Rather than laying people off, offer any staff or faculty member the opportunity to take unpaid time off voluntarily. There may be a staff member who wants to take time off to write a book or spend more time with family. This will free up some money without letting anyone go. Another option is to give small pay cuts instead of eliminating jobs. Try cutting the pay of staff members and faculty by a percentage that works for your budget and contracts. People will be more willing to accept pay cuts than layoffs. Implement a hiring freeze. Move some staff around if necessary, but avoid hiring any new staff or faculty.
Benefits are very important to most people, but they can eat up a budget very quickly. Adjust insurance benefits so the staff pay higher premiums. Eliminate insurance benefits of part-time employees. Cut back on the amount of staff and faculty who use university-owned cars. Cell phone usage should also be limited. Cancel cell phone plans that are not needed and encourage staff and faculty to use landlines.
Students who work full-time jobs rely on weekend and evening classes, so eliminating these classes is not an option. Instead of running up energy costs in several university buildings on nights and weekends, open a few buildings for classes and keep the rest locked up. Science students may need to use the labs, so it might be necessary to keep those buildings open. However, other classes, such as English or history, can be held in open classrooms in the science buildings to cut down on energy costs. Another way to conserve energy is to ensure that all teachers shut off lights and other electronics when they are not in use.
Develop strict guidelines for travel. Limit the amount of money that can be spent on airlines, food, hotels and other costs associated with travel. Another spending policy should be developed for school supplies. Limit the amount of money staff and faculty can spend on supplies. If guidelines are already in place, lower the spending limits. Ensure that all costs are backed up with itemized receipts to eliminate unnecessary spending. Inform staff and faculty that expenses that do not fall within guidelines will not be reimbursed.