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Backgrounder

Alaska’s University System Faces Its Fate

The U. of Alaska at Fairbanks. A veto by the governor, if sustained, would cut state support of Alaska’s multicampus university system by 41 percent, imperiling academic programs and 1,300 faculty and staff jobs.
The U. of Alaska at Fairbanks. A veto by the governor, if sustained, would cut state support of Alaska’s multicampus university system by 41 percent, imperiling academic programs and 1,300 faculty and staff jobs.J.R. Ancheta, U. of Alaska Fairbanks

When Gov. Michael Dunleavy of Alaska vetoed 182 items in the state’s 2020 budget, one of the biggest targets was the University of Alaska, a multicampus system that stood to lose $130 million, or 41 percent of its state funding.

As university leaders, faculty members, students, and their supporters rallied against the cuts and urged state lawmakers to override the vetoes, the legislators split into opposing camps and met in separate cities.

Meanwhile, hoping for the best but planning for the worst, the university system’s leaders spoke of taking steps to make it easier to close programs and even campuses, lay off tenured and other faculty members, and pare their enrollments.

Now, with the Legislature failing to override the vetoes, the university system is struggling to deal with huge budget cuts.

Here’s how the crisis on the Last Frontier developed, in Chronicle articles.

Leadership
U. of Alaska President Acknowledges Contributing to a ‘Fractured’ System
By Katherine Mangan
James Johnsen says he stayed in crisis mode too long and failed to consider other ideas in response to budget pressures.
The U. of Alaska Board of Regents voted to suspend consideration of merging the system’s three separately accredited universities, at least until the campus in Fairbanks secures its accreditation, in 2021.
News
Alaska Board Suspends Consideration of Controversial Merger
By Katherine Mangan
Vote follows a meeting with the university’s accreditor, who says the chain of command needs to be clear.
James R. Johnsen (left), the U. of Alaska system’s president, told Alaska’s KTVF that “difficult decisions need to be made.”
News
Former Alaska Chancellors Express Alarm Over Accreditation Letter
By Katherine Mangan
Limiting the chancellors’ input, they write, “puts the entire UA system at risk.”
The entrance sign to U. of Alaska Southeast, in Juneau, with Tlingit words meaning “the place on the land of the Aak’w Kwáan where people meet.” A poster promotes UA Strong, an advocacy campaign to support the university system amid proposed budget cuts.
News
Alaska’s Accreditor Issues a Warning to the System
By Katherine Mangan
The universities have been ordered to act immediately to clarify leadership roles and responsibilities.
Alex Jorgensen, president of the student government at the U. of Alaska at Anchorage, told Alaska regents that he felt physically stressed by the speed of a proposed restructuring, and that students believed the one-university model was “being shoved down our throats.”
In the States
Could Alaska’s Diverse Campuses Survive a Forced Marriage?
By Katherine Mangan
A cost-saving plan to consolidate the state’s three universities raises questions about what could be lost.
Gov. Michael Dunleavy of Alaska: “Part of the budget process is you have to listen to Alaskans. You have to listen to the people your budgets are impacting.”
News
Amid Backlash, Alaska Governor Relents on Draconian Cuts for University System
By Katherine Mangan
In a deal announced on Tuesday, the reductions in state funding will amount to $70 million over three years instead of $135 million in one.
The U. of Alaska Board of Regents, here at an emergency meeting in Anchorage on July 22, met on July 30 to authorize the system president to draw up a plan to consolidate the system’s universities and community campuses into one university.
BACKGROUNDER
Warning That Their ‘House Is on Fire,’ Alaska President Urges Regents to Act Quickly on Budget Crisis
By Katherine Mangan
After a marathon meeting, the University of Alaska’s Board of Regents authorized the university president to move ahead with consolidation plans.
The U. of Alaska system is facing a financial crisis after Gov. Michael J. Dunleavy’s cuts in its state funding.
News
Here’s Why Alaska’s Governor Thinks His University System Needs Steep Cuts — and Why Experts Say He’s Wrong
By Sarah Brown
Poor graduation rates, overpaid administrators, and an overreliance on state funding are to blame, says Gov. Michael J. Dunleavy.
News
University of Alaska Regents Vote to Declare Financial Exigency
By Katherine Mangan
They call it sad but say they needed to take the step given the state’s budget crisis.
The U. of Alaska’s president James R. Johnsen addresses a crowd gathered for a student-planned rally with the Save Our State coalition at the Alaska Airlines Center, in Anchorage on July 9 in response to budget vetoes by Gov. Michael Dunleavy. Johnsen said, “We are Alaskans, and we are strong!”
News
‘Everybody Is Panicking’: Thousands of Alaska Students Scramble With Scholarship Money in Jeopardy
By Sarah Brown
On top of the University of Alaska system’s budget crisis, the money that funds the state’s two biggest financial-aid programs currently isn’t available.
The cuts made in the U. of Alaska’s budget by Gov. Michael Dunleavy could end up exceeding $200 million, system officials say.
Crisis in Alaska
University of Alaska Regents Delay Vote on Financial Exigency
By Katherine Mangan
Overwhelmed by the challenges of slashing so deeply, regents cling to faint hopes that some money will be restored.
Empty seats at a joint session of the Alaska Legislature, called to consider overriding Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s line-item vetoes of the 2020 budget.
News
Alaska Lawmakers Fail to Avert Sweeping Cuts to the University System. Here’s What Happens Next.
By Sarah Brown, Katherine Mangan
On Monday the university’s board will start talking through options — like consolidating or closing campuses — for absorbing $135 million in cuts.
Protesters at a rally against Gov. Michael Dunleavy’s budget vetoes, which, if sustained, would deal historic cuts to the U. of Alaska system.
News
Lawmakers Bicker as U. of Alaska Inches Closer to Historic Budget Cuts
By Sarah Brown, Katherine Mangan
Facing a Friday deadline, state legislators are divided over the governor’s vetoes of higher-ed funds. A vote on Wednesday failed to override the vetoes. The university’s leaders and its accreditor warn the cuts could have devastating consequences.
Alaska map showing university campuses
News
Alaska’s Data Tell a Familiar National Story
By Jacquelyn Elias
The drama this week in Alaska’s statehouse over vast proposed cuts in higher-ed funding echoes themes from across the nation: shifting financial burdens, weak enrollment numbers, increasing struggles for would-be students, and threats of campus closures.
Gov. Michael Dunleavy of Alaska wants to slash higher-education funding by 41 percent to fulfill a campaign promise to increase state residents’ cash payout to $3,000 a year from $1,600.
Backgrounder
Budget Ax Looms for a University Facing Historic Cuts
By Katherine Mangan
Alaska’s governor wants to slash higher-education funding by $130 million to increase residents’ cash payout. How will the cuts affect students and the state’s economic viability?
Gov. Mike Dunleavy of Alaska said the state’s university system “can’t continue to be all things for all people” in justifying historic cuts in state funding.
News
This 5-Word Phrase Has Become a Mantra for Slashing College Budgets
By Lindsay Ellis
In explaining historic cuts, Gov. Mike Dunleavy said Alaska’s universities can’t be “all things for all people.” He’s only the latest to use that message.
Students rally at the state Capitol against deep proposed cuts in state funding for the U. of Alaska system.
Crisis Response
U. of Alaska Has 2 Days to Save Itself. What’s the Strategy?
By Sarah Brown
Campus leaders are promoting the system’s economic impact and student access as lawmakers prepare to vote Wednesday on a 41-percent cut in state funding.
The U. of Alaska at Fairbanks. A veto by the governor, if sustained, would cut state support of Alaska’s multicampus university system by 41 percent, imperiling academic programs and 1,300 faculty and staff jobs.
Backgrounder
‘Unprecedented in Our History’: One State Is on the Verge of Slashing Higher-Ed Funding, Leaving Public Colleges in a Panic
By Katherine Mangan
A veto by Alaska’s governor, if sustained, would cut support by 41 percent, imperiling academic programs and 1,300 faculty and staff jobs across the multicampus system.
Hundreds attend a rally on Monday in front of the Alaska Capitol, calling for an override of Gov. Michael Dunleavy’s budget vetoes. The vetoes include a cut that would chop the university system’s state funding by 41 percent.
The Review
How Higher Education Became a Pawn in the Partisan Forever War
By Kevin Carey
State university systems have historically avoided getting dragged into politicized battles. No more.
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