Louisiana State University’s President William Tate announced a hiring freeze and other cost-saving measures for the university on Friday.

President Tate sent out a statement to the university’s faculty and staff.

“As we face unpredictable and unprecedented federal funding changes and a constantly shifting landscape in terms of our other measures of financial support, we must shore up our operations and protect our current stream of revenue to drive our progress and support our academic core,” Tate said.

Other cost-saving steps have included using artificial intelligence to aid on administrative tasks, trying to increase the number of students enrolled online, and eliminating unnecessary job positions across the university.

The university will also withhold 2% of departmental budgets to build financial resilience. Departments can earn 0.5% by meeting specific goals to student progression and the remaining 1.5% will be placed for strategic funds to help support academic and research purposes.

Despite the budget constraints, Tate emphasized that these actions are necessary to strengthen LSU’s position as the top research University. “This is not a plan to maintain the status quo – it is a plan to accelerate,” Tate said.

President Tate’s statement did not mention which departments would not be included in the hiring freeze.