Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Support independent student journalism. Support independent student journalism. Support independent student journalism.
The Dartmouth
March 28, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Budget woes are widespread

Like Dartmouth, other colleges across the nation have announced decisions to either cut budgets or freeze spending, although the severity of these cuts varies greatly according to each school's individual situation.

Cornell University recently announced that it will lay off 20 employees in its College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, according to Henrik Dullea, Cornell's vice president for university relations.

Cornell has also announced plans to close down an expansion center on Long Island for its School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Dullea said.

Whenever possible, the laid-off employees would be assigned to other jobs within Cornell, he said.

Mark Nichols, director of the news service at Brown, painted a brighter picture of his school's budgetary situation.

While Brown has not yet made final decisions about its budget for the next fiscal year, Brown President Ruth Simmons recently announced during a faculty meeting that there would be no layoffs, according to Nichols.

Although Brown is not currently planning to lay off employees, Nichols did indicate that Brown's budget has been affected by the downturn in the national economy.

The implementation of Brown's Initiative for Academic Enrichment, a broad program that involves improving academic departments and facilities, will be delayed, Nichols said.

Brown is, however, sticking to its plan to adopt a need-blind admissions policy next fall, he said. Brown announced its plan to adopt this policy last winter; it was the last Ivy League college to do so.

Ed McFarlane, vice president and treasurer of Reed College, indicated that Reed was not planning any across-the-board budget cuts in the near future.

He said, however, that Reed was receiving less revenue from its endowment than it has in past years, and that they were expecting "very slow growth" over the next year or so.

Similarly, spokesperson Evie Lazzarino at Claremont McKenna College said that her school had already reduced its budget for this fiscal year in anticipation of problems.

Lazzarino said that Claremont McKenna has not explicitly discussed or determined whether future tightening will be required.

All administrators from other schools contacted by The Dartmouth hesitated to compare their schools' budgetary situation to Dartmouth's, citing the uniqueness of every school's financial situation and their lack of familiarity with Dartmouth's.

Dullea nonetheless noted that Cornell's location in and financial dependence on New York state has made it particularly vulnerable. New York was hit harder economically than many other states after the Sept. 11 attacks, he said.

On the other hand, Cornell's alumni have remained especially generous. In one recent survey, Cornell was ranked No. 1 in the country for alumni giving, according to Dullea.

Lazzarino said Claremont McKenna's foresight helped prevent the school from having to make severe budget cuts.

"We did anticipate the situation, and cuts were made before the situation became worse," she said.