The University of Washington will freeze hiring of non-essential staff and faculty and take other steps to cut costs amid uncertainty about state and federal funding.
While the university’s financial position is good, “unprecedented and rapid policy changes at the federal level” have upped the risk of funding cuts, Tricia Serio, UW provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, wrote in a blog post dated March 9.
The university’s belt-tightening measures come while colleges nationwide, including private universities such as Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other Big Ten colleges such as the University of Wisconsin, scale back hiring as the Trump administration has sought to cut public funding for research.
Serio said the university also plans to cancel non-essential travel and training and decrease discretionary spending, among other measures.
National data show that the University of Washington is consistently one of the country’s top spenders on research and development.
Budget issues closer to home also pose a risk. The state Legislature is considering cuts and furloughs amid a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall.
“These risks together have the potential to jeopardize the full scope of our work, including existing and new research projects, patient care, instruction and basic operations,” Serio wrote.
Serio also pointed to the university’s Together We Thrive initiative, which began earlier this year and is meant to modify operations and administration to boost the university’s “long-term financial health.”
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“We are advocating for the UW by communicating the importance of our work for a thriving and secure future, including keeping the economy strong and the population healthy, for our communities, the state of Washington, the nation and the world,” Serio said. “At the same time, we must also do our part to protect our future in the face of these unknowns.”
University of Washington spokesperson Victor Balta said the university did not have “a specific target for expected savings that these initial measures would yield.”
“These initial steps are prudent measures being taken in the wake of financial uncertainty at the federal and state levels,” Balta said in an email.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights notified dozens of colleges across the country, including the University of Washington, that they could face enforcement under federal civil rights law if Jewish students weren’t protected from antisemitic discrimination and harassment. Three other colleges in the state also got the letters.
The Trump administration canceled $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia University for what it said was the university’s failure to act on the “persistent harassment” of Jewish students.
The University of Washington reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education in January – before Trump’s inauguration – intended to ensure the university complies with federal civil rights law after the agency reviewed the university’s handling of discrimination complaints.
Last month, in an email to staff, Washington State University also warned of potential hiring freezes and budget cuts.
