WASHINGTON – The University of the District of Columbia is in serious financial trouble, and school leaders want D.C. taxpayers to help pay off faculty and staff they intend to fire.
To help get the university back on track, administrators are asking D.C. taxpayers for $4 million to cover union-mandated severance packages for faculty who are laid off.
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray says he is reluctant to give the university the funds and wants “to see a lot more” from the school.
“We really got to be able to drill down much more specificity around not only what those dollars would be used for, but what is the vision going forward for the university,” he says.
UDC’s cost-cutting measures include eliminating seven departments and two dozen majors. Thirty positions have already been cut, and the institution plans to lay of 25 more faculty members and staff.
There have also been talks of closing some of the satellite campuses around the city and relocating them to the main Van Ness campus in upper Northwest D.C.
Gray says he is opposed to that idea, but wants to work with the university to find a solution.
“We’re very concerned about the community college at this stage and where this is going,” he says.
WTOP’s Mark Segraves contributed to this report. Follow @SegravesWTOP and @WTOP on Twitter.
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