UGA staffer, PhD candidate call for higher education bailout

$3.6 billion. That’s the amount Georgia state agencies will cut from their budgets in the next fiscal year in response to COVID-19. A May 1 memo from state budget leaders insists every agency must cut 14%, “with no exceptions.” This includes the University System of Georgia (USG), which previously announced anticipated losses of $350 million. The 14% cut — which amounts to over $361 million — will more than double the already devastating losses. Students and employees throughout the state are going to suffer tremendously, and the shocks will reverberate for years to come.

Higher education in Georgia and the nation needs a bailout now, and we need our Senators in Washington to act in our interest — not just the interest of their stock portfolios.

Public colleges and universities are crucial to America’s future. And they will be even more vital in our efforts to fight the coronavirus and its effects. Whether through conducting cutting edge scientific and medical research, training the social scientists, journalists, and artists that will guide us through this crisis and help rebuild society on the other side, or providing a path forward for millions of laid-off workers seeking new skills, credentials and careers— higher education will be front and center.

The Board of Regents has already approved a plan to allow university administrators to furlough employees. Cuts to our budgets will likely also result in closed labs and fewer classes. Georgia’s students and higher ed employees are still struggling under the weight of the Great Recession. Decreases in state funding have resulted in higher tuition and fees, higher health insurance costs, heavier teaching and workloads, and soul-crushing precarity for part-time workers. According to Georgia’s budget memo, “our current situation will certainly overshadow” the crisis of 2008. Cuts will constrain our efforts to address the crisis, which will slow our recovery. We need a bailout, not more austerity.

Graduate workers pay between $900 and $1,350 dollars a year for one single fee, which the USG instituted after the last financial crisis. While all students pay this fee, the fact that it partially funds graduate worker stipends means that we are paying to work. This crisis will likely raise these extortionate student fees. It will also affect research funding necessary for the completion of graduate degrees. Lastly, without a higher ed bailout, many will graduate into an austerity-ravaged job market that looked like a hellscape before COVID-19. But graduate students are not alone, and others will suffer more.

We need a bailout to protect the employees that make higher education possible. Many essential employees at state universities and colleges are sorely underpaid. These workers — long fighting for higher wages, cost of living adjustments, salary-based insurance premiums — have been struggling. Austerity will only push them closer to the edge of financial ruin.

This damage then spreads further, beyond campuses into college towns. Already hurting, the commercial economy around campuses like restaurants, bars, music venues, and retail shops will feel these effects. Canceling graduation alone was a huge loss: not only do our students not get to cross the stage after years of hard work, but the economic impact of losing tremendous revenue from the event will hurt, too. The service industry in Athens has been devastated by COVID-19. Many of us university workers have a second job in the service industry to make ends meet. We rely on this income to supplement already low university wages, and a furlough or wage cut would be a double hit to our income. That’s less money many workers can spend at local businesses. Universities rely on the towns to support their needs, and university towns rely on the university to keep their economies going. Higher ed budget cuts will only further damage college towns that are already in dire straits. A higher ed bailout will benefit more than just those on college campuses: from stimulating the economy through basic commerce all the way to development and research.

As the University System of Georgia moves forward with plans to reduce its budget, we ask for protections for its most vulnerable workers. If provided bailout funds, we ask that these funds are used not only to support and expand the mission of our universities to serve students, but also to protect the employees that make higher education possible. All instituted pay cuts should be progressive, with higher paid personnel giving up a larger percentage, and salaries of workers making less than $40,000/ year not cut at all. We call for no staff layoffs, and salary freezes to not affect those workers earning less than $40,000, as many workers are still in desperate need of living wages. We also ask that public colleges and universities should stay public- any privatization of core functions would take away jobs and accountability.

Kemp’s mandated 14% cut, amounting to over $361 million, will more than double the already overwhelming losses to our colleges from the COVID-19 crisis. Higher ed institutions are more critical than ever as our campuses provide tremendous resources for COVID-19- related research and transitioning a shattered workforce to new employment opportunities. If Congress doesn’t act now, this could be the demise of higher education in our county.

Robyn Waserman is a staff member at the University of Georgia. Bryant Barnes is a PhD student in History at the University of Georgia.

This op-ed orginally appeared in the Athens Banner Herald on May 13, 2020.