At Tufts University, caution still plays role in faculty hiring decisions two years after recession’s end
The Tufts Daily
November 14, 2011
While the recession that prompted a close examination of the university budget ended over two years ago, it has had a delayed and lingering impact on the university's hiring practices.
The university sees itself in a more stable situation than in 2008 and 2009 and has handled the brunt of the recession "very well" in terms of maintaining a balanced budget and university priorities, according to Executive Vice President Patricia Campbell.
The university, however, continues to proceed cautiously when it comes to managing its finances, and nowhere is this caution more evident than in the hiring practices at both the Schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering.
Since the hiring process generally spans the course of an academic year, there is often a lag in the effect of the economic climate on hiring practices at the university.
Tufts in summer 2009 approved requests for new faculty in the School of Arts and Sciences that were submitted at the end of the 2008−2009 academic year. After the university approved these requests, Tufts conducted searches and made offers for these positions during the 2009−2010 academic year, according to Dean of Academic Affairs for Arts and Sciences Andrew McClellan.
