The University of Alaska Board of Regents Audit Committee report has revealed a larger-than-anticipated budget gap, and a short time frame during which to solve it, forcing some tough decisions dead ahead.
The Regents will consider solutions at their next meeting, June 4-5, including merging University of Alaska Southeast into either University of Alaska Anchorage or University of Alaska Fairbanks.
The university system as a whole is projecting a shortfall of $14-$40 million by fiscal year 2022, even after using $25 million in one-time funds.
The move comes at a time when the chancellor of the UAS campus, Dr. Richard Caulfield, is retiring after just five years, and the school is recruiting a successor.
The university system is suffering from declining enrollment, and predicts that the student body will drop dramatically in the next couple of years, along with tuition and fees:
Some of the options and the context for the decisions the regents face were posted in these documents last week:
UAS was established in 1987 with the restructuring and consolidation of the former University of Alaska Juneau, Ketchikan Community College, and Islands Community College.
