UMD faculty leader says budget issues hurting morale
Updated 2 p.m. | Posted 8:40 a.m.
The University of Minnesota Duluth is bracing for further cuts after two years of budget problems.
With enrollment down, the campus has been forced to adjust to significantly less tuition money coming in.
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University of Minnesota system President Eric Kaler met with faculty and staff in Duluth this week. But UMD history professor Steve Matthews says Kaler has not shown enough support for the Duluth campus.
"He always referred to this as 'your problem, your problem, your problem,' said Matthews, president of the UMD faculty council.
"Only once did he remember that he's part of this solution as well. And that was picked up on by a great many of my colleagues who were present," Matthews told MPR News on Wednesday.
Faculty members say the university system gives Duluth a disproportionately small share of state funding. They say another $10-$12 million a year would be more equitable, and would solve the financial crisis.
Lawmakers at the Capitol will determine state funding levels for the University of Minnesota system in the coming weeks.