SAS to freeze faculty hiring, cut staff posts

The School of Arts and Sciences froze hiring of tenure track faculty for the next two years due to concerns about the recession. According to changes announced in a memo to department chairpersons this week, budget limitations have also forced the School to cut at least 10 support staff positions and stop hiring junior faculty. The freeze, which is effective immediately, is not a sign that the School is in a desperate situation, but is a precautionary measure, SAS Dean Rosemary Stevens said. Both the national recession and the unpredictability of state appropriations has placed an unusual strain on the School's budget, Stevens said. She added that external grant monies will probably be lower this year, and added that SAS will not fully realize the benefits of the $1 billion Capital Campaign for several years. Because of these realities, actions have been taken to economically maintain the school. Tenured faculty, for one, will not be hired until the situation changes. Professors who have received offers before this decision will still be considered, however, along with those hired to fill specific fully-endowed chairs. The College will not appoint any new junior faculty members, except for those already given offers and those areas where teaching and research are necessary. The budget constraints will also affect purchases of equipment and hires of part-time personnel. Despite these drastic changes, faculty members said this week they do not believe the budget cuts should incite panic. "We're very sad to propose limitations for hiring," Associate Dean for Humanities Richard Beeman said. "But the School basically is in good shape." Beeman said the University is generally well-managed and these budget cuts are a way to keep the University from facing a desperate situation later. Dean Stevens shared these sentiments, saying the budget constraints merely act to "nourish, protect and cultivate what we have in terms of students and faculty." "It's a short-term problem," Beeman added. English Department Chairperson John Richetti shared these feelings, noting that peer institutions including Yale University, Columbia University and Stanford University are "swimming in an ocean of red ink." Richetti said that comparatively speaking, the University is faring well and is not in dire straits. He added that he believes it is too early to tell how specific departments will be affected, but said "the English Department is confident that Dean Stevens has done the right thing." Stevens agreed that the University, on the whole, is not in bad shape economically like other institutions are. And although these constraints have been implemented, the school still is responsive to change and innovation, Stevens said. "We are in a recession," said Dean Stevens, "but we are on a positive course that invites a lot of innovation."

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