University of Minnesota grad students' union sounds alarm over $225M budget cut, tell me about this news today

Graduate teachers and researchers represented by the graduate students’ union at the University of Minnesota are raising major concerns after university leadership announced a plan to cut $225 million from the systemwide budget over the next two years.

CBS News

Here are the key details behind the news:

• The Scope of the Cuts: The planned reduction represents about 12% to 15% of the university’s allocated operating revenue. University President Rebecca Cunningham and senior leaders described the measure as addressing long-term higher education pressures, including shifting enrollment trends, flat or unpredictable state and federal funding, and rising operational costs.

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• Impact on Graduate Workers: Union members voiced alarm that graduate teaching and research positions could be placed on the chopping block as departments look for ways to cut costs across all campuses.

• Compounding Financial Pressures: The union highlighted that the cuts arrive alongside a series of growing burdens for university workers and students, including the first employee health benefit cost increases in 12 years and a sixth consecutive year of undergraduate tuition hikes.

• Uncertainty Across Departments: Because the administration has instructed all units and departments across the five campuses to review operations and identify savings, graduate workers note there is substantial anxiety about where and how heavily the axe will fall on instructional and research support.

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