Freeze on new staff hires starts

By Jocelyn Wright     1/8/09 6:00pm

In light of the recent global financial crisis, Rice has instituted a temporary staff hiring freeze and is asking that departments reduce their non-compensation operating expenses by 1 percent . The budget reductions should result in total university savings of $600,000, according to Vice President for Finance Kathy Collins.

The freeze, which was implemented Dec. 1, will be reevaluated around March, President David Leebron said.

"We're facing a range of financial challenges which so far are less severe than other universities, so we're responding with cautious measures," Leebron said.

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The freeze does not apply to academic appointments, and there is a system in place to make exceptions if a new position is vital for student welfare, Leebron said. Since it takes a couple months to fill a new position, students are unlikely to feel the effects of the hiring freeze immediately.

There may, however, be instances where students notice a slightly lower level of service. Although Rice has made an effort to address student concerns quickly, Leebron said they might experience delays in addressing issues that involve new expenditures.

The hiring freeze will not keep Duncan and McMurtry Colleges, which are scheduled to open next year, from being staffed appropriately, Director of News and Media Relations B.J. Almond said.

In terms of academics, departments are still able to hire new faculty members, so students will not experience a reduction in the number and variety of courses offered. Leebron said now is a good time to be looking for new people, provided they meet very high standards.

Compensation accounts for approximately two-thirds of the university budget. During the 2008 fiscal year, Rice hired 451 non-temporary staff - approximately 38 employees per month, Almond said. The hiring freeze will give Rice the opportunity to save money this year to accumulate reserves for times of economic difficulty and to efficiently organize the budget, Leebron said.

"We want to pause and take a breath and not have people making unwise decisions," he said. "Right now we're taking modest measures to avoid making decisions which we will regret three months from now."

Rice is also asking departments to rethink a small percentage of their budgets that are not directed toward salaries.

These measures seek to cut monetary expenses that are not bringing any benefits to students, Leebron said.

To further reduce unnecessary expenses, Leebron also asked students, faculty and staff to reduce their energy use in an e-mail sent on Tuesday. According to the e-mail, Rice's energy costs increased 40 percent last year, although consumption remained relatively stable.

"Energy is a huge expense which we can reduce," Leebron said.

He encouraged university members to decrease power use on their computers, to turn out lights in classrooms and offices when they are not in use and to purchase more energy-efficient office supplies.

Rice is not the only university that is cutting back on its expenses with temporary hiring freezes.

According to a survey of over 200 colleges and universities about how they have been affected by the recession conducted by the Chronicle of Higher Education, 58 percent have implemented a partial hiring freeze on staff position, 7 percent have begun a total freeze on staff hiring, 43 percent have a partial hiring freeze on faculty positions and five percent have a total hiring freeze on faculty. Twenty-six percent are considering layoffs and 11 percent have made actual layoffs.

Rice does not release interim figures on its endowment's performance, but as far as the administration is aware, it is not down as much as universities reporting losses of 25 to 30 percent, Leebron said.

However, considering the recession, Leebron said Rice cannot expect to see as much of an increase from endowment payoff.

"We remain in pretty good financial shape and have followed a range of prudent policies," he said.

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