The Division of Administration has approved 160 exemptions for higher education institutions in the state to hire employees during the first month of governor's hiring freeze.

Among those have been 56 for the University of Louisiana System, with 844 exemption requests pending, according to Michael DiResto, communications director for the Division of Administration.

Gov. Bobby Jindal imposed a hiring freeze on Jan. 15, the day after he took office, in an effort to save the state at least $25 million.

Exemptions for state agencies to hire new employees must be approved by Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis. Since then the process has been streamlined particularly for higher education and the public hospitals, with LSU Hospitals able to forgo the process and fill critical staffing needs.

So far, no requests from the state's higher education systems have been denied, according to DiResto.

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Marsha Sills
msills@theadvertiser.com