UVI President Warns: Local & Fed Cuts Equal Layoffs

M.A. Dworkin

USVI - Dr. Safiya George, President of the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) testified at the Capital Building on St. Thomas, before the 36th Legislature’s Committee on Budget, Appropriations, and Finance, chaired by Senator Novelle E. Francis Jr., speaking to issues involving the UVI’s budget requests for the Fiscal Year 2026 Executive Budget. 

Despite continued progress, Dr. George related to the Committee that UVI faces significant challenges in FY 2026 due to local budget cuts, delayed allotments, and the loss of six federal grants totaling $3.5 million. Those grants impacted biomedical research, climate resilience, and student support. 

National policy shifts, specifically on policies targeted by the Trump Administration, further threaten funding for higher education, diversity, equity, inclusion, and environmental programs, limiting UVI’s ability to serve historically underserved populations. President George related these setbacks have resulted in faculty layoffs, reduced research opportunities, and jeopardized key initiatives such as the NIH U-RISE and the $20 million NSF Ridge to Reef Project. With increasing demand for the Free Tuition Program and other student aid initiatives, UVI is requesting just under $50 million for general fund operations and additional support to sustain its mission of equity, access, and economic development in the Territory. 

However, Governor Albert Bryan Jr. has recommended a General Fund lump-sum just under $35 million for FY 2026.  

As Senators considered the FY 2026 budget requests they were informed there are at least four years of outstanding federal audits that have yet to be completed by UVI, jeopardizing tens of millions in future federal funding, of which UVI has already lost millions in federal funds due to the tardiness of the audits. 

“We are working feverishly on these audits dating back to 2021,” said Dr. George who only recently took the position as UVI President. “As soon as I started on August 1, 2024, that was the main issue that faced me… We have had to hire six additional consultants in order to get up to speed…It is the UVI’s plan to come back into compliance in order to complete the audits.”