The University of Chicago announced another round of staff layoffs and academic cuts as it faces a persistent budget deficit and shrinking federal support.<\/p>\n
In an August 28 email<\/a> to faculty, President Paul Alivisatos said the university must reduce expenses by $100 million to address both a \u201cstructural set of budget difficulties\u201d and recent federal policy changes. So far about 300 staff positions have been eliminated, mostly in support services, with another 100 to 150 cuts expected this year.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The university has already tried to control spending through hiring freezes, a voluntary retirement incentive and tighter monitoring of staff positions. But the path forward, Alivisatos said, will require further \u201cclear-eyed reassessment,\u201d including scaling back doctoral programs and closing some of the university\u2019s 140 centers and institutes.<\/p>\n \u201cThese plans require difficult choices and will result in the University stopping some good and worthy endeavors,\u201d he wrote in a separate August 28 email to staff<\/a>, \u201cwhile growing others that are most fundamental to our core mission.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The university\u2019s Office of the Provost notes on its website<\/a> that faculty hiring will slow by about 30% compared to recent years, with a focus on recruiting assistant professors. Provost Katherine Baicker said in a separate message to faculty<\/a> that a faculty committee will study retirement options.\u00a0<\/p>\n Administrative leadership positions will be reduced both centrally and within divisions and schools, in part by consolidating responsibilities across fewer leaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOne mechanism for doing this is to ask leaders to take on multiple responsibilities, offering the benefit both of a smaller administrative footprint and of more integrated activities,\u201d Baicker wrote. \u201cAnother mechanism is to stop certain programs and activities, understanding that fewer people cannot carry forward the same workload.\u201d<\/p>\n As administrative roles are reduced, the website says the university is making \u201cefforts to reduce faculty administrative responsibilities\u201d to ensure they have time to dedicate to core teaching and research functions.<\/p>\n \u201cRather than a uniform reduction of staff, positions will more likely be associated with programs that are discontinued or areas where activities will wind down,\u201d the website reads. \u201cThe aim is to do fewer things well, rather than doing the same things with fewer people.\u201d<\/p>\n The university has said that this time it will not pursue \u201cacross the board\u201d benefit reductions, hiring freezes or budget cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n The university is also moving to reduce its Ph.D. population by 30% by 2030. Admissions to many humanities and social science Ph.D.s were paused late last month<\/a>, and science units are being told to place students on grants more quickly and shorten the time it takes to get a degree.<\/p>\n \u201cEven as the costs for supporting these students have gone up substantially, external support for doctoral students, especially federal resources, are much tighter,\u201d Alivisatos wrote.<\/p>\n As doctoral admissions are being scaled back, university officials said they are considering growing undergraduate enrollment \u2014 and potentially master\u2019s programs as well, though admissions for some of those programs are paused in the short term.<\/p>\n Unrestricted funding for research centers and institutes will also be reduced by at least 20%<\/a> through stretched-out funding, fundraising pushes or outright closures. The review process, officials said, will weigh factors such as financial sustainability and \u201cintellectual vibrancy.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Capital projects will also be scaled back. Future initiatives will require 75% of funding secured before breaking ground, and Alivisatos wrote that projects will prioritize philanthropic or external support, rather than university dollars. The long-planned New Engineering and Science Building will shrink in size and budget, though the Chicago Quantum Exchange facility and teaching labs will remain.<\/p>\n At an April budget town hall<\/a>, officials blamed lost federal research grants, reduced reimbursements, canceled student visas and declining investment income for deepening the deficit, pegged at $221 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n The university did not respond to questions about the timing of layoffs or which staff will be affected. The U. of C.\u2019s website notes another budget town hall is planned for September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The University of Chicago announced another round of staff layoffs and academic cuts as it faces a persistent…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":212497,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,9879,5386,1818,425,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-212496","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-evening_digest","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-illinois","12":"tag-local","13":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115173706042515772","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}