Temporary suspension of staff hiring
CSU President Larry E. Penley.
September 29, 2008
Precautionary measure
President Penley and Provost Frank Monday announced that Colorado State will temporarily suspend hiring for all non-critical state-classified, administrative professional, and hourly staff positions as a precautionary measure, in light of uncertain state revenue projections and the Governor's announcement last week of a temporary hiring freeze for the executive branch of Colorado government.
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M E M O R A N D U M
TO: Campus Community
FROM: Tony Frank, Provost and Senior Executive VP
As you're aware from the updates President Penley and I sent Friday, the Governor has initiated a hiring freeze for the executive branch of state government, as well as a freeze on new state capital construction. This morning, the President and I reviewed these and related issues with the CSU System Chief Financial Officer and CSU's Vice President for Finance Allison Dineen.
Actions between now and December in the interest of responsible management
At this time, the State does not appear to be considering a mid-year budget rescission, but in the interest of responsible management, we will be taking the following actions between now and the December budget forecasts, at which point we will reassess and decide how to move forward:
- While the Governor's order does not apply to higher education, Colorado State University is temporarily suspending hires for all non-critical state classified, administrative professional, and hourly staff positions.
This suspension will apply to all positions except those on extramural fund sources that are required to meet contract and grant requirements. At present, we do not see a reason to suspend ongoing faculty searches or GTA appointments, and any new faculty searches may move forward with Provost approval.
In implementing this suspension, we recognize that certain staff hires will need to be made between now and December to sustain critical University operations, and some current searches are all but completed. These will be evaluated on a case by case basis. If you have specific questions about an administrative professional hire, please direct those to Interim Vice Provost Sandy Woods at (970) 491-6614. Questions related to hires in all other employee groups should be directed to Vice President Tom Gorell at (970) 491-5257.
- As you know, all capital construction projects we undertake are subject to significant review prior to moving forward, and we don't start projects without funding in place. We bonded at the right time this year and the projects covered by the bond issue will move forward as planned. However, we will not initiate any new bonded construction projects until the markets stabilize.
- Longer term public revenues remain uncertain in this economic climate, and we will be exploring internal reallocation options as part of the FY10 planning and budget process so as to be prepared for contingencies.
We maintain contingency reserves as a precaution for any financial crisis, and those reserves-together with these actions-should put us in a good position to deal with whatever arises. The University's budget has made very positive strides over the past three years, and while there are challenges before us, these precautionary steps should allow us to weather the storm without dismantling the progress of the last four years.
Contact: Cara Neth
Email: Cara.Neth@colostate.edu
Phone Number: (970) 491-6211
