Students walk through the UCLA campus in Los Angeles on Feb. 18, 2022.
(
Raquel Natalicchio
/
CalMatters
)
UC President Michael Drake announced spending cuts and a hiring freeze.
Why it matters: Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing an 8% cut to the UC system's budget for next fiscal year. And the Trump administration has threatened federal funding for universities that do not eliminate DEI programs.
Why now: Drake said the cuts were a response to a threat, not yet fulfilled, by the administration's threat to cut federal contracts and grants from universities.
University of California President Michael Drake announced a hiring freeze across the university system and directed campuses to cut travel, maintenance and other costs Wednesday during a meeting of the UC Board of Regents at UCLA.
“The existing budget cuts have already had the effect of eroding our day-to-day working conditions and our ability to fulfill student needs,” said Patricia Morton, UC Riverside media and cultural studies professor.
Drake’s announcement, she said, “raises the question of whether [he] and the regents even understand the drastic impact the hiring freeze and further budget cuts will have on the university, and especially on our students' learning experience and ability to complete their degrees.”
UC Riverside (via Facebook)
()
The midyear spending report predicted spending drops will continue for the above programs, as well as these:
Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs.
Graduate Medical Education.
Office of the National Laboratories.
Future cuts proposed
Drake's announcement reached faculty who were protesting on Wednesday a proposed 8% across-the-board budget cut to the University of California for the next fiscal year.
“We don't think that that is in line with any of the UC's core values, nor with the values of most of the taxpayers of California,” said UC Irvine's Annie McClanahan, who chairs the board of the faculty association on her campus.
