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Universities may face up to 40 percent budget cuts in global studies

Schools consider ending programs

International studies centers nationwide — including seven at UNC — might lose almost half their funding, depending on how the U.S. Department of Education interprets a federal funding bill.

The bill, which funds the federal budget through September, leaves specific cuts to the discretion of the department.

And the final decision on how the cuts will be implemented must be made by May 15.

Legislators recommended cuts of 40 percent for two funding programs, including Title VI of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which go toward international studies initiatives at universities nationwide.

Department officials aren’t obligated to follow that suggestion, but the final cut is expected to be close to the recommended 40 percent.

If cuts that high are implemented, administrators said they might have to cut foreign language class offerings, research and outreach programs, and staff — at a time when the Obama administration has been focusing on promoting globalization and international issues.

“To take a big cut out of Title VI is basically to cut the program,” said Gilbert Merkx, director of the Center for International and Area Studies at Duke University, a Title VI-funded center.

“Programs that have taken years and years to build will start to unravel.”

To cope with the impending budget cuts, the center will not offer as many speakers or film series, and it will no longer sponsor classes in less-commonly taught languages such as Persian and Turkish. The cuts would put staff positions at risk, too, he said.

Niklaus Steiner, director of UNC’s Center for Global Initiatives, another Title VI-funded center, said in an email that class offerings and research opportunities at the center are at risk.

“With dramatic cuts, some great initiatives will simply have to be eliminated,” he said.

At current federal funding levels, the center receives $306,618 annually, Steiner said.

He and other administrators said they are worried about the long-term effects of large cuts.

The cuts implemented will set a new, lower baseline for Title VI funds, said Miles Lackey, director of UNC’s Office of Federal Affairs.

It is unlikely that funding will increase in future years, so a cut now would not be restored right away, he said.

“It is imperative that we preserve as much of this funding as is possible,” Lackey said.

Merkx said his center’s programs are barely able to operate with the amount of money the center currently receives.

“They’re not sustainable in the long run,” Merkx said.

He and Steiner both said they are sending letters to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan asking him to preserve as much funding for the centers as possible.

“We have to remain creative and active and not take on a defeatist, hunker-down mentality,” Steiner said.

University of California-Berkeley has eight Title VI-funded centers, said Sanchita Saxena, associate director of the university’s Center for South Asia Studies.

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The center began receiving a four-year grant this year, but she is unsure if the yearly allocations will continue at the same level if Title VI funding is cut, she said.

Saxena said the center was excited to get the grant, but now she isn’t sure how it will fare if it loses federal funding in addition to university cuts.

“It seemed that we were secure,” she said. “It’s pretty stressful.”

Contact the State & National Editor at state@dailytarheel.com.

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