CUA Freezes Hiring, Asks for 5% Budget Cuts

The economic crisis has officially hit Catholic University.

University President Rev. David M. O’Connell has placed a temporary freeze on hiring both new and replacement positions at the University effective immediately, according to a letter O’Connell sent to faculty and staff on Wednesday. He also placed temporarily halted capital spending, including projects previously approved in the current fiscal year, and asked vice-presidents to reduce their current budgets by 5 percent.

O’Connell sent the letter to members of faculty and staff on the morning of Oct. 12. The Tower obtained the letter through a recipient. Victor Nakas, University spokesman, said the letter was intended for faculty and staff, and did not comment further.

“Like all institutions and businesses across the country, CUA has been affected by the credit markets and the economy,” said O’Connell in the letter.

O’Connell emphasized that his message was not “fraught with panic but, rather, carries with it a sense of reasonable caution and financial prudence: we cannot maintain a ‘business as usual’ approach.”

He said his decisions “are not drastic measures, but they are strategies that will have an impact on the entire University, some areas more than others.” He said they are consistent with what is going on in colleges, universities and businesses across the nation to protect institutions against adverse risk.

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, located adjacent to campus, also had to lay off employees, according to the Washington Times.

The University’s endowment, which supplements the annual operating budget, declined in value from an all-time high of $227 million to a low of $144 million and, as of October 31, $159 million.
“I am confident that, with careful monitoring, oversight and cooperation, we will weather the current financial storm as we continue to offer the highest quality of education available today,” said O’Connell.

O’Connell asked the vice presidents to draft up plans to reduce their current budgets by Dec. 10 at the latest.

The budget planning process for fiscal year 2010, which runs from May 2009 until April 30, 2010, is already underway, said O’Connell. He said the budget committee will examine all aspects of University operations.

“Tuition and fees, which constitute 64 percent of our annual budget revenue, will be raised as modestly as possible,” said O’Connell. The tuition must be approved by the Board of Trustees, which is convening in mid-December.

- Ben Newell, Tower Staff, contributed to this article.

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