Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Facing a steep drop in its endowment, the Rhode Island School of Design will rely on a combination of layoffs, benefit reductions and reduced museum hours to make up the shortfall.

The measures -- which include plans to trim up to 20 full- and part-time staff positions, and to close the school's Museum of Art for the month of August -- were announced Wednesday in an e-mail sent to faculty and students.

In a statement that accompanied the e-mail, RISD president John Maeda said that "like many other colleges and universities, RISD has been affected by the downturn of the financial markets." But Maeda promised that school officials would "do everything we can to ensure the excellence of our academic programs and to create the best possible experience for our students."

RISD's plans echo similar cost-cutting measures at other local colleges and universities. Last fall, for instance, Brown University announced that its endowment had dropped by nearly one-third, from $2.8 billion to $2 billion. In response, school officials instituted an immediate hiring freeze and put off plans to expand the university's graduate school.

Other academic institutions, including the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College, are also facing cutbacks.

In Wednesday's e-mail, RISD said that its endowment had dropped by nearly a third, from a high of $374 million at the end of 2007 to $250 million this year. The e-mail said the school would use a mix of layoffs, early retirement incentives and reduced contributions to staff retirement plans to make up the shortfall.

It also announced plans to annually close the RISD Museum in August, a move officials said "would have the least impact on the public, academic and school programs which are vital to the museum's mission."

At the same time, school officials said that they would be able to increase financial aid by $1.2 million for the 2009-10 academic year and would hold tuition increases to below 2008-09 levels.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story understated the size of Brown University's endowment.

 Tags  economy Providence RI Rhode Island School of Design RISD

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