenue sources that come in don’t match the increased costs,” said Lynne Williams.

Enrollment for this fall has dropped to just under eleven thousand students this is down from a peak of nearly twelve thousand in 2011.

Williams says the reductions are also the university’s way to self–manage the budget, as high school graduation rates in Minnesota and across the Midwest are expected to drop by 2025.

That could also mean a drastic decline in future enrollment for the university.

Each department of the university has been given a target amount to cut.

These departments are now weighing options.

Official plans for budget reductions are expected to be announced in mid November.