Officials in student services are bracing themselves to deal with a university-wide hiring freeze that may leave positions vacant and resources stretched this semester.
Services such as those provided by the University Health Center and the Counseling Center, which receive state funding, will be subjected to budget cuts and a university hiring freeze - a situation that does not allow the university to bring in new faculty.
Dining Services, the Department of Resident Life, the Stamp Student Union and the Department of Transportation Services will be unaffected by state budget cuts as they are supported by student fees rather than state money.
Officials from both the health and counseling centers said that, while students will not bear the brunt of thinning resources, the hiring freeze could pose a problem in the future if economic conditions do not change.
"As of now, services and programs are not being greatly impacted. However, it has caused some staff to take on additional responsibilities," said Kelly Kesler, the assistant director to health promotion at the health center, said. "And as of now, any positions that become vacant will have to be left unfilled." Both the counseling and the health centers intend to fight through the budget cuts and hiring freeze by stretching their existing resources as far as they can, officials said.
The health center is attempting to mitigate the freeze's impact by having existing staff pick up the slack and by being very conservative with its financial resources, Kesler said.
In total, the health center is facing three vacancies that will remain unfilled along with any positions that open up in the coming year.
The counseling center is facing similar problems with a staff psychologist position that will be vacant starting in January.
"If we can't find someone to fill the gap temporarily then we would be down counseling hours," Assistant Director Jonathan Kandell said. "Normally we would run a search for a permanent replacement, but we can't unless [the hiring freeze] is lifted in time."
Counseling center officials insisted students will not notice the staff cut due, in part, to a part-time psychologist that will temporarily alleviate pressure on the center.
"We have already made arrangements prior to the freeze to hire a part-time temporary counselor to make up for loss of time," Kandell said. "But with the implementation of the freeze, it is uncertain as to whether we will be able to hire a permanent full-time counselor for next year, or even if we will be able to again hire a part-time temporary counselor."
University President Dan Mote can grant exceptions to the freeze at the request of one of the university's vice presidents, but said he will do so only if the position in question is essential to the department.
Officials said students should not worry about the quality or amount of services they are receiving, however. Cutting student programs or services would be exercised only as a last resort, they said.
"Our goal is to continue to provide the programs and services that we have always offered," Kesler said. "Future budget cuts may result in a need to modify existing services but our goal is to keep all the services that our students currently have available to them."
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