'Proactive financial planning' becomes urgent, says UMass Amherst

In a message sent this week to faculty and staff at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Chancellor Javier Reyes said they must continue preparing for potential federal funding cuts.

In early May, Reyes asked all departments on campus to create budgets reducing costs by three to five percent.

This week he told the school community that potential "cuts of magnitude" outlined in President Donald Trump's budget proposal, and federal tax legislation advancing through Congress could impact every area of campus — even departments not directly supported by federal grants.

Those federal awards include reimbursements for school wide services he said, touching on health, public safety and libraries. The federal cuts could reduce UMass Amherst’s annual funding by tens of millions of dollars.

"UMass Amherst receives approximately $180 million annually in federal research grants and contracts. These awards include reimbursements for Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs, also known as indirect costs, which help fund essential services," Reyes wrote. "In FY24, UMass Amherst received approximately $51 million in F&A reimbursements, with more than $44 million coming from federal sources. These funds support critical, university-wide infrastructure services like digital systems, health and safety, grant administration, libraries, utilities, and facility maintenance."

The president's budget also proposes deep cuts to the budgets of federal agencies that support research at campuses across the U.S., and at UMass Amherst Reyes explained, listing the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The school could also see a decline in student enrollment Reyes said, given current international travel restrictions, suspended students visas and reductions in need-based students loans like Pell grants.

"As we navigate the uncertainty of these cuts, the only certainty we have is that we must be ready with a sound, fiscal plan," Reyes wrote.

He pointed to how the university has been able to prioritize its resources by focusing on the livelihood of researchers already affected by federal funding cuts.

"The ResCoE Fund has committed more than $700,000 in salary and research continuity funding to support nearly 50 graduate students, postdocs, and staff. While this flexibility reflects careful planning and shared values, it is not sustainable long-term—especially as our focus must shift from terminated grants to those not being renewed," Reyes said.

In addition to preparing tighter budgets, Reyes reminded the school community that academic and administrative units should continue hiring only for positions deemed critical to the university’s operations, and that requests for critical hires or expenditures over $50,000 must still be approved.

"We recognize that planning for an uncertain future is difficult, but we are certain that preparing for multiple scenarios will give us the flexibility we need to respond strategically and at every level to whatever federal budget is signed into law," Reyes said.