UMass Boston students want relief amid budget cuts - Katie Lannan, Telegram

Ongoing budget woes are creating an environment of anxiety at the University of Massachusetts Boston, students told UMass trustees Wednesday as they asked for an immediate infusion of funds to give the campus a window to develop a long-term plan. “We can’t move forward by destroying our university and what it stands for with more staff layoffs, threats to our academic programs, or further disenfranchisement of those of us that need a place like UMass Boston the most,” Juan Blanco, who earned a bachelor’s degree at UMass Boston and is now a grad student there, told the trustees’ Administration and Finance Committee. “All we need is more time, and you have the power to make that happen.” Amid extensive construction and a search for a new chancellor, UMass Boston this year has been seeking to close a $30 million structural budget deficit, aiming to get the gap down to $5 million by June 2018. http://www.telegram.com/news/20171129/umass-boston-students-want-relief-amid-budget-cuts