Boston University’s president announced a plan last night to freeze hiring and hold off on future construction projects, citing economic uncertainty in one of the first examples of a higher-education institution’s responding to the upheaval on Wall Street, The Boston Globe reported this morning.

“I feel it is important to act pre-emptively to manage the potential short- and longer-term risks to us created by the current economic uncertainty,” the president, Robert A. Brown, wrote in an e-mail message to members of the faculty and staff. The university wants to be in a good position to respond to a potential increase in students’ need for financial aid, top officials there told the Globe.

Job searches that have already been authorized for faculty and certain staff positions will continue as planned, the Globe reported, but the need to fill other openings, including clerical, accounting, and support-staff workers, will be re-evaluated.

Construction projects that are already under way will also continue as planned, but more than $130-million in future projects, including a law-school expansion and a new student-services building, could be affected by the moratorium.

“This is the first institution that we’ve heard of doing something like this, but given the fiscal situation that we’re all facing, it probably won’t be the last,” Tim McDonough, a spokesman for the American Council on Education, told the newspaper. “This is a smart step to take so they can keep a handle on things and stave off more difficult decisions down the road.”

Last week, Colorado’s governor called for a freeze on all state-supported construction projects, potentially affecting three building projects at the University of Colorado. —Kate Moser