News Local/State

U of I’s Liberal Arts College Institutes 5% Mid-Year Spending Cut

 
The Alama Mater statue on the Urbana campus of the University of Illinois.

Loredo Taft's Alma Mater statue on the Urbana campus of the University of Illinois. University of Illinois LIbrary/Flickr

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois is instituting a 5% spending cut for all of its units in the middle of the current fiscal year.

LAS Executive Associate Dean Brian Ross says that the College asked its units across the Urbana campus to make the spending reductions Friday morning.

In a statement, Ross says the cuts were being made proactively, in response to the ongoing state budget impasse. He says budget cuts in past years had been absorbed by the college, but this time, part of the cuts were being passed onto college units.

The cuts will affect over 14,000 students in the largest college on the Urbana campus. Units in LAS covers everything from Chemistry, Mathematics and History to American Indian Studies and the Spurlock Museum. Those units teach many of the General Education courses taken by students across the U of I Urbana campus.

Associate Dean Ross says the ongoing budget impasse is creating uncertainty and stress for everyone in LAS, from students and their families, to the faculty and staff.