Budget Cuts

This morning, my university (like many universities, I'm sure) announced a series a dramatic budget cuts. Of course, things like this start at the top. Our (university) president sent an email outlining an optimistic vision of the long-term future coupled with a cautious vision of the short-term and a recognition that no one knows when the short-term will fade and we will be in the long-term. The president's message certainly had ominous tones to it, but that email was followed by an equally ominous but more specific response from my chair (the lame duck chair, not the interim who takes over in January). Up to the point, travel to conferences was funded to some degree, whether or not you were presenting a paper. Now, if you aren't presenting a paper, travel will not be funded. They are "suggesting" that people who were traveling to NCA but not presenting forego their trip. They are also cutting back on food at departmental get-togethers (eliminating NCA party, potlucks for department holiday party, no bagels at faculty meetings, etc.). Perhaps most disturbing in the announcements was that hires are being frozen, although there was no indication of what that means for the current ongoing searches. Our chair thinks that searches underway will probably continue, but that any vacancies by departures (including our chair who "officially" departs at the end of the 08-09 school year) will go unfilled.

This is probably the first time that I have personally felt any of the economic recession. And don't get me wrong, even with these changes, I count myself very blessed. I'm still not sure how much I'll feel these changes, particularly this year. They are cutting back on office supplies, so I should probably start hoarding like I anticipate other will. (It's interesting to think about bartering notepads for pens and paper clips for candy from the vending machine.) I wonder what this will do to internal grants. You have to think that they will be reduced. Funding faculty research has always been a top priority, and there are those who know how important it is to not lose how far we've come. I may email the dean in charge of research for his thoughts. I also wonder about external grants, and how much more competitive they'll be. I'm working on an NSF proposal right now, and I'm anticipating sending another proposal out in the Spring. Things may get a lot tougher, and I may not realize how easy I had it.