President Kirk Schulz and Provost Dan Bernardo hope to ensure that the university moves into the Center for Measuring University Performance’s (CMUP) list of Top 25 Public Research Institutions and increase student retention and graduation rates.

But how will we achieve these goals if we repeatedly cut our library budget and, in turn, publication and journal subscriptions provided?

This year alone, our library proposed a $280,000 budget cut, which would cancel subscriptions to publisher databases and journals.

The library is a crucial resource for undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty.

Continuing to cut our library budget, especially while other budgets balloon well over their limits, poses a serious risk to the goals proposed by President Schulz and Provost Bernardo.

For example, the CMUP ranking evaluates institutions along nine measures including faculty awards and doctorates awarded.

If our library is incapable of supplying our University with prompt access to recent publications in our fields of study, how can faculty develop cutting-edge research agendas to qualify for these sought after awards?

How will graduate students be able to complete their degrees in a timely fashion without access to the research that drives and informs their own developing careers?

I would encourage President Schulz and Provost Bernardo to seriously consider how the goals can be implemented in the current climate, especially if our library continues to receive and propose these cuts.