Get Herald RSSThe University will freeze hiring of staff and administrators as part of a broad response to the current economic climate, President Ruth Simmons said in an e-mail to the Brown community and in the monthly faculty meeting Tuesday.
"Beginning immediately and lasting through January, we are pausing hiring for ALL administrative and staff positions that are now vacant or that may become vacant during this period as a result of voluntary turnover," Simmons wrote in the e-mail.
Simmons' e-mail and remarks to professors include plans for a careful review of faculty hires, operating budgets and capital projects. She signaled students should not expect a large increase in tuition and that officials will put an increased focus on fundraising.
With respect to the staff hiring freeze, a Vacancy Review Committee will decide which positions need to be filled with temporary employees, consultants and independent contractors, the e-mail said.
The administrative and staff freeze will not end faculty searches and hiring, Provost David Kertzer '69 P'95 P'98 said in the meeting. In accordance with the faculty expansion proposed in the Plan for Academic Enrichment, faculty searches will go forward, he said.
Simmons warned professors, however, that the searches will be "carefully reviewed" to ensure that new hires are both necessary and a great asset to the University's teaching and research abilities.
The hiring freeze is just one of the steps the University is taking to deal with a tight budget after the global economic meltdown. In light of the poor economic climate, the University needs to prepare for families who are unable to pay the bills and donors who cannot follow through on their pledges, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Elizabeth Huidekoper told professors.
Last weekend, Kertzer sent an e-mail to students informing them the University would waive a restriction on registering for classes among some students with outstanding balances.
"Revenue sources across the board are expected to be constrained, if not declining in the near term," Huidekoper wrote in a presentation to the faculty, adding that tuition and fees, gifts, state support and the endowment are all expected to decrease. "We need to adjust to a new base and take it seriously."
In fact, the market value of the endowment has already dropped, Huidekoper said, although she did not detail the exact amount.
Huidekoper also mentioned the increased demand for financial aid and graduate student support spending, which take up 50 percent of the budget. Simmons' e-mail indicated the University Resources Committee, which plans Brown's budget, will likely recommend lower growth in tuition and fees for next year. The lower growth, coupled with a rising need for undergraduate financial aid and graduate student support, means net income is expected to decline, Huidekoper said.
Simmons emphasized the after effects of a loss of major donors, many of whose money is inextricably bound in hedge funds. "A lot of people who were excited to support our work - those people have lost most of their wealth. Gone. Virtually overnight," she told professors, adding that the University will have to face an "enormous amount of work" to see where it stands financially.
In her e-mail, Simmons wrote University officials will spend more time on fundraising. "This will mean that our administrative schedules should be adjusted during this period to accommodate more emphasis on revenue generation," she wrote.
There are, however, four elements of the University budget that are controllable, Huidekoper said, including capital projects, staffing and enrollment levels, compensation and miscellaneous expenses. These were the "leverages" Simmons used when designing her plan to address potential revenue shortages, Huidekoper added.
In addition to the hiring freeze on staff and administration, Simmons said in her e-mail the University will review its capital projects to determine which renovation, construction, technology and infrastructure projects need to be deferred or halted.
"We need to assess the capital projects. We can reallocate resources or delay projects," she said, adding that the Corporation will make final decisions on how to proceed with those efforts.
In her e-mail, Simmons emphasized the importance of broad community participation in the University's decision-making process.
"Other universities are saying, 'Here's what we're going to do,'" Simmons told the faculty. "Brown is trying to maintain the system of government and open up the discussion to the community."
Despite the economic setbacks, Simmons was insistent that the University should continue to advance. "We need to continue to increase growth. We cannot return to the dark ages where we simply stopped doing things," she said, adding that people need to get psychologically ready for new things to be launched.
"Brown has been here for a long time, and it will still be here when the crisis is over," Simmons said, adding that "there are some places that have disappeared for all time."
In all, Simmons maintained an optimistic view of the future of the University and the economy, saying new presidential leadership could inspire change. "If people are hopeful about the new leadership ... A positive trajectory could make a difference," she said.
