University of Maine officials announced Thursday that due to uncertainty around state and federal funding, they are pausing new financial offers to graduate students.
UMaine will pause all new offers of fellowships and teaching and research assistantships, but intends to honor any financial commitments already made, according to a University press release.
Peter Howe, member of the UMaine Graduate Workers Union, said the decision is not surprising, but is concerning.
"We understand a lot of Universities have hard choices to make right now, but our experience as grad workers is that when hard choices get made here, it is often us that pay the price," said Howe.
The press release said the funding concern was exacerbated when the Maine Legislature passed a continuing services state budget that flat-funds the University of Maine.
Howe said he believes this decision will have a chilling effect on recruitment for graduate programs.
"If there isn't funding for PhD or master's research positions, grad students simply won't come here, you know, they'll go elsewhere where there's more competitive offers," said Howe.
Howe said he is worried about the future of both the University's research and teaching arms, which he said rely heavily on graduate student labor.
This announcement follows a pause in hiring new faculty and staff announced back in January.
