Employees of the halls of learning are feeling the pinch of these tough economic times.
Furloughs, involuntary days off taken without pay, are being approved at universities around the country.
All universities in Maryland, plus Clemson University and Arizona State University have approved the furlough system to cut budgets.
Because of this, other universities, faculty and staff, may be affected, including the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Public universities in Maryland approved up to five-day furloughs to save $16 million in salary costs. Instead of laying off employees, the Maryland Board of Regents chose to balance the budget by having them take days off without pay instead.
Not all employees at Maryland universities are affected by the furlough which excludes staff making under $30,000 a year, graduate students being paid by financial aid and student employees. Lower salary employees will be required to take only one or two days; whereas, the higher paid staff will be subject to a five-day furlough. Even presidents of the universities will be included in the furloughs. Employees are allowed to take this time off in half or full days, but all the time has to be taken before June 2.
Regents requested that staff take their time off when they are not teaching. By doing this classes will not be affected and students will still be getting their education.
“Students are paying for the education, and it’s our job to provide that to them,” said Jeff Leips, an associate professor in biological sciences at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
“To be honest, we’re going to come in to work anyway. We all value teaching way too much,” Leips said, adding that he would rather be furloughed than see people laid off. “I recognize the challenges that the state is facing, and we all have to sacrifice to get through this, hopefully short, period.”
This past fall, the state cut $15 million from the Maryland university system’s $4.1 billion operating budget, about $1 billion of which comes from state general funds. The system handled those cuts by imposing a hiring freeze, increasing class sizes and reducing program growth. The current round of cuts comes through furloughs and not program cuts.
On Jan. 28 it was announced that Arizona State University (ASU) required all 12,000 staff members to take 10 to 15 days off without pay by July. How this works is that top university officials, including the president, vice presidents and deans, will take 15 days without pay. Faculty and other academic professionals will take up to 12 days off, excluding any day they are expected to teach. Other employees, including clerical and maintenance workers, will be required to take 10 days unpaid leave. After all is said and done, ASU expects to save $25 million in salary costs.
A message from president Michael Crow of Arizona State was announced after the ASU community learned about the furlough.
“We will continue working with internal groups to find additional prudent cost-saving measures that are consistent with our institutional mission.”
“We also will continue to make our case to the state legislature – and to the people of the state of Arizona – that our universities are too important to our future to be singled out for the largest budget cuts.” said Crow.
Clemson University also faces critical shortages of funds and furloughs have been imposed. Like the universities of Maryland and ASU, Clemson is requiring faculty and staff to take 5 days off without pay. They have even halted new construction on the campus, in order to offset the $25 million state funding shortage. But unlike the other universities, Clemson received more than 300 gifts that totaled $71,363 made to the Clemson University Foundation for the Clemson Furlough Relief Fund, and the money will be disbursed to 158 recipients suffering from this furlough.
“Immediately after the announcement, faculty and staff began asking how they could help their fellow employees who would be hurt most by the furlough,” said President James F. Barker. “They suggested a relief fund, and I am proud we could make that happen. It says a lot about the unity and spirit of the Clemson community.”
North Carolina has no legislation to enact furloughs, so that saves the UNC system faculty and staff from losing any pay at this time.
UNCW Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo sent a statement in January, through UNCW faculty and staff news, addressing speculation and concern about budget cuts.
She clarified that although the university is having monetary challenges due to the economic downturn, the adoption of the furlough as a cost savings measure is not going to affect the UNCW community at this time. Although she acknowledged some state legislators are considering presenting the furlough for consideration if needed.
“Two state legislators have shown interest in introducing legislation authorizing furloughs during the current legislative session, but it is not yet clear whether that legislation will receive broad support or whether it will be acted upon in time to be implemented during this fiscal year, as we plan for how we would handle budget cuts of the magnitude being suggested,” DePaolo said.
