UConn President Susan Herbst and Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy are seen shoveling at the breaking ground of the new engineering and science building on Sept. 9, 2015 (Ashley Maher/The Daily Campus)
The University of Connecticut is facing $31.2 million in state funding cuts under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed budget, drawing the ire of university administrators.
UConn President Susan Herbst sent an email to all students Wednesday night, calling the cuts “news that is anything but positive.”
“Though this is only an initial proposal and UConn’s state appropriation, as always, will be decided through the legislative process over the coming months,” Herbst said in the email, “it is nonetheless deeply disturbing.”
The cuts would also affect the UConn Health Center, according to Herbst. She said the university will have lost $139 million in annual state funding over the last seven years if the proposal is adopted.
Malloy told state lawmakers on Wednesday in his State of the State address that Connecticut needs to adjust to “a new economic reality,” calling on legislators to “reshape the way Connecticut budgets.”
Herbst said that although the budget is only an initial proposal that has yet to be passed by the state legislature, its effect on the university would be profound.
“A cut of that magnitude would be terrible for the university and its operations,” Herbst said.
The cycle of cuts to UConn hasn’t been limited to one year alone, Herbst said, adding the pattern “is not sustainable if we wish to maintain our quality.”
Senior staff writer Kyle Constable contributed to this reporting
Jackson Mitchell is the Digital Editor of The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at jackson.mitchell@uconn.edu.
