By Rachel Lippmann, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – University of Missouri's president is asking all four schools in the system to tighten their belts a little more.
In a memo to campus chancellors Tuesday, President Gary Forsee asks officials in Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla and St. Louis to cut back on travel, overtime, mid-year promotions or raises, and a number of other areas.It's a pre-emptive move against possible reductions in state funding for this year.
Bob Samples is the spokesman for the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
"Everything that the president outlined is intended to lessen the impact on students. I mean, there are no talks of reducing the activities related to students," he said.
Samples says there's no way of knowing if the new changes, plus a previously announced hiring freeze, will be enough to prevent layoffs until final budget numbers are available. All state colleges and universities have been asked to outline what would happen if state funding was cut by as much as 25 percent.