University of Chicago leaders said Tuesday a yearslong effort to close a $288 million structural deficit is on track, with the gap expected to shrink to about $140 million by June. U. of C. President Paul Alivisatos, Provost Katherine Baicker and chief financial officer Ivan Samstein addressed faculty and staff at Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 E. 59th St., offering updates on the university’s financial health amid uncertainty over federal research grants, a potential economic downturn and a unionization drive announced the previous day by workers at the University of Chicago Press. Campus leaders also outlined plans to use artificial intelligence to trim administrative costs and said staff would see their first meaningful pay raises in years.