The University of Alaska Board of Regents voted unanimously on Tuesday to terminate its declaration of financial exigency.
The motion is effective August 19, the day Gov. Michael J. Dunleavy formally agreed to reduce cuts in the university’s budget from the $135 million he had sought for the current fiscal year to the $25 million that state lawmakers countered with.
The vote was 10-0 in favor of terminating the decision that would have allowed the system to cut programs quickly and to dismiss tenured faculty members with 60 days’ notice. That status has hurt morale and created a sense of instability for the university, critics said, prompting some faculty members to file a grievance seeking to have it lifted.
Tuesday’s vote comes one month after regents, faced with an unprecedented 41-percent cut in the state budget for the university system, declared financial exigency. At the time, they said it could be terminated if the university’s budget situation improved.