Maryland Universities Implement Spending Freezes
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Spending freezes are now in place at the majority of Maryland's public universities as they prepare for a projected $900 million state budget shortfall over two years.
More than half a dozen universities in the state confirmed Thursday that they have implemented various spending restrictions, including hiring freezes, salary freezes, travel restrictions, and delays of equipment purchases and facility renewal projects.
The freezes come after the University System of Maryland directed each of its 12 institutions to tighten their belts to prepare for a nearly $300 million state budget deficit for the current fiscal year and another projected $600 million in fiscal 2016, The Daily Record reports.
The schools with freezes in place include Salisbury University, the University of Baltimore and the University of Maryland.
The university system is bracing for a budget cut between $40 million to $80 million, according to Frostburg State University President Jonathan Gibralter, who sent a memo to the campus community explaining the situation on Nov. 19.
Although it's unclear how large the expected state budget cuts will be, "it is prudent to begin taking actions that will give us maximum flexibility once the extent of the reductions is known," Freeman Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, wrote in a letter to the campus community.
At Frostburg, administrators are targeting a reduction between $260,000 and $300,000 this fiscal year, university spokeswoman Liz Medcalf said.
She said the school is still working to develop a specific plan to implement the restrictions.
On Nov. 13, Towson University's chief financial officer sent a memo to faculty and staff to say that the university was instituting a hiring freeze and reducing all operating expenditures. Only essential travel would be allowed, he wrote.
In July, Gov. Martin J. O'Malley announced that at least $10 million needed to be trimmed from higher education. It was unclear at the time how much more would have to be cut.
In September, the state Board of Revenue Estimates announced it was reducing its revenue projections by more than $405 million. Last month, legislators learned the state faces a $291 million budget shortfall for the current fiscal year.
(Copyright 2014 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
