The University is currently facing a monetary shortfall that may affect its ability to stay afloat through FY2017.
UOG was slated to receive $30.6 million in appropriated funds for facilities operations for FY2016. Roughly $5 million of that amount still has not been released by the Guam Department of Administration.
“They have closed the books on 2016,” University of Guam President Robert Underwood said.
Cash allotments for the University have been provided by the Government of Guam since 1952, and are generally used for the payment of permanent employees and to cover the cost of utilities for the campus.
With this situation at hand, the University has not been able to hire new employees, including full-time faculty. It has resorted to hiring part-time adjunct instructors to meet demands.
In addition, utilities maintenance works, including scheduled installations of new backup generators for the facility, have been pushed back.
Underwood also said other resources such as the University’s reserve funds have been depleted around January of 2017.
“We had to use up all of our reserves. We had money put aside and we had to use it all up,” Underwood said.
Reserve funds were set aside for capital improvement plans for instance repairing classroom air conditioning and other improvement projects which are not funded through Gov Guam and DOA.
“It’s not just about the giving us money to run the University, they’re (Gov Guam) risking your future,” Underwood said.
Among the consequences of the budget shortfall, a tuition increase may have to come into play in order to counter the shortage and a deficit in their audit for last year even though the university was just accredited last year for another 8 years.
Underwood questions, “Will we have to go through this again this year?”
However, Underwood reassures that the University is steadily balancing funds from other accounts and tuition funds to secure remaining operational costs in order to keep the facility from going under.
Moving forward into Spring 2017, the University will still continue with its daily operations and scheduled classes.