Yale, Duke Halt Growth, Thanks to Economy

Yale president Richard Levin announced that construction on two new residential colleges would be delayed, and that the parts of the university's budget—staff salaries and nonpersonnel costs—would be reduced 7.5 percent as opposed to the previously reported 5 percent.

Duke is preparing plans to "gradually" shrink its budget by more than 5 percent per year, roughly $100 million, over about two years. "What you're going to see is Duke become a smaller place over time," said Duke's executive vice president. Personnel will likely be hit first, with likely hundreds of nonvital positions left unfilled.

The University of Idaho has warned six nontenured faculty in its math department to start looking for jobs. Although they have not yet been formally laid off, a 7 to 10 percent budget cut is not a particularly encouraging outlook.

About 250 employees at Iowa State have volunteered for furloughs, saving the university around $420,000 or approximately 7 percent of the budget cuts needed.

Texas Christian University's athletic department is cutting back, making plans order equipment in bulk, planning travel further in advance, and scheduling competitions that are closer to home.

Bowling Green State University will cut off Saturday mail service in the dorms, which will save the school $50,000 a year.

Nicholls State University has cut the free printing allotment for students from 250 pages a semester to 100.