University of Vermont seeks 3% base increase, $1 million cancer initiative and $1 million GaN tech hub from state

The University of Vermont asked the state Appropriations Committee on April 1 to approve a 3% increase to its core state appropriation for fiscal 2026 and to fund two one-time initiatives: a Vermont Cancer Initiative and a gallium nitride (GaN) technology hub.

Richard Kate, vice president for finance and administration at the University of Vermont, told the committee the 3% increase is included in the budget recommendation that reached the legislature and would fund items listed in the university’s budget narrative, including the Larner College of Medicine, extension and tuition support. “We are very appreciative of that, and we’re hopeful that you can approve of that,” Kate said.

Kate said the university faces rising costs for employee health insurance and uncertainty from possible federal changes to cost recovery on grants. “We are being impacted by a lot of the things that are going on at the federal level right now,” he said. Kate said UVM had anticipated some cost increases and put mitigation plans in place, but said further federal changes could force difficult funding decisions and that any additional state funding would be “greatly appreciated.”

In addition to the 3% base increase, UVM asked for two one-time investments. The Vermont Cancer Initiative request is for $1 million per year for five years; the university framed the request as a multiyear effort to support cancer research and related activities. The GaN tech hub request is a one-time $1,000,000 startup ask intended to help Vermont companies commercialize gallium nitride technology; Kate described the state funding as seed/start-up money that federal funds cannot be used to pay for.

The university said the House budget included $750,000 for the tech hub but did not include funding for the cancer initiative. The executive director of government relations at the University of Vermont said the tech hub work will proceed regardless of the state ask because the university had raised private funds after an earlier application was not initially successful; she said an organization the transcript identifies as “m e MENC” provided almost $4,000,000 to continue tech hub efforts while the university awaited federal notice.

Committee members pressed university officials about potential impacts if federal grant reimbursements shrink. Kate said UVM is trying to determine how specific parts of the university — notably the Larner College of Medicine and graduate medical education — would be affected. “It will certainly have a significant impact if the changes that are being talked about come to pass,” he said, adding that the university wants to be “nimble” without overreacting until federal policy changes are finalized.

Kate and the executive director reported that UVM has experienced some subaward cancellations (described in the meeting as “redlining”) from partner institutions such as the University of Maine and from a subaward at the University of Texas at Austin; they said those losses have been smaller to date than the potential larger changes being discussed at the federal level.

Committee members also asked about enrollment and workforce supports that appear in UVM’s narrative. University staff said undergraduate and graduate enrollment remained strong and that the May 1 deadline for admitted students would clarify final numbers. On physician recruitment, officials said a tuition-support program for primary care doctors has been run for several years to encourage practitioners to remain in Vermont; Kate said the state shortfall for primary care physicians is “between 80 and 90 doctors.” He also noted federal loan-forgiveness programs that encourage rural practice may be at risk pending federal developments.

No formal committee action or vote was recorded in the transcript excerpt. University officials provided the committee with a budget narrative and answered questions; committee members asked the university to follow up on specific program details, including the status of the primary-care tuition-support program and the precise scope of graduate medical education impacts.

The committee hearing included some non-substantive remarks about university branding and logos that were not part of the budget discussion and are not reported here.

Article provenance: interview and presentation to the state Appropriations Committee on April 1, 2025, as recorded in the committee transcript.