Update:

Fitzy at the Herald explains the obvious about Devals pressure from state colleges like UMass Boston but also from congress.

"Congress has slapped on spending restrictions and timetables, and Gov. Deval Patrick has set up an office to oversee expenditures. But Patrick, who will wield tremendous power over how money is distributed, is already feeling pressure from his own agencies, and local municipalities and school districts, state colleges, businesses, unions and others to earmark money for their pet projects. If the governor’s own preliminary "shovel ready" projects list is any indication, there could be some highly questionable requests — such as for public swimming pools, tennis courts, golf courses, museums and other items Congress has frowned upon."

USA: $787B + 3.5M Jobs
Massachusetts: $6B / $10B+ + 79K Jobs

You can also comment on Jays post here:

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/2009_02_14_Get_ready_to_spend_it:_Mass__getting_billions_from_stimulus/

Fitzgerald, Jay. "Get Ready to spend it." Boston Herald 14 Feb. 2009, Business Today ed.: 16.
 

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I would like to see how this plays out. Stimulus packages, increased Pell grants and other offsetting variables may exist, please comment on the below document passed around campus.

Governor Deval Patrick
Massachusetts State House
Office of the Governor
Room 360
Boston, MA 02133

Dear Governor Deval Patrick,

“Public higher education is critical to our economy”

    These words were written on page 24 of your 2005 policy booklet. We need affordable public higher education now more than ever. We are in an economic recession that has sent applications to state schools, including the UMass system, through the roof. Students want an affordable, high quality education that our state system provides, and those who have lost their jobs are going back to school to retrain and return to a more favorable job market with a diverse set of skills. A majority of those individuals will remain in the state and be the core of our workforce. The state of Massachusetts must invest in the capability and education of its future work force; otherwise the state will lose an economic edge that an educated workforce provides.
    It is with this in mind that we call for you to ask the legislature to provide more funding to the higher education system than you initially recommended. The 9C cuts have done enough damage to the state’s higher education system. Furthering these cuts will likely mean cutting of entire programs, an overdependence on part-time faculty, and tremendous fee increases that will hinder access to higher education across the state. The state’s higher education system has been in dire need of state funding for years. Over the course of the last ten years, fees have nearly double in the UMass system. ¹ It is unwise in such dire times to cut $100 million from the higher education budget when schooling is necessary for our workforce and the state’s economic recovery. Working with a deficit may be illegal in Massachusetts, but creative solutions and redirection of funds would at the very least decrease the cuts. Please reconsider your proposal, and ask the legislature to ignore your recommended cuts to higher education. This state needs an educated work force to bring about an economic recovery, and cutting $100 million and hindering access will not bring any benefit to this state.

Sincerely,

The students of the University of Massachusetts Boston

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¹ Calculated from figures provided by the UMass President’s Office