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University research, budgets take a beating from federal shutdown

The University of Minnesota's Minneapolis campus. House Photography file photo
The University of Minnesota's Minneapolis campus. House Photography file photo

When the federal government shut down, research at the University of Minnesota was held up. The result was that the university lent $10 million to the federal government for which it hopes to be reimbursed.

On Wednesday, the House Higher Education Finance and Policy Division heard from three university administrators about how the partial government shutdown that ended Jan. 25 affected the university – and what might happen if another shutdown occurs in a few weeks.

Besides missed paychecks for researchers funded by federal government programs, there were other effects.

“We had federal partners who were unable to engage with us,” said Chris Cramer, vice president of research and a professor of chemistry. “That includes, for instance, the Department of Agriculture, which has buildings on our St. Paul campus that were closed. The research going on in those buildings was stopped.

“Some research is seasonal,” Cramer added. “You take samples at a certain time of the year. If you miss that part of the year, then you have a one-year delay before you can do it again. We heard from researchers who are working on invasive terrestrial plants, working on oak wilt -- which affects all of Minnesota – and looking at seasonal turnover of the water in lakes, which affects fisheries and aquatic species in general.

“Last year, roughly $200 million was awarded to the university by agencies that were closed as part of the federal shutdown. So it’s by no means a small problem.”

Mike Volna, associate vice president of finance and assistant chief financial officer, said the university’s goal was to shield researchers and graduate students from as much harm as possible.

“We essentially allowed spending to occur on these grants and federal contracts, with the expectation that we would incur those unreimbursed expenses and, when the government shutdown was over, we would be reimbursed,” Volna said. “That total, through yesterday, was about $10.1 million in unreimbursed expenses. We’ve had to float a loan to the federal government. Our hope is that if, on Feb. 15, we end up with another shutdown, that those unreimbursed balances of expenses will have been paid to us."


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