UNIVERSITY ACCELERATES FUNDING CUTS
Staff layoffs and other cost cutting continued in phases throughout the University after a March budget update from Provost John Etchemendy outlined deepening financial pressures. Instead of eliminating as much as $100 million in expenses from the $800 million general funds budget over the next two years, as originally planned, almost all those cuts will be implemented by the start of the 2010 fiscal year on September 1.
That requires virtually all units to sustain general funds reductions of nearly 15 percent, said Etchemendy, PhD ’82. The University also announced a faculty and staff salary freeze (with exceptions for promotions). Budget communications are posted on the University's website.
APPLICATIONS RISE, ADMISSIONS FALL
Stanford’s admission rate for the Class of 2013 hit a record low of 7.6 percent, with 2,300 candidates accepted from 30,428 applicants, 20 percent more than in 2008. “Our new financial aid programs, aimed at families with incomes below $100,000, have raised the level of awareness of Stanford,” said Richard Shaw, dean of admission and financial aid.
SLAC TO RECEIVE $68 MILLION
As part of the $1.2 billion allocated to the U.S. Energy Department under the Recovery and Reinvestment Act, $68 million in stimulus money will go to the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Half is intended for the Linac Coherent Light Source project, which is expected to generate the world’s brightest X-rays and produce stop-motion images of atoms and molecules.
STANFORD ON YOUR PHONE
The 2.0 version of iStanford—the suite of much-heralded information applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch—became available in March (from Apple’s App Store). Still the work of Terriblyclever Design, a web services firm developed by Stanford students, the upgraded apps feature access to the University events calendar and improved map functions, as well as a snazzier look.
RICE TAKES CENTER STAGE
Condoleezza Rice’s return to Stanford and the Hoover Institution was in the spotlight when the former U.S. secretary of state spoke March 13 at Economic Summit 2009, organized by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
A portion of Rice’s presentation, which drew media attention for comments about her regret over the Bush administration’s inability to achieve broad immigration reform, is on video.
