Endowment Shrinkage Forces Layoffs at Stanford
Wednesday, Sep 2, 2009 | Updated 10:45 AM PDT
AP
University considers belt-tightening during economic downturn.
Stanford University has laid off 412 employees and plans an additional 60 layoffs later this year to offset a steep drop in the value of its endowment.
Stanford officials said Tuesday that layoffs have been spread throughout its graduate schools, academic departments and administrative units.
The university says it also laid off 72 employees whose positions were funded by sponsored research that recently ended.
Officials say Stanford's endowment, which funds a big portion of its budget, is expected to decline 30 percent to $12 billion this year.
In addition to layoffs, the university is cutting costs by freezing salaries and faculty hiring, eliminating unfilled positions and suspending campus construction projects.
Copyright Associated Press
