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.