ABOVE: University of Alaska Fairbanks
UAF PHOTO BY JR ANCHETA
Alaska had a rough summer. There were record temperatures, extended wildfires, and increased flooding. And then there was the financial cliff that the governor pushed its state university system over in July—stunning education officials who had to absorb the effects of an announced 41 percent cut, $135 million, in public support in the coming year.
“The summer mood was shock and gloom,” says Glenn Juday, a professor emeritus of ecology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “Just a big inky void when looking at the future.”
The scale and speed of the threatened cut shocked the university, which was forced to declare a state of financial emergency that gave it the power to fire tenured staff and close departments. Things have improved—slightly—in recent weeks. The bulk of this year’s threatened state funds have been restored. And the remaining cuts, about $70 ...
