Following Governor Gordon’s request this summer for state agencies to prepare for budget cuts, the UW Board of Trustees will be meeting in November. At this meeting, President Seidel is scheduled to give the board his recommendations for university cuts.
“There is no decision yet about whether it will affect employees,” said Chad Baldwin, Director of Institutional Communication. “Budget reduction will be discussed by the board in November, but the president has not made any recommendations public yet, either.”
According to an anonymous source at the Financial Aid Office, work study employee funds are allocated differently than regular UW employees.
“Work study funds are provided by FAFSA and are a limited amount of money allocated by the government,” said the anonymous source. “Only so many people can work those jobs, and if a student doesn’t find a job or doesn’t want a job, we award that money to other students on a waiting list. It’s need based.”
Work study jobs are from allocated federal funds, meaning that state reductions should not effect them. As of now, next year there will still be work study jobs for students.
Debra Hintz, Director of Scholarships and Financial Aid, said, “There is no reduction in federal funds, including work study. The UW budget reduction is state funds that are appropriated. Financial aid for federal funds have to be applied for every year, which means we have to give a report to the government on those funds. The amount that has been received this year, will be about the same allocated next year, 2021, to work study funds. Departments will still have to create those jobs.”
According to Hintz, any jobs that were not created this year were because of COVID-19 restrictions, not budget reductions.
More about the budget reduction plan meeting with the Board of Trustees can be found here:
https://www.uwyo.edu/uw/news/2020/09/uw-trustees-to-receive-budget-reduction-plan-in-november.html.
