Dear HMS Quad Faculty & Staff:
As you are aware from recent communications and town hall meetings, Harvard Medical School is facing significant financial challenges. Our expenses have been outpacing our revenues, and after this fiscal year, which ends June 30, we will have no more reserves available to cover the shortfalls. The government’s announcement that it is freezing $2.2 billion in multiyear federal grants and contracts to Harvard — hundreds of millions of dollars of which are based at HMS — makes the situation even more acute.
Given these realities, we are writing to share two updates on our efforts to stabilize our finances:
First, we will not be offering salary increases to exempt (non-union) HMS-paid staff and faculty this year. This refers to the raises that typically would have been effective July 1, 2025. Our understanding is that all Harvard schools have made the same difficult decision. While some of you may have anticipated this news, please know this decision was not made lightly. We are keenly aware that this comes at a time when many of you are feeling increased anxiety and personal financial strain, and we are sorry to add to those tensions.
Second, we are extending until Sept. 1 the temporary pauses that we announced March 10 on hiring and on new non-sponsored billing agreements for workers in lieu of payment, School-funded travel, and renovation projects and improvement requests. Please note that the additional, detailed guidance sent to department/unit leaders following the March 10 communication still applies. Contact your designated HR business partner and/or financial analyst with any questions.
The continuation of this pause will be reevaluated as we approach the end of the summer, based on the realities at that time. As we also communicated in March, we continue to consider and prioritize additional opportunities for cost savings. We will share updates on these efforts in the weeks and months ahead. This, coupled with the work underway by all academic and administrative units to permanently reduce their budgets by 15% beginning in FY26, is necessary to effectively shrink our enterprise so our expenses and revenues are more balanced and sustainable moving forward.
We know these are challenging times for everyone. We are committed to being transparent about this evolving situation and about the decisions we must make to ensure the future of HMS and its critical mission of research and education in service to humanity.
We can’t help but feel that HMS’ mission, values, and work are more relevant and important today than ever. Thank you for your dedication and your understanding.
Sincerely,
George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University
Lisa M. Muto
Executive Dean for Administration
Harvard Medical School