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May 13, 2025
UAF faculty and staff,
On Friday May 8, 2025, I held a virtual forum discussing the federal landscape with
UA Federal Relations Director John Latini, UA General Counsel Wayne Mowery, and Vice
Chancellor for Research (VCR) Laura Conner. This forum had over 400 participants who
submitted a number of questions asking about funding cuts, reaching out to our federal
delegation for support, and federal injunctions, among many others. Thank you for
tuning in and being engaged as we continue to navigate our path ahead.
In addition to the virtual forum last Friday, I released last week鈥檚 message on May 6, 2025, where I discussed how many of the funding cuts in the president鈥檚
request might affect the science agencies that fund UAF. While the 鈥渟kinny budget鈥�
is part of the federal budget process, we know that Congress will have a significant
say in how the final budget looks. I encourage you to continue your conversations
with VCR Conner and so our federal delegation is kept up to date with how potential changes are or could
affect UAF.
Multiple committees in the United States House of Representatives are currently working
on reconciliation bills. These are bills that can be passed by a simple majority in
each chamber of Congress and are only considered when both chambers and the White
House are controlled by the same party. There are many different policies in the bills
being worked on by relevant committees including changes to federal student financial
aid, increasing defense spending that could potentially benefit research, seeking
to promote oil and gas leasing, and changes to numerous tax policies. Some of the
proposed policies, particularly to federal student aid, are of concern to UAF. That
being said, the committees in the United States Senate haven't begun working on their
versions of the reconciliation bills yet, so much work needs to be done before any
bill is finalized.
We are actively working with the Alaska congressional delegation to communicate potential
impacts on the student financial aid portion of the reconciliation bill and urging
for changes to be made that would promote access and affordability. The reconciliation
bill is at the early stages of the legislative process so there are numerous opportunities
ahead for improving the bill. We are also tracking the potential reorganization of
the science agencies that have been reported on. At this point, these are speculative
but we are already preparing an impact assessment for our delegation.
Looking forward, I plan to add a virtual forum every month or so in order to provide
an opportunity for Q&A. I will not be sending a message next Tuesday since we have
had two messages and a forum in the last 7 days. Please communicate with your dean,
director, vice chancellor or Federal Relations Director Latini to share your questions
or concerns, and to learn more about what actions are being taken in D.C. on our behalf!
Thank you for choosing UAF.
Dan White, chancellor
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