Harvard Divinity School plans budget cuts

Harvard Divinity School is freezing faculty salaries, postponing some searches, hinting at layoffs, and acknowledging that it will not meet its goal of fully funding the tuition of all needy students by next year, according to a memo to the school's faculty and staff from Dean William A. Graham. The memo, which was reported by Bloomberg, outlines how Graham plans to comply with university-wide budget-cutting measures necessitated by the recession and Harvard's falling endowment. Here is the key section of the memo:

"Our priorities and some of the steps HDS is taking in light of current budget guidance from the University are as follows:

•Our top priority is maintaining the levels of student financial aid now being offered. This year, 72 percent of the 90 percent of HDS students with need are receiving grants to cover at least full tuition and fees. Many of these students are also receiving stipends toward living expenses. With the change in financial situation, it appears that HDS will now be unable to reach our earlier goal of funding at least full tuition and fees for all students with need by FY10. Nevertheless, we do not want to lose ground; therefore we intend to maintain the level of aid currently being offered and to keep next year's tuition increases within the normal range.

•Following University-wide guidelines, HDS faculty and administrative/professional (exempt) staff salaries will remain flat for FY10 (with exceptions to meet necessary equity adjustments); HUCTW (union) staff will receive salary increases as outlined in the union contract.

•The pace of faculty growth will need to be slower than planned, with some faculty searches postponed. We are also reducing sharply the current number of visiting and adjunct positions, appointing only those absolutely necessary to cover gaps in the curriculum.

•We also expect to slow the pace of our facilities-renewal projects, carefully weighing key timing considerations and taking advantage of opportunities to reduce operating costs through energy conservation.

•Our events, travel, and catering budgets are under close scrutiny and will be cut in ways we can all live with.

•We have been reviewing all of our non-degree programs and our academic support mechanisms, seeking to identify costs that might be reduced or temporarily eliminated without affecting our core programs or the quality and extent of our curriculum.

•We will continue to review all HDS publications, evaluating what should continue in print and where web publications may be of greater utility.

From the start of the emerging global economic crisis last fall, we have hoped to meet the School's financial challenges without reducing staff. As we reexamine priorities for our various activities and programs, it has become clear that this will inevitably involve a review of staffing configurations. In an effort to minimize impact to employees we are looking—and will continue to look closely and to think creatively—to see if we should arrange things differently and make do without filling vacancies as they arise. If situations arise in which the shifting of priorities leads to staff reductions, we want to assure everyone that, particularly in light of the tight job market, we will seek to provide all possible assistance and support to any affected employee."

(Photo of Harvard Divinity School by Tom Herde of the Globe staff.)