To Faculty, Staff and Students

To Faculty, Staff and Students,
As you probably are aware, the federal government has implemented a partial shutdown because of unresolved issues concerning the federal budget. The Western Carolina University leadership team is actively monitoring this situation and coordinating closely with the appropriate agencies of the federal and state governments. This is what we know at this time:

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  Financial aid programs should continue to operate. These include direct loans, Pell grants, and other federal student aid. Students who are receiving federal financial aid should not experience any changes to their awards. There may be delays in processing during a prolonged shutdown.
  

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  Federally funded grant programs are expected to be affected in different ways, depending on the granting agencies and funding timeframes. We are working directly with those persons and programs affected by the shutdown.  
  

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As additional information becomes available, we will share it with campus. We cannot predict how long the federal government shutdown might last. A long-term shutdown could present challenges for some areas of our campus.  We will continue assessing the potential impact of the shutdown to determine what steps the campus may need to take moving forward. Please share this information with employees and other interested parties who do not have access to email. 
Robert Edwards

Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance