UCM announces hiring freeze

Higher education funding is not immune to the lagging economy, but not all schools would feel the same pinch if the state cuts funding.

The University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg recently announced a hiring freeze in anticipation of cuts in its state appropriations.

About 46 percent of the university’s budget comes from state funding. This year, UCM received nearly $60 million from the state.

The hiring freeze reflects concerns about decreased appropriations, said university spokesman Jeff Murphy.

“The president wanted to provide flexibility and looking ahead at what has been going on in the state budgetarily, and we want to be prepared if there are some cutbacks in preparation for the next fiscal year,” Murphy said.

The university has 39 open faculty and staff positions.

“The vice presidents will review each of these positions on a case-by-case basis and determine which ones will need to be filled,” Murphy said of the full-time positions.

Part-time positions may be affected, but student jobs will not.

“We have students in a number of positions part-time across campus, and we realize that’s an important way” students pay tuition, he said.

State Fair Community College has no plans to freeze hiring, said SFCC President Marsha Drennon, but will still watch its budget carefully.

“Every year, we try to plan for the possibility of withholding in our operating budget,” she said.

SFCC receives about 17 percent of its $1.8 million operating budget from the state.

“We are state-assisted, not state supported,” she said.

The college has watched its hiring carefully over the past few years to address costs.

“For the last three years, (when) we have retirements or people who leave our employment, before we ever rehire, we look at positions and aligning positions,” said Drennon. “We are constantly analyzing the cost of our programs, our cash flow analysis, and we typically, community colleges run pretty lean and mean, so we are prepared for these eventualities.”