After months of incremental cost-cutting measures, Cornell has launched “Resilient Cornell,” an initiative to reduce costs across all campuses through a restructuring of the University’s workforce and operations.
The plan, announced Oct. 16 in a statement by President Michael Kotlikoff, Provost Kavita Bala, Provost for Media Affairs Dr. Robert Harrington, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Chris Cowen and Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Christine Lovely mark Cornell’s latest framework to address ongoing financial challenges.
The announcement follows a series of three earlier statements regarding the University’s financial health, outlining various short-term budget measures, such as extending an indefinite hiring freeze and limiting discretionary spending. Resilient Cornell formalizes these efforts into a unified program to achieve “lasting change that will support a strong Cornell for generations to come.”
Over the 2025-2026 fiscal year, the Provost’s Steering Committee and the Cross-Campus Collaboration Committee will be focusing on strategies to reimagine University operations, reduce spending and to improve efficiencies “improving efficiencies by avoiding duplication of work,” the Resilient Cornell website reads.
The Provost’s Steering Committee, chaired by Bala, will oversee “workforce designs and strategies across the Ithaca, Cornell AgriTech, and Cornell Tech campuses.” The Cross-Campus Collaboration Committee, chaired by Cowen, will “examine university-wide operations that span all campuses,” including Weill Cornell Medicine, according to the statement.
The two committees will be “supported by a series of design groups tasked with reviewing prioritized functional areas, expense categories, and financial strategies,” with Deans and senior administrators leading these groups and seeking input from campus experts. According to the statement, the administrators anticipate that the work of the committees will continue into spring 2026.
On the website's frequently asked questions page, it acknowledges that the University needs to “make difficult decisions to meet the profound challenges before us,” which “will include targeted workforce reductions.”
Still, the administration maintains that “the Cornell student experience should not be impacted in any material ways by this review of administrative operations,” and promised updates will be provided through community town halls and the newly launched website.
Additionally, the University has hired Huron Consulting, a firm that has previously advised reorganization efforts at institutions including George Washington University to assess different aspects of the University’s operations.
Members of the Cornell community can contribute feedback about the University's process to deal with financial issues through a suggestion portal.
