UA president says budget cuts are modest, current projects align with Trump administration priorities
- Ellie Ruel
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
DEI and free speech concerns persist for Alaska’s university community
By Ellie Ruel
Juneau Independent
University of Alaska President Pat Pitney’s main message to faculty, staff and students at a virtual town hall held Monday was to “stay focused on what you’re doing.”
“We are in an uncertain and a quite bizarre federal environment, but it's manageable. It is even more manageable when each of us comes to the table with a positive attitude,” Pitney said.
That sentiment comes as higher education institutions across the country face mounting pressure from the Trump administration to shift research priorities, restrict international admissions, and suspend DEI programs and scrub associated language.
Questions were collected through a form that allowed anyone with university affiliation to submit thoughts with the option of remaining anonymous. Live participants also asked questions during the meeting.
One of the first national topics Pitney addressed was the ongoing federal government shutdown and its impact on research.
“If you're doing federal research, continue to do that federal research unless you've heard something specific from your program directors,” Pitney said. “And if you have heard something specific from a program director, please reach out to your leadership and let them know. But at this point, we're focused on business as usual.”
Federal funding agencies support systemwide research in a variety of areas, like fisheries and ocean sciences, biomedical advancements, and environmental changes in the Arctic.
According to Pitney, the UA system has seen 28 grants with a total balance of $7 million terminated to date, four delayed awards totaling $18 million, and 30 grants worth more than $70 million temporarily frozen, with the funds eventually recovered.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Education terminated funding for the institution’s Alaska Native and Native-Hawaiian-serving programs and support services, causing a loss of $8.8 million for UAF.
Pitney noted that, according to university estimates, the federal cuts and uncertainty affecting the system are currently only two to three percent of its total operating budget, in contrast to the 41% budget cut UA saw in 2019.
“It is not as severe as the impact from 2015 to 2021 and so I think we want to keep that in mind,” she said. “We do see this as a relatively short period of time.”
She also pointed out that some of the projects coming out of UA are in line with the current administration’s priorities.
The Trump administration issued an executive order on “Unleashing American Energy” early this year. This summer, limits on oil drilling in 82% of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska were rolled back.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks is currently heading one of 13 Carbon Ore, Rare Earth and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) centers across the country, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The campus also offers degrees in petroleum engineering and mining engineering.
Hajo Eicken, director of UAF’s International Arctic Research Center, asked what opportunities the proposed 807-mile AKLNG pipeline could bring to the UA system and how the university could be sure cross-disciplinary expertise is used in its development.
Pitney said the project could be an opportunity for the university to capitalize on its existing specialties in welding, process technology, diesel mechanics, construction management, civil engineering, and energy resource engineering. However, the proposed timeline would mean new programs would have to adapt.
“We might have to think differently about our instruction model, because they're going to need workers right away, and so we might have to think a little bit about our partnership with the construction, because we might be having to allow people to work and go to school,” Pitney said. “We don't have two years to build a building. We might have to work in partnership with an industry partner to be able to use one of their facilities to expand our training model. We also might need to capture some faculty from an industry partnership.”
UAF Interim Chancellor Mike Sfraga saw the Critical Minerals project as a way for university research capacities to be applied to industry. Both UAF and UAA currently have interim chancellors and are in the process of recruiting for the permanent positions.
“We spent about 100 years building this institution, and its time has come,” Sfraga said. “I think throughout all of our universities here in the state, there's expertise on the research side to inform everything from design to the impact of a changing environment to building to different ending codes to the way in which the LNG might be transported through the pipeline to terminus.”
Multiple people also expressed concerns over free speech on campus, given the current political climate and government crackdowns on certain language.
The Trump administration recently asked nine elite universities to sign a compact accepting the government’s definition of gender, capping international enrollment, and take steps to ensure viewpoint diversity including “transforming or abolishing institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas,” in exchange for better access to federal funds. Federal grants and other documents have been combed for terms that don’t fit administration priorities, such as the NSF’s reported list of hundreds of “banned” words, including those related to environment, climate, and diversity.
Pitney said despite the uncertain climate, UA is committed to maintaining an open dialogue on both sides of the political spectrum.
“We need to work in a way that creates a way for the university to manage through that, and that means maybe not poking the bear in the eye, but explaining why freedom of speech and academic freedom is a core tenant of our institution,” she said. “And so I just appeal to balance. I appeal to civility and openness and understanding that people's ideas differ. We can like them and not like them, but we should be able to be civil about those ideas.”
A later question asked if the university’s DEI motion upheld that tenet. In February, the Board of Regents voted to eliminate terms relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion from online and printed materials.
“The board did not go into academic programs on curriculum. They did not go into classrooms. So academic freedom stayed. The intent was to take away the politically charged words and replace them with words that denote a welcoming environment,” Pitney said.
The UAF administrations’ absence at a Sept. 29 “Kill the Cuts” rally organized by the graduate workers union was noted during the town hall. When asked if the university would partner with unions to oppose the cancellation of federal grants, Pitney maintained that an adversarial approach to the federal landscape wouldn’t be beneficial for the institution.
“The way that this forum came about, it would not be in the best interest of the institution as a whole for the leaders to have been there,” Pitney said. “We need to work together internally, but we also have to work well with our state and federal partners, and coming out in a more high-conflict approach is not going to help us.”
International student support was also a topic of discussion. The initial question was focused on academics and class offerings, with Pitney highlighting a return to synchronous classes and full housing complexes on campus.
UA General Counsel Wayne Mowery reiterated general information and advice to those traveling with a visa. He recommended international students contact an immigration lawyer and stay up-to-date as the visa process changes.
“I encourage people, as we look at things like questions about international travel, returning home, coming back to the country as part of their studies, just ask for assistance before you go, get some suggestions for what you should carry with you,” Mowery said.
The Board of Regents’ budget proposal will be presented for approval at their Nov. 7 meeting in Anchorage, after which it will be submitted to the governor’s office. More information about federal changes can be found at the system’s Office of Government Relations website.
• Contact Ellie Ruel at ellie.ruel@juneauindependent.com.
