Durham, NC - As part of the effort to address its budgetary challenges, the university has initiated a process to better manage existing vacancies and recruitment of all staff positions.

The process is part of the effort to manage external hiring announced earlier this month. The process has two components. First, each university department will be reevaluating the need for all currently open positions to determine which positions will be closed without filling and which recruitments will continue.

The second component of the process requires advance approval by Provost Peter Lange, Executive Vice President Tallman Trask III, or their designee before a staff position is posted. Hiring managers must submit a Vacancy Management Approval Form prior to requesting a staff position be posted for recruitment.

"Taking steps such as these now will help mitigate the potential for further action later," said Kyle Cavanaugh, vice president for Human Resources. "As we continue to navigate these challenging times, I encourage all faculty and staff to suggest creative ways to reduce costs and improve efficiencies at Duke."

Faculty and staff can submit ideas through an online form on the "Enduring a Troubled Economy" website, available at: http://www.duke.edu/economy/index.php