A Mess at UMass

In an effort to alleviate Massachusetts’ worsening budget crunch, last Thursday Acting Gov. Jane Swift proposed cutting $10 million from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst budget. This ill-advised decision threatens to negate the advances the Massachusetts public university system has made and to jeopardize the status of UMass-Amherst as one of the nation’s premier public universities.

While a few of the proposed cuts from the University of Massachusetts budget are sensible—such as replacing admissions books sent to prospective first-years with CD-ROMs at a savings of $60,000—the rest may deal a harsh blow to the academic reputation of the UMass system. Due to Swift’s cuts, deep reductions will have to be made in a wide variety of areas. Library budgets will be slashed; hundreds of journal subscriptions have already been dropped and fewer books purchased. Departmental budgets will also suffer; next year, some of the smaller departments may be combined or discontinued altogether. Especially damaging are plans to reduce resources allocated to the UMass-Amherst honors program, Commonwealth College, which since its 1997 inception has been a crown jewel of the Massachusetts university system.

The UMass system, and particularly its Amherst campus, is one of America’s leading public universities. It offers a quality, affordable education to Massachusetts residents and out-of-staters alike. These budget cuts, combined with recent tuition increases that will raise the cost of attending UMass-Amherst to $11,000 a year for Massachusetts residents, are the first steps towards compromising UMass’ hard-earned reputation.

In Amherst, students are campaigning to preserve their university’s resources—and Swift should listen to them. The money needed to balance the Massachusetts budget should not come at the cost of increased tuition and fewer opportunities for students attending UMass.