Dear faculty and staff,
We are grateful to serve as the flagship institution of a state that has made such significant investments in higher education. Time and again, the Maryland General Assembly and our Governor have shown steadfast support for the impact we have on the state’s prosperity and growth. With this investment comes the responsibility of maintaining the financial sustainability of our university. Exercising fiscal responsibility allows us to continue to carry out our core missions of instruction, research and service.
While the state budget has not yet been passed by the Maryland General Assembly, we are taking a careful look at potential impacts on higher education. Our institution is also closely tied to the federal government, and there are many unknowns about funding stability across agencies. Budget projections in Annapolis and the possibility of reduced federal funding require us to take measures that promote cost savings and maximize efficiencies.
Given the expected budget impacts at both the state and federal levels, the university will be giving judicious consideration to expenditures in order to minimize disruption to our teaching and research missions. UMD will be implementing the following measures, beginning today.
- Hiring reviews:
- Hiring efforts to fill existing, funded positions require additional reviews by the unit’s relevant Vice President for approval of its strategic importance to campus, and by the Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer for financial viability.
- Searches that have completed interviews and have reached the offer letter stage of recruitment as of 3/12/25 may proceed without this review.
- The creation of new regular staff and faculty positions and the execution of new contingent employee contracts (i.e., C1, C2) are paused until further notice.
- Capital project review:
- All new capital, renovation and infrastructure projects will be appraised by the Capital, Infrastructure, and Technology Committee to ensure availability of funding before work can begin. Projects for which contracts have been signed and purchase orders issued may continue at this time.
- Discretionary operating expenditure limits:
- Contracts of $100,000 to $249,999 require review by the unit’s relevant Vice President for approval of its strategic importance to campus.
- Contracts greater than $250,000 require reviews by the unit’s relevant Vice President for approval of its strategic importance to campus, and by the Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer for financial viability.
- While spending at smaller dollar amounts may proceed at the direction of unit leaders, we ask that every decision maker on campus review planned spending on travel, office equipment, consultants and other discretionary items to preserve funding for our core service delivery needs.
Further administrative details will be distributed to college and divisional business officers. We encourage you to continue visiting the federal relations webpage and research webpage, which are updated consistently, for information related to executive orders, memos and agency guidance. Please contact the Office of Research Administration with information about grants affected by federal actions.
We care deeply about our dedicated faculty, staff and students, and recognize that financial constraints may cause concern. The measures that we are taking reflect our commitment to ensuring the financial viability of the university so that the important and impactful work of our faculty, staff and students can continue to move forward.
Sincerely,
Darryll J. Pines
President, University of Maryland
He/Him/His
Jennifer King Rice
Senior Vice President and Provost
She/Her/Hers
Greg Oler
Vice President and CFO
He/Him/His