Though Virginia's fiscal storm rages on, University administrators recently thawed a University-wide hiring freeze enacted July, 2002.
Leonard W. Sandridge, University executive vice president and chief operating officer, lifted the freeze, which also restricted discretionary spending, in a Jan. 21 memo sent to University vice presidents and deans.
This year's general assembly likely will spare higher education the budget ax, which bodes well for the University as it attempts to rebuild financially after record cuts in state funding, said Colette Sheehy, vice president for management and budget.
"The governor did not include any more cuts to higher education in his budget proposal," she said. "Also, in talking to legislators we have a good idea that they won't cut higher education anymore either."
Sheehy said spending freezes require halting many complicated bureaucratic processes which hire new staff and make purchases.
"Hiring freezes take extra work," she said. "So as soon as we felt comfortable enough to lift them, we thought that's what was best to do."
The University also is entering the hiring season for faculty, which further prompted the timing of the thaws, Sheehy added.
Allowing the University to hire faculty will prove positive for academic departments struggling to meet their students' course needs, faculty members said.
"The faculty welcomes this news of a modest resumption of hiring," Faculty Senate Chair Michael J. Smith said.
Politics Department Chair Robert Fatton, Jr. said his department historically has suffered from a dearth of faculty that the freeze only exacerbated.
"According to state calculations, we should have 50 faculty, but we only have 35 regular faculty right now," he said."We were in the process of hiring five new faculty members when the freeze came."
Fatton said the lifting of discretionary spending freeze also would improve other conditions in the politics department, citing the current rationing of paper as one example.
The faculty situation in the economics department is similarly bleak, Economics Department Chair David Mills said.
"We went into the beginning of last year looking for six positions, and this year we've lost two positions to retirement and resignation," he said."We've been permitted to hire one person in two years."
News of the thaw, however, has sparked some optimism, Mills said.
"I believe that [College Dean Edward L. Ayers] will authorize us to launch some searches for new faculty just as soon as possible," he said.
Library Director of Communications Charlotte Scott said the University library has been forced to maintain a 1976 level of staffing due to the recent budget cuts and hiring freeze.
"With the thawing of the freeze," she said, "We're planning to fill four of our 26 empty positions in key service areas."
Scott said the library still is attempting to determine how the lifting of the spending freeze will affect the library's acquisitions budget.
Sheehy admitted the freeze was lifted with plans of a permanent tuition increase this fall.
She said the University will suffer another $10 million reduction in state funding next year from already imposed budget cuts.
Although Smith said he is grateful for students and administrators supporting another round of tuition increases to avoid future freezes, he said he remains tentative on issues of finance.
"We're not out of the woods yet," he said. "There is a sense that the University is moving forward, however we realize this is essentially a modest move."
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