MIT looks to slice $50m from budget

Will postpone dorm renovations

First, Boston University called for a freeze on hiring and future construction last month. Then last week Harvard announced possible cuts to programs and compensation. Now MIT plans to cut $50 million and delay renovations to an undergraduate dorm.

One by one, university presidents are drafting sobering letters to faculty, students, and alumni to brace them for the tough times ahead and prepare their communities to weather a variety of cuts.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the latest local university to announce budget cuts, plans to trim its budget by 10 percent to 15 percent in the next two or three years, according to a recent letter by Susan Hockfield, president, and L. Rafael Reif, provost. It will start by reducing next year's approximately $1 billion general fund budget by 5 percent.

"The continuing uncertainty about the length and depth of the economic downturn makes accurate predictions impossible," Hockfield and Reif wrote Monday evening. "However, we must take action now to plan for a protracted period of financial constraint."

The letter warned of a potential slowdown in hiring, but did not detail what cuts would be made. Neither Hockfield nor Reif were available for comment yesterday. "Future years will undoubtedly require additional cuts by all units," their letter said.

While the economic downturn will probably shrink MIT's endowment, tuition revenue, federal research funding, and pool of major donors, Hockfield and Reif assured the community that the university remains committed to need-blind admission and need-based financial aid for undergraduates.

Construction projects already underway, such as the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and an addition to the Media Lab, will continue, but the university has postponed renovating one of its residence halls to preserve financial flexibility.

Meanwhile, Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences met yesterday to discuss President Drew Faust's call to reduce spending. A Harvard official told the Globe last week that the faculty, the university's largest, is facing $225 million in lost income from its budget because of a projected 30 percent decline in the value of its endowment.

Michael Smith, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, presented several budget scenarios for next year and asked the faculty to help him identify program cuts in coming weeks, said Bob Mitchell, a Harvard spokesman. Smith did not speculate what actions may be taken. "Everything is on the table," Mitchell said.

Tracy Jan can be reached at tjan@globe.com.