Chancellor Gora Responds to Challenging Times at UMass Boston

By Ed Hayward

Responding to nearly two years of cutbacks in state funding to the UMass system, the Board of Trustees voted March 12 to raise fees for in-state students by $500 per semester and by $1,000 per semester for out-of-state students at UMass Boston beginning this fall.

The fee increases will help maintain core academic services and avoid severe cuts in services and personnel that would have been required without added revenues.

"Without question, these are difficult times for the university," Chancellor Jo Ann Gora said. "However, nothing is more important than preserving the highest-quality educational experience for our students. We will continue to make every effort to preserve the services our students so richly deserve and the lon--standing future value of a UMass Boston education."

These increases directly reflect the reductions in state support UMass Boston has suffered during the past two years. Since fiscal year (FY) 2001, UMass Boston's budget has been cut by $10.5 million, which amounts to a total decrease in funding of 12.4 percent. The projected cuts for FY'04 for our campus will be approximately $10.8 million, producing a cumulative cut since 2001 of 29 percent.

Taking the newly approved rates into consideration, the average annual increase in mandatory student charges for in-state undergraduates across the system has been 4.7 percent since the 1995-1996 academic year. From 1995-96 to 2000-2001, the University of Massachusetts was one of the few higher education institutions in the country to reduce charges.

Adding to the focus on the UMass system, Governor Mitt Romney proposed a sweeping reorganization of public higher education in Massachusetts, including the five-campus UMass system, as well as the state's four-year and two-year colleges.

In a letter to the campus, Chancellor Gora stressed that the governor's proposal is now in the hands of lawmakers, who heard a stirring defense against the dismantling of the system from UMass President William M. Bulger on March 10 at a hearing at Bridgewater State College.

Despite the broad scope of the plan - which spans the issues of university finance, governance, and programmatic focus - Chancellor Gora emphasized the fact that the proposal, even if approved, would not dramatically change the mission and work of UMass Boston.

In broadcast and print interviews, as well as in other statements, Chancellor Gora has stated clearly that UMass Boston will remain a vibrant research university.

"Let me assure you that we are and will always be a doctoral degree-granting institution and that the research initiatives of our faculty and staff will continue to have the same importance, and the same positive impact on the City and the Commonwealth, that they do now," Chancellor Gora said in a letter to the university community. "Contrary to the proposal's implication that there should only be one public research institution in the state, UMass Boston, by virtue of the strengths of its faculty and its mandate to award advanced degrees and pursue research at a high level, will remain a significant research institution."

Meanwhile, UMass Boston's value to the local economy was explored in a March 11 report, "Engines of Economic Growth," which highlighted the $7 billion a year generated by the eight research universities in greater Boston, including UMass Boston.

In addition, the governor's office froze a $371 million bond offering by the UMass Building Authority for a package of projects at the four undergraduate campuses, including the proposed residence halls on the Boston campus.

While no final decision has been made, Chancellor Gora said the university will continue the planning process for potential residence halls, including its commitment to working with our neighbors. A community impact study requested by area neighborhood groups will take place later this spring, as scheduled, the chancellor said.

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