In an email sent to students, faculty and staff on Mar. 12, Chancellor Mauli Agrawal stated that UMKC will exercise fiscal caution and restraint as the school faces possible budget cuts in the next year.
“The past few years have brought generous state appropriations, but we anticipate more modest increases as budgets tighten,” the chancellor wrote in the email.
Chancellor Agrawal noted that the federally proposed changes to NIH funding grants would have a “somewhat limited but concerning” impact on campus this year.
However, possible changes to all federal grants and how they are funded could bring additional future challenges, according to the chancellor.
According to the Finance and Administration Office, it is unknown exactly how the UMKC budget will be affected in the next year.
It is possible that state revenues might be tighter or that UMKC might experience reduced funding due to the federal proposed changes to NIH grants.
“None of these things have happened yet,” said Finance and Administration. “Because of the uncertainty, we are urging everyone to be fiscally prudent and cautious as we prepare next year’s budget.”
News of budget cuts and tightened financial plans pose further challenges for UMKC student organizations, many of which have already expressed issues with funding.
Maqdas Bhatti, senior health sciences and chemistry major and president of the Muslim Student Association (MSA), says funding for student organizations seems like it’s continuing to decrease.
“Last year, our budget was cut from the 5k limit and it was even less this year, even though we requested the same amount and fully used our budget both years,” said Bhatti.
Bhatti says it’s increasingly more difficult to host the events people are used to seeing every year due to the reduced funding.
The MSA has to resort to either hosting smaller scale events with the funding they have, hosting less events in general or collaborating with other student organizations to host successful events.
“Last year our board funded 3 or 4 events out of pocket,” said Bhatti. “This year it hasn’t been a feasible option for my board, and I don’t want to place an additional financial burden on board members.”
Funding for student organizations could worsen in the coming year with the possibility of a tighter UMKC budget.
For now, UMKC plans to be cautious with spending and focus its resources on critical campus priorities such as student-success initiatives and research, according to Finance and Administration.
