Holub vs. Abby and Sharla

Dear Abby and Sharla,

I’ve written to you several times over the last few months to try to keep you posted on the ongoing fiscal crisis here at UMass Amherst and how we as a university community are responding to it. There has been speculation and assertions made about the budget plans that, frankly, aren’t accurate. Today, I want to tell you what we know about the current budget situation, and to provide you with as many facts as I can. It is critically important that we as a university community communicate openly and honestly, and work together to face the serious challenges ahead. As you know, we’ve created a Budget Planning Task Force of faculty, students and staff to assist in this process and to make recommendations – and they have been hard at work discussing budget cuts, fee increases, reorganization plans, potential layoffs, and other issues tied to the upcoming budget year. I expect to receive additional recommendations from this group soon and will, of course, share with you my decisions on how we go forward. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCHoRtMWiSg[/youtube]