California university makes changes amid slashes to research funding and investigation over campus protests<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The University of Southern California<\/a> announced an immediate hiring freeze for all staff positions, \u201cwith very few critical exceptions\u201d in a letter<\/a> to faculty and staff on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The letter, from USC\u2019s president, Carol Folt, and provost, Andrew Guzman, said the hiring freeze was one of nine steps to cut the school\u2019s operating budget amid deep uncertainty about federal funding \u2013 given sweeping cuts to scientific research, the reorganization of student loans, and an education department investigation accusing the university of failing to protect Jewish students during protests over Israel\u2019s destruction of Gaza following the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLike other major research institutions, USC relies on significant amounts of federal funding to carry out our mission,\u201d the university administrators wrote. \u201cIn fiscal year 2024, for example, we received approximately $1.35 billion in federal funding, including roughly $650 million in student financial aid and $569 million for federally funded research. The health system also receives Medicare, Medicaid, and Medi-Cal payments \u2013 a significant portion of its revenues \u2013 and the futures of those funds are similarly uncertain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The other measures include: permanent budget reductions for administrative units and schools, a review of procurement contracts, a review of capital projects \u201cto determine which may be deferred or paused\u201d, a curtailment of faculty hiring, new restriction on discretionary spending and expenses for travel and conferences, an effort to streamline operations, a halt on merit-based pay increases, and an end to extended winter recess introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two weeks ago, USC was one of 60 schools notified<\/a> by the Department of Education\u2019s Office for Civil Rights of \u201cpotential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n