C&EN: "Higher ed chemistry departments prep for more upheaval"

Via Chemical and Engineering News, this grim academic news (by Vanessa Zainzinger)

Higher education is in turmoil.

The problem is not just in the US, where colleges and universities have been scrambling to patch holes in their budgets left by funding cuts at the federal and state levels. In the UK, tuition fees that haven’t kept pace with inflation and a sharp decline in international student numbers are forcing chemistry department closures at financially insecure schools. And in India, low government spending on research and development at universities is exacerbated by notorious delays to stipend payouts and a concurrent lack of private funding.

As faculty in these countries try to adjust to a chaotic situation, nobody thinks the new school year is going to be easy—or that the worst is behind them. “In some respects, the impact hasn’t been felt quite yet,” Peter B. Armentrout, professor and former chair of the chemistry department at the University of Utah, says of how federal and state funding cuts have affected his team. “That won’t be until people start trying to renew grants. The real problem right now is everything is still up in the air.”

I can't imagine it's fun to be an academic right now. Full article here. Best wishes for the upcoming school year, professors.