Under budget pressure, University of Maryland cuts vacant positions - Carrie Wells and Derby Cox, Diamondback

One of the university’s major tools for cutting the budget is to eliminate vacant faculty and staff positions, according to recently released budget information. This tactic avoids painful and messy layoffs, but administrators know it’s not a panacea. Although eliminating vacant positions is the preferred method, removing positions doesn’t help the university’s staffing shortage and can hurt the university’s ability to cover unforeseen expenses. Staffers are being asked to take on completely new tasks, faculty can’t get help with basic paperwork, and as for new initiatives, they’ll just have to wait, administrators said.