The current economic crisis has everyone tightening their belts, and U of T is no exception.

President David Naylor circulated through the U of T portal a cost-containment message on Dec. 15, urging staff to cut unnecessary spending, warning of tough times ahead. Naylor said endowment obligations will likely put pressure on a budget already strained by slowing donations and government funding.Endowments are used for scholarships, bursaries, and research projects, constituting $2 billion of U of T’s $5.5 billion in assets.

The memo arrived two weeks after a similar message from Cheryl Misak, Interim Vice-President and Provost.

The warnings come at a time when U of T’s stock holdings are tumbling, losing nearly nine per cent in the third quarter last year.

According to the University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation, which manages U of T’s holdings, strategic investing has ensured low losses. Other universities across North America, such as Waterloo, Brown and Cornell, have already implemented hiring freezes. In a Dec. 10 statement, York University president Mamdouh Shoukri cautioned York may soon follow suit.

A November 19 memo from Misak and Cathy Riggall, VP business affairs, confirmed that the univeristy’s funds had “lost the cushion needed to sustain payouts in the absence of a recovery.” The university will find alternatives to deal with endowments that have already been promised, she said.

As for future payouts, all eyes are on the markets and U of T’s budget, which comes out in late March.

Deficit-bound Queen’s Park has yet to promise relief to help balance budgets.

“Graduate students have a disproportionate representation in the economic crisis,” Graduate Students’ Union VP External Sara Suliman told The Varsity. “If we don’t find funding, we will begin to systematically exclude students.”

Alisha Ulla, a U of T concurrent education student applying for post-graduate study, said she isn’t really concerned: “I’m not really sure how the recession would affect my education, unless fees start skyrocketing.”

Governing Council begins its public process on tuition fees in the spring, as provincial legislation caps fee hikes at an average of 4.5 per cent across all programs, and eight per cent for a single program.

Last year, Carleton University launched a campaign seeking annual donations of $50 from alumni. U of T is also considering alternative measures.

“We are not planning on addressing these financial issues with the blunt tool of an across-the-board measure, such as a general hiring freeze or an immediate base budget cut,” said Misak. Instead, possible solutions include containing expense and deferring visiting fellows.