Members of the City Commission are hesitant to create a petition against proposed budget cuts to UF’s College of Engineering Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering.
A graduate student in the engineering college stood in front of the commission Thursday afternoon and asked commissioners to draft a petition in opposition to the CISE cuts.
The City Commission did not comply.
“I just don’t see any action we can take at this time that would be helpful,” Commissioner Jeanna Mastrodicasa said.
Though he did not comment on cuts to CISE, Mayor Craig Lowe said he did not support decisions made by the state legislation that cut higher education funding, which he called “short-sighted.”
Commissioner Todd Chase said he was uncomfortable making judgements on a specific college dean’s decision to deal with budget acts, referring to College of Engineering Dean Cammy Abernathy, who proposed the CISE cuts.
“These cuts are from the state government,” Chase said. “That is who you’d have to have your difference of opinion with.”
Chase and Mastrodicasa said discussion about the subject is good, but they said they do not foresee the commission drafting a petition in the future.
Contact Adrianna Paidas at apaidas@alligator.org.
