University of Cincinnati President Neville Pinto, in a letter to university employees, outlined the potential financial impact the university faces in the wake of the new coronavirus pandemic, which he described as an "unimaginable crisis."

It will mean a hiring freeze, spending cuts and pay cuts for the university's leadership team. Provost, deans, vice presidents and vice provosts, in addition to several administrators, voluntarily took a 10% reduction in pay for the remainder of this fiscal year and all of next, Pinto said.

The financial impact is mounting, Pinto wrote in the letter, which was sent Thursday and obtained by The Enquirer. The Enquirer left a message with a university spokeswomen for comment.

Fiscal year ends June 30, 2020, with the 2021 year beginning July 1.

"Unless we take decisive action now, we risk having a decidedly more dire situation down the road," Pinto wrote.

Pinto expects state cuts this fiscal year to be $47 million and for fiscal year 2021, another $42 million.

"The necessary steps we took to safeguard our campus, while fulfilling our academic mission and fully maintaining our employee base and benefits, resulted in substantially less revenue and more expense, both unplanned," he added.

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Pinto outlined some of the problems: The College of Medicine is experiencing significant declines in clinical revenue as a result of this economic paralysis; students will have greater financial needs and there will be declines in philanthropy and endowment returns. And there's also a question about the viability of maintaining current levels of federal research funding.

"All in all, there is no doubt we face challenging times ahead," Pinto said.

No layoffs, furloughs or pay cuts are planned, but Pinto did not rule them out.

He did say immediate plans to improve the University’s financial position include:

A university-wide hiring freeze for faculty, staff and student positions.

A salary freeze and elimination of bonus payments in fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2021.

Strict spending limits, which means only essential expenses.

Travel restriction that extend beyond the current national and state guidelines.

A examination of current capital projects and no new capital projects will be approved until further notice.

He ended the letter with this thought:

"Your sacrifices for this great institution will make it even greater. Having devoted 29 years of my career to UC, I can tell you my heart and soul belong to this place. I feel a calling to see it thrive, no matter the storm. With strength in unity, I truly believe we can position UC to have a bigger, bolder impact on the new era that awaits us."

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