Campus feels effects of state hiring freeze

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The implications of the statewide budget reduction are
surfacing. Last week, UC President Richard Atkinson announced that
from now until June 2003, a partial hiring freeze ordered by Gov.
Gray Davis will be in effect.

While the freeze will not completely eliminate hiring ““
positions in teaching and administration, those critical to patient
care in hospitals, those paid with work-study funds, and those that
aid professors with research will be exempt ““ it does coerce
the university into determining what jobs are not
“essential.”

This is a dangerous road to travel ““ what we dismiss today
as nonessential may later be determined to be indispensible.

The administration needs to pay close attention to the types of
solutions it chooses to deal with the budget cuts. It needs to
minimize the constraints these cuts will place on the quality of
university programs and services. This is especially true for the
Medical Center, where understaffing at all levels is already a
problem.

The dependence on the state budget and the university’s
conservative fiscal responsibility to the citizenry has hindered
UCLA’s ability to compete with private universities because
it’s ability to expand and fund new programs and services are
stifled due to lack of funds.

If the state continues to fail to provide UCLA with consistent,
adequate funding, UCLA should explore funding in the private
sector, if necessary, so that it can prioritize the students,
faculty and staff who make this university the great place it
is.