By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – The University at Buffalo is taking action to trim spending in the wake of Governor David Paterson's mandate on state agencies to cut their budgets by seven percent.
UB is putting in place an immediate 45-day hiring freeze as well as a moratorium on major purchases totaling five thousand dollars or more. The news was delivered to the university community in an email message Wednesday from Provost Satish Tripathi.
He also announced the formation of a University-Wide Strategic Financial Management Advisory Group to offer their views on this latest budgetary crisis. The panel will be composed of faculty, staff and students.
Tripathi said he expects UB's funding to be reduced but it's still not known by how much. Governor Paterson wants to cut $1.2 billion from the current year's budget to close projected future deficits. He's called for an emergency session of the State Legislature on August 19th.