OU President David L. Boren announced Monday that a hiring freeze will immediately go into effect on all OU campuses.

The freeze will prevent hiring new university employees in all but a small number of cases in which new hires are necessary to protect the safety of the university or are “absolutely essential for student education,” according to a news release.

“With the economic uncertainty faced by our nation and the likely shortage of funds available to the next legislature for appropriation, it is prudent for me to take action now,” Boren stated in the release. “By imposing a freeze on new hiring now, we can hopefully hold down future increases in student tuition and fees and protect jobs of those already employed by the University.”

In June, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education approved an OU tuition increase of almost 10 percent after the state legislature denied a request for $145 million in higher education appropriations.

“By implementing a freeze now, I hope that we can avoid damaging steps in the future if the economic situation does not improve,” Boren stated. “While we all hope that the economy and the state’s revenue base will stabilize, we must be prepared if it does not.”

According to the news release, Boren expects to grant a very small number of exemptions to the policy if the exemptions are recommended by the appropriate administrators.