To: Wellesley College Faculty and Staff
From: Courtney Coile, Provost and Lia Gelin Poorvu ’56 Dean of the College; Piper Orton, Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer; and Carolyn Slaboden, Chief Human Resources Officer
Re: Temporary hiring pause
Date: April 11, 2025
As we shared in a recent memo, Wellesley is facing a significant and ongoing structural deficit as we head into fiscal year 2026. This means our revenues are growing at a slower rate than our expenses. As part of our efforts to address this, we will be implementing a six-month hiring pause for faculty and staff, effective immediately. This pause will apply to tenure track, non-tenure track, administrative (both exempt and non-exempt), and union staff positions. The pause does not apply to student workers.
As we implement this pause, we recognize that there will be a limited number of vacant positions that will be critical to the academic and residential program and to essential College operations. The Provost Budget Committee (PBC), which regularly reviews staffing requests, will be responsible for reviewing all hiring requests for faculty or staff during this time and will make recommendations to Senior Leadership for approval.
We are also exploring other actions to address the FY26 deficit and longer-term spending, including reviewing discretionary and non-salary spending across academic and administrative departments.
These changes will help slow spending as we address the near-term FY26 financials. The College faces additional, more significant financial uncertainties in the coming year, including a potential increase in the endowment tax as well as possible reductions in federal research funding. Going forward, we will continue to assess these financial risks, and we will keep the College community informed as we address changing financial realities and consider additional steps to mitigate their impact.
We plan to revisit this hiring pause in the late fall when we have a clearer picture of the external economic risks and challenges we face.
Thank you for your understanding and dedication as we strive to provide an excellent liberal arts education for our students.