University of Alaska system faces budget crisis

Abstract

The University of Alaska is facing a budget crisis after its state legislature failed to override massive budget cuts imposed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R). The governor slashed $135 million, or 41%, of the state’s support for the University of Alaska, the state’s only public university system. The school will likely declare the equivalent of a fiscal emergency soon, which could mean broad cuts, including to the university’s faculty. The chemistry department at the school’s main campus, in Fairbanks, expects to be hit by the cuts, says department chair Thomas Green, but they don’t know exactly the impact yet. “This is all thrown at us all at once,” he tells C&EN from a rural Alaska beach, where he is trying to keep up with the news while on vacation. “We are sort of in limbo now.” Before the failed override attempt, the university had already implemented a hiring and travel