Kaler: U of M to operate as normal after shutdown

The University of Minnesota new president starts work Friday on the first day of the state's government shutdown.

Eric Kaler said the school will operate as normal during the shutdown even without money from the state. Classes and research will continue and hospitals and clinics will stay open.

"We have financial reserves that will get us through a short-term shutdown," Kaler said. "We have a range of commitments to our students, to our patients, to external stake holders in our research and other endeavors and so we're going to move forward through that shutdown."

Kaler said if a shutdown lingers into the fall, he'll need to reconsider how to keep the university operating without money from the state.

Currently about 18 percent of the university's roughly $3 billion a year budget comes from the state.