Over the past several years, UCSD has had a "soft" closure between
Christmas and New Year's Day. Staff were required to take vacation on
non-holidays and faculty were not required to be "in residence". I think
the idea was to save on energy costs.
This year, UCSD will have a "hard" closure over the longer interval
between December 19 and January 3. Staff and faculty will be required to
take six of their furlough days at this time in addition to the four
regular holidays. There will extremely minimal staffing for safety,
health, and physical plant issues. Faculty and staff will not be
authorized to be on campus during the hard closure, and the administration
has taken an very hard line on exceptions -- none have been given out in
my unit aside for those people out in the field.
I suppose this "hard" closure seems like a great idea to the UCSD
administration because it consolidates furlough days during a time when
many people will be away from campus, but I fear that it may cost more
than it saves. We are a science-oriented campus, and many lab and
computing facilities are time constrained, so it is a tremendous loss of
resources to simply shut them down for two and a half weeks. Moreover,
how will those faculty and staff paid by extramural funds on furlough days
(a large fraction of us) be able to work if they can't come into the lab?
It is tacitly admitted that many faculty will nonetheless come to work on
campus during the closure without authorization because they can't afford
not to. The declaration of UCSD that there will be furloughs and a hard
closure doesn't absolve people from meeting their obligations to funding
agencies and outside collaborators. The danger is, if something goes
wrong, there will be a slow emergency response due to the very minimal
staffing of the health, safety, and the physical plant.
Showing posts with label furlough implementation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label furlough implementation. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
UCSB Senate Letter on Instructional Furloughs
August 28, 2009
Dear President Yudof,
I am writing on behalf of the Executive Council of the UCSB Academic Senate to express our deep disappointment in your decision, based in part on recommendations from most of the Chancellors and Executive Vice Chancellors, to go against the unanimous recommendation of the Academic Council regarding furloughs on instructional days. The approach recommended by the Academic Council is fundamentally consistent with UC’s mission as a research university, whereas the shielding of instruction from the impact of furloughs over-privileges instruction. The teaching mission is not paramount but must be balanced against the research and creative activities of UC that are being disproportionately impacted – weakening UC’s role as a primary economic engine of the State.
Most faculty at UCSB were unhappy about the furlough plan in general, but many felt that, if it did need to be implemented, it should include the option (or the requirement) that some furlough days be taken on instructional days. A substantial fraction of these faculty felt they should be able to choose when to take their instructional furlough days, feeling that individual faculty are the best judges of how to restructure their curricula to accommodate the furloughs and minimize the impact on the education of students. They are not happy that the freedom to choose has been taken away from them. There is another substantial fraction of the faculty who felt strongly that instructional furlough days should be declared campuswide, or possibly systemwide, to visibly demonstrate the true impact of the cuts and furloughs. In their view, UC has for too long accepted cuts in state funding while trying to claim that the same levels of service could be provided to the people of California. They argue that this behavior pattern has encouraged the State to continue cutting UC budgets and they stress the importance of taking a stand and sending a clear message that we cannot continue to provide quality education with severely reduced funding. Doesn’t denying that the furloughs have any adverse impacts on teaching seriously weaken the case that must be made for restoring UC’s funding in the next budget cycle?
Faculty are now asking what aspects of our jobs can be reduced, given that reductions in direct instruction have been proscribed. Should faculty spend less time preparing for instruction? This would inevitably reduce teaching quality. Most of us are unlikely to spend less time on our research or scholarship considering the important role that it plays in a research university. That leaves service, which may be easiest to reduce but will likely have unfortunate consequences for the functioning of the university and our relationships with the larger communities we serve.
President Yudof, I know you recognize that the excellence of UC rests on the outstanding quality of the faculty and their efforts in all three areas – teaching, research, and service. I think you would agree that we will need to call on all of the creativity, perseverance, and good will the faculty can muster to make it through the difficult challenges we are facing. The decision on instructional furlough days has seriously upset many faculty at a time when we most need their assistance, and I urge you to take extra time and energy this year to work on mending your relationship with the faculty. I have two specific suggestions. First, require the necessary planning at all levels in the university to ensure that the furloughs last no more than one year. Second, spend more time on the campuses talking with and listening to faculty. Both you and the faculty will benefit substantially from this kind of direct interaction.
Sincerely,
Joel Michaelsen
Cc: Provost Pitts
Chancellor Yang
EVC Lucas
Senate Chair Croughan
Senate Vice Chair Powell
Dear President Yudof,
I am writing on behalf of the Executive Council of the UCSB Academic Senate to express our deep disappointment in your decision, based in part on recommendations from most of the Chancellors and Executive Vice Chancellors, to go against the unanimous recommendation of the Academic Council regarding furloughs on instructional days. The approach recommended by the Academic Council is fundamentally consistent with UC’s mission as a research university, whereas the shielding of instruction from the impact of furloughs over-privileges instruction. The teaching mission is not paramount but must be balanced against the research and creative activities of UC that are being disproportionately impacted – weakening UC’s role as a primary economic engine of the State.
Most faculty at UCSB were unhappy about the furlough plan in general, but many felt that, if it did need to be implemented, it should include the option (or the requirement) that some furlough days be taken on instructional days. A substantial fraction of these faculty felt they should be able to choose when to take their instructional furlough days, feeling that individual faculty are the best judges of how to restructure their curricula to accommodate the furloughs and minimize the impact on the education of students. They are not happy that the freedom to choose has been taken away from them. There is another substantial fraction of the faculty who felt strongly that instructional furlough days should be declared campuswide, or possibly systemwide, to visibly demonstrate the true impact of the cuts and furloughs. In their view, UC has for too long accepted cuts in state funding while trying to claim that the same levels of service could be provided to the people of California. They argue that this behavior pattern has encouraged the State to continue cutting UC budgets and they stress the importance of taking a stand and sending a clear message that we cannot continue to provide quality education with severely reduced funding. Doesn’t denying that the furloughs have any adverse impacts on teaching seriously weaken the case that must be made for restoring UC’s funding in the next budget cycle?
Faculty are now asking what aspects of our jobs can be reduced, given that reductions in direct instruction have been proscribed. Should faculty spend less time preparing for instruction? This would inevitably reduce teaching quality. Most of us are unlikely to spend less time on our research or scholarship considering the important role that it plays in a research university. That leaves service, which may be easiest to reduce but will likely have unfortunate consequences for the functioning of the university and our relationships with the larger communities we serve.
President Yudof, I know you recognize that the excellence of UC rests on the outstanding quality of the faculty and their efforts in all three areas – teaching, research, and service. I think you would agree that we will need to call on all of the creativity, perseverance, and good will the faculty can muster to make it through the difficult challenges we are facing. The decision on instructional furlough days has seriously upset many faculty at a time when we most need their assistance, and I urge you to take extra time and energy this year to work on mending your relationship with the faculty. I have two specific suggestions. First, require the necessary planning at all levels in the university to ensure that the furloughs last no more than one year. Second, spend more time on the campuses talking with and listening to faculty. Both you and the faculty will benefit substantially from this kind of direct interaction.
Sincerely,
Joel Michaelsen
Cc: Provost Pitts
Chancellor Yang
EVC Lucas
Senate Chair Croughan
Senate Vice Chair Powell
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
UC Berkeley Mitigations in the Furlough Program
August 24, 2009
Dear Colleagues:
Only this week have we learned the final disposition of many elements of the furlough plan's impact on UCB faculty. You have already received a transmission from Nathan Brostrom, which outlined the proposed plans for campus closure (December 23-January 6; March 22-26) and certain other features, and which informed you of convenient links, both UCB and UC Office of the President (UCOP), through which you can find answers to many specific questions.
I am writing to alert you to the many ways in which the furlough plan was changed dramatically in response to the faculty and staff feedback solicited by President Yudof and received as well by us. The original plan was highly standardized and provided very few exclusions and mitigations. By contrast, the final plan, altered both centrally and locally, contains the following features that were not in the original plan. I summarize here only those concerns that were most strongly and widely advocated in your feedback. More detailed issues are addressed in the links provided in Nathan Brostrom's CalMessage of August 20.
MITIGATIONS IN THE FURLOUGH PROGRAM
1. The salary reductions are now graduated into seven bands, ranging from 4% to 10%.
2. Pensions and benefits are not affected by the pay reductions.
3. Summer 9ths, from whatever sources (administrative stipends, endowed chairs, grants, etc.) are not affected by the pay reductions; they may be calculated on the 100% base salary.
4. The UCB Committee on Research will soon announce a plan for allocating to about 150 of the lowest-paid ladder faculty (those with base salaries below $85,000) summer-salary supplements equivalent to their pay reduction this year, in response to the submission of non-competitive research proposals. These faculty are disproportionately concentrated in the arts and humanities and the humanistic social sciences, including these disciplines within selected professional schools, such as Education and Social Welfare, among others.
5. All new ladder-faculty recruits who begin in residence July 1, 2009 or January 1, 2010 will be "made whole" through a partnership between deans/chairs and the EVCP that supplements their "recruitment allowance" using non-State funds for this purpose. This is in response to your arguments that ethical, legal, and reputational risks would attend the inclusion in the furlough program of these new ladder-faculty hires, who had recently been recruited in a competitive context.
6. Faculty are not required to provide university service during the mandatory and elective furlough days.
7. Some senior faculty have asked whether they may transfer a portion of the yield of their endowed chairs to colleagues in need. This may be done if the allocation is to be used for legitimate research purposes and is consistent with the terms of the chair. "Legitimate research purposes" include summer salary for a period during which the faculty member is engaged in research.
8. The following categories of employees are exempt from the furlough program:
a. all academic student employees (ASEs, which includes GSIs)
b. all post-doctoral fellows
c. all those paid 100% on grants and contracts, and
d. all those on H1-B visas.
We await word from UCOP on whether lecturers (Unit 18) will be exempt from the program. This remains a matter of discussion with the union.
9. Faculty with grants and contracts, research gifts, or endowed chair income who wish to pay themselves for furlough days during the academic year may do so, assuming that, in the case of grants and contracts, their granting agency explicitly allows the practice, and, in all cases, that they plan to conduct research on the indicated days. Other recruitment and retention funds may not be used for this purpose, as they are derived from State-funded sources (as also in #5, above).
10. For the policy on faculty and research staff whose appointment is split between grant funds and State funds, please consult the relevant UCB and UCOP websites.
11. Furlough days, both mandatory (11 days during campus closures) and elective (one's total furlough days minus 11), will be added to the normal 39 days of allowable, compensated days for earning outside income. Of course, this action and the previous one are mutually exclusive.
12. The Office of the President has decided that faculty may not take their elective furlough days on those days when they are scheduled to teach.
13. It is our intention to urge the Office of the President to eliminate or, if events necessitate, to drastically reduce this furlough program after one year, ending August 31, 2010.
WHY CALL IT A "FURLOUGH"
We acknowledge that the concept of "furlough" better fits the life circumstances of staff than of faculty, most especially those faculty who do not have external funding for research or consulting. For that reason, some faculty have expressed dismay that they may not take furlough on days they would otherwise be teaching. In the case of faculty, this program may better be thought of as a temporary pay reduction. However, had we used different rubrics for faculty and staff, it was possible that, for technical reasons, several of the above mitigations would not have been permissable. Indeed, it was for that reason that the Academic Senate's Budget Committee urged us to use the term "furloughs" rather than "pay reduction" when describing the faculty program.
FACULTY-STAFF RELATIONSHIPS
Many faculty have expressed concern about our valued staff employees who are not covered by any of the above mitigations. On the one hand, it is undeniably the case that most staff do not have the alternative sources of income that inform many of the faculty mitigations above. It is equally true that staff employees are subject to layoffs while faculty are not. On the other hand, our staff have been allocated more furlough days than faculty because they are year-round employees, and staff receive genuine vacation days during the mandatory and elective furlough days. In any case, our staff will be feeling a disproportionate share of the pain during the coming years and we ask you to please be attentive to their needs and accord them the respect, recognition, and support they deserve. We are proud of the fact that, unlike many private universities, our staff employees are not shouldering the burden of the furlough program alone. With faculty participation, this furlough
p
rogram has, in total, generated savings that would otherwise have required about 450 staff layoffs to accrue.
Thank you for your assistance as we attempt to navigate through the difficult waters in which the State currently finds itself.
George W. Breslauer
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
Dear Colleagues:
Only this week have we learned the final disposition of many elements of the furlough plan's impact on UCB faculty. You have already received a transmission from Nathan Brostrom, which outlined the proposed plans for campus closure (December 23-January 6; March 22-26) and certain other features, and which informed you of convenient links, both UCB and UC Office of the President (UCOP), through which you can find answers to many specific questions.
I am writing to alert you to the many ways in which the furlough plan was changed dramatically in response to the faculty and staff feedback solicited by President Yudof and received as well by us. The original plan was highly standardized and provided very few exclusions and mitigations. By contrast, the final plan, altered both centrally and locally, contains the following features that were not in the original plan. I summarize here only those concerns that were most strongly and widely advocated in your feedback. More detailed issues are addressed in the links provided in Nathan Brostrom's CalMessage of August 20.
MITIGATIONS IN THE FURLOUGH PROGRAM
1. The salary reductions are now graduated into seven bands, ranging from 4% to 10%.
2. Pensions and benefits are not affected by the pay reductions.
3. Summer 9ths, from whatever sources (administrative stipends, endowed chairs, grants, etc.) are not affected by the pay reductions; they may be calculated on the 100% base salary.
4. The UCB Committee on Research will soon announce a plan for allocating to about 150 of the lowest-paid ladder faculty (those with base salaries below $85,000) summer-salary supplements equivalent to their pay reduction this year, in response to the submission of non-competitive research proposals. These faculty are disproportionately concentrated in the arts and humanities and the humanistic social sciences, including these disciplines within selected professional schools, such as Education and Social Welfare, among others.
5. All new ladder-faculty recruits who begin in residence July 1, 2009 or January 1, 2010 will be "made whole" through a partnership between deans/chairs and the EVCP that supplements their "recruitment allowance" using non-State funds for this purpose. This is in response to your arguments that ethical, legal, and reputational risks would attend the inclusion in the furlough program of these new ladder-faculty hires, who had recently been recruited in a competitive context.
6. Faculty are not required to provide university service during the mandatory and elective furlough days.
7. Some senior faculty have asked whether they may transfer a portion of the yield of their endowed chairs to colleagues in need. This may be done if the allocation is to be used for legitimate research purposes and is consistent with the terms of the chair. "Legitimate research purposes" include summer salary for a period during which the faculty member is engaged in research.
8. The following categories of employees are exempt from the furlough program:
a. all academic student employees (ASEs, which includes GSIs)
b. all post-doctoral fellows
c. all those paid 100% on grants and contracts, and
d. all those on H1-B visas.
We await word from UCOP on whether lecturers (Unit 18) will be exempt from the program. This remains a matter of discussion with the union.
9. Faculty with grants and contracts, research gifts, or endowed chair income who wish to pay themselves for furlough days during the academic year may do so, assuming that, in the case of grants and contracts, their granting agency explicitly allows the practice, and, in all cases, that they plan to conduct research on the indicated days. Other recruitment and retention funds may not be used for this purpose, as they are derived from State-funded sources (as also in #5, above).
10. For the policy on faculty and research staff whose appointment is split between grant funds and State funds, please consult the relevant UCB and UCOP websites.
11. Furlough days, both mandatory (11 days during campus closures) and elective (one's total furlough days minus 11), will be added to the normal 39 days of allowable, compensated days for earning outside income. Of course, this action and the previous one are mutually exclusive.
12. The Office of the President has decided that faculty may not take their elective furlough days on those days when they are scheduled to teach.
13. It is our intention to urge the Office of the President to eliminate or, if events necessitate, to drastically reduce this furlough program after one year, ending August 31, 2010.
WHY CALL IT A "FURLOUGH"
We acknowledge that the concept of "furlough" better fits the life circumstances of staff than of faculty, most especially those faculty who do not have external funding for research or consulting. For that reason, some faculty have expressed dismay that they may not take furlough on days they would otherwise be teaching. In the case of faculty, this program may better be thought of as a temporary pay reduction. However, had we used different rubrics for faculty and staff, it was possible that, for technical reasons, several of the above mitigations would not have been permissable. Indeed, it was for that reason that the Academic Senate's Budget Committee urged us to use the term "furloughs" rather than "pay reduction" when describing the faculty program.
FACULTY-STAFF RELATIONSHIPS
Many faculty have expressed concern about our valued staff employees who are not covered by any of the above mitigations. On the one hand, it is undeniably the case that most staff do not have the alternative sources of income that inform many of the faculty mitigations above. It is equally true that staff employees are subject to layoffs while faculty are not. On the other hand, our staff have been allocated more furlough days than faculty because they are year-round employees, and staff receive genuine vacation days during the mandatory and elective furlough days. In any case, our staff will be feeling a disproportionate share of the pain during the coming years and we ask you to please be attentive to their needs and accord them the respect, recognition, and support they deserve. We are proud of the fact that, unlike many private universities, our staff employees are not shouldering the burden of the furlough program alone. With faculty participation, this furlough
p
rogram has, in total, generated savings that would otherwise have required about 450 staff layoffs to accrue.
Thank you for your assistance as we attempt to navigate through the difficult waters in which the State currently finds itself.
George W. Breslauer
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
UCSD Furlough Policy
UCSD
CAMPUS NOTICE
University of California, San Diego
OFFICE OF THE SENIOR VICE CHANCELLOR -
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
August 25, 2009
ALL ACADEMICS AT UCSD
Subject: UC San Diego Implementation of Systemwide Furlough Program
In its young history, UC San Diego has emerged as one of the world's premier educational and research institutions. Our world-class faculty and dedicated staff have been and will continue to be integral to this success. Even during these turbulent economic times, we remain fully committed to our research, instructional, and public service mission and to maintaining and enhancing UC San Diego's academic excellence.
To this end, the Chancellor, Vice Chancellors, and Deans, in collaboration with the Academic Senate, have been working hard to address how implementation of the recently approved furlough program will affect our faculty and staff, and to minimize its impact on our
core mission.
I write to share the most up to date information from the Office of the President, as well as information regarding how UC San Diego will implement the furlough program for academic appointees.
*Winter Holiday Closure
As you were previously notified, the campus will close for sixteen days between Saturday, December 19, 2009 and Sunday, January 3, 2010. This closure will maximize energy savings for the campus and will provide some public visibility for the consequences of the drastic budget cuts being absorbed by the University.
The closure period includes four University paid holidays (December 24, 25 and 31, and January 1). Six days (December 21, 22, 23, 28, 29 and 30) are not paid holidays and non-represented Academic appointees who are subject to the salary reduction/furlough program are required to use furlough days to cover this period.
This closure will be handled in the same manner as past campus closures; employees who must be on campus during the closure period may do so with appropriate approvals, and in these situations will not be required to use furlough time.
*Grant Funded Employees
Chancellor Fox and I, with support from campus faculty and administration, helped to convince UCOP not to include fully grant funded employees in the salary reduction plan. The plan approved by the Regents exempts employees funded exclusively from federal, state, other
government or private contracts, grants or cooperative agreements (excluded funds).
We were also successful in helping to persuade UCOP to allow UC San Diego employees who are split-funded between "included" (non-grant funded) and excluded fund sources (grant funded) to participate in the salary reduction program (and also accrue furlough time) only in
proportion to the percent they are paid on included funds. This will be implemented when the salary reduction plan is initiated, rather than later in the year as was originally proposed.
*Faculty Usage of Furlough Time
It is assumed that faculty will use furlough time during the campus closure period, and also for the four service days during the spring break week. If faculty must be on campus or in service during these periods, this is permitted only with appropriate approvals. Furlough
days may be used in advance of accrual during the winter and spring recess periods.
Beyond the winter and spring recesses, faculty may utilize furlough time as they deem appropriate (in coordination with his or her department chair), however OP has announced that faculty may not use furlough days on instructional days (days for which a faculty member is scheduled to give lectures, lead classes or workshops, have scheduled office hours,
or have other scheduled face-to-face responsibilities for students). It is important that we minimize the impact of the salary reduction and furlough program for the students as much as possible.
Faculty will be expected to maintain normal scholarly and teaching workloads throughout the furlough program period. To provide faculty with opportunities to more fully benefit from the furlough program, I have worked with the Deans to find creative avenues for faculty to
utilize the furlough time without impacting their research and instructional responsibilities. These opportunities include the following:
1. Outside Professional Activity
* Faculty are permitted to use accrued furlough time to engage in outside professional activities, even in excess of APM 025 limits. Such activities may provide an opportunity for faculty to offset the loss of income outside of the University while on furlough. All other rules of APM 025, Conflict of Commitment continue to apply, including the categories of outside professional activity and reporting requirements.
2. Salary Reduction Research Exchange
* Non-represented academic employees (excluding members of the Health Sciences Compensation Plan) who are subject to the furlough program may choose to devote extra effort to research projects in exchange for forfeiting the furlough time they would otherwise be accruing.
* Appointees are still subject to the loss of income while furloughed on his or her included fund sources, but may charge an equivalent amount of effort to extramural funding, provided this is permissible with the funding agency. All charges must be compliant with Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) Circular A-21. Appointees are responsible for attaining agency permission.
* Participation must be approved prior to the service period of the research activity and may not result in earning salary higher than the pre-salary reduction rate.
* Appointees who elect this option will forfeit their furlough hours and therefore will be expected to be in service during any other furlough periods.
* Faculty may not reduce their teaching loads in order to participate in this exchange program.
3. Furlough Time during Extended Leave
* Faculty may report furlough days during an extended leave, in order to avoid forfeiture of sabbatical credit, as is currently required under PPM 230-10.
* Extended leaves must still be approved, and the total length of the absence, including how many days will be counted against furlough accrual must be provided in advance.
Faculty who are on sabbatical or on a leave of absence with pay during the furlough period are subject to the furlough plan, and therefore must determine an appropriate way in which to utilize the furlough time.
Furlough time will not carry forward after the designated expiration date.
At the invitation of the Deans, I will attend the fall general campus divisional meetings to provide an update on the implementation of the salary reduction program and other campus efforts to ensure the continued excellence of our University, despite current budgetary
challenges. I encourage you to raise any questions you have with your department chair or staff personnel. You may also submit questions or comments toacademicpersonnel@ucsd.edu.
For the latest questions and answers regarding the systemwide Furlough Plan or to determine whether your position is subject to the furlough program and how many furlough days you will need to take, please see UCOP`s Furlough Fact Sheet and Frequently Asked Questions. Please
visit UCSD's Budget Line for campus budget information and a quick link to the faculty pay-cut/furlough tables.
These times of financial difficulty are opportunities for re-examination and re-invention. UC Board of Regents Chair Gould has launched a Commission on the Future of UC co-chaired by himself and UC President Yudof to explore long-term options for the system. This will be informed by us all thinking creatively and strategically. I have tasked the Deans with planning for the "UC San Diego of Tomorrow" and exploring opportunities for new synergies and structures that cut across existing boundaries and enhance our University's excellence under new conditions.
I am also cooperating with the Academic Senate to establish a Joint Senate-Administration Task Force on Budget Reconciliation, as another pathway for fresh ideas to emerge regarding new revenue sources as well as other areas that might be consolidated or cut to achieve fiscal
efficiencies. I am counting on all of you to bring forward innovative suggestions about the future course of our University. Collectively, we can manage this challenging period without losing focus on our clear vision for academic excellence, and we can take control of our continued
evolution and eminence moving forward.
Paul W. Drake
Senior Vice Chancellor
CAMPUS NOTICE
University of California, San Diego
OFFICE OF THE SENIOR VICE CHANCELLOR -
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
August 25, 2009
ALL ACADEMICS AT UCSD
Subject: UC San Diego Implementation of Systemwide Furlough Program
In its young history, UC San Diego has emerged as one of the world's premier educational and research institutions. Our world-class faculty and dedicated staff have been and will continue to be integral to this success. Even during these turbulent economic times, we remain fully committed to our research, instructional, and public service mission and to maintaining and enhancing UC San Diego's academic excellence.
To this end, the Chancellor, Vice Chancellors, and Deans, in collaboration with the Academic Senate, have been working hard to address how implementation of the recently approved furlough program will affect our faculty and staff, and to minimize its impact on our
core mission.
I write to share the most up to date information from the Office of the President, as well as information regarding how UC San Diego will implement the furlough program for academic appointees.
*Winter Holiday Closure
As you were previously notified, the campus will close for sixteen days between Saturday, December 19, 2009 and Sunday, January 3, 2010. This closure will maximize energy savings for the campus and will provide some public visibility for the consequences of the drastic budget cuts being absorbed by the University.
The closure period includes four University paid holidays (December 24, 25 and 31, and January 1). Six days (December 21, 22, 23, 28, 29 and 30) are not paid holidays and non-represented Academic appointees who are subject to the salary reduction/furlough program are required to use furlough days to cover this period.
This closure will be handled in the same manner as past campus closures; employees who must be on campus during the closure period may do so with appropriate approvals, and in these situations will not be required to use furlough time.
*Grant Funded Employees
Chancellor Fox and I, with support from campus faculty and administration, helped to convince UCOP not to include fully grant funded employees in the salary reduction plan. The plan approved by the Regents exempts employees funded exclusively from federal, state, other
government or private contracts, grants or cooperative agreements (excluded funds).
We were also successful in helping to persuade UCOP to allow UC San Diego employees who are split-funded between "included" (non-grant funded) and excluded fund sources (grant funded) to participate in the salary reduction program (and also accrue furlough time) only in
proportion to the percent they are paid on included funds. This will be implemented when the salary reduction plan is initiated, rather than later in the year as was originally proposed.
*Faculty Usage of Furlough Time
It is assumed that faculty will use furlough time during the campus closure period, and also for the four service days during the spring break week. If faculty must be on campus or in service during these periods, this is permitted only with appropriate approvals. Furlough
days may be used in advance of accrual during the winter and spring recess periods.
Beyond the winter and spring recesses, faculty may utilize furlough time as they deem appropriate (in coordination with his or her department chair), however OP has announced that faculty may not use furlough days on instructional days (days for which a faculty member is scheduled to give lectures, lead classes or workshops, have scheduled office hours,
or have other scheduled face-to-face responsibilities for students). It is important that we minimize the impact of the salary reduction and furlough program for the students as much as possible.
Faculty will be expected to maintain normal scholarly and teaching workloads throughout the furlough program period. To provide faculty with opportunities to more fully benefit from the furlough program, I have worked with the Deans to find creative avenues for faculty to
utilize the furlough time without impacting their research and instructional responsibilities. These opportunities include the following:
1. Outside Professional Activity
* Faculty are permitted to use accrued furlough time to engage in outside professional activities, even in excess of APM 025 limits. Such activities may provide an opportunity for faculty to offset the loss of income outside of the University while on furlough. All other rules of APM 025, Conflict of Commitment continue to apply, including the categories of outside professional activity and reporting requirements.
2. Salary Reduction Research Exchange
* Non-represented academic employees (excluding members of the Health Sciences Compensation Plan) who are subject to the furlough program may choose to devote extra effort to research projects in exchange for forfeiting the furlough time they would otherwise be accruing.
* Appointees are still subject to the loss of income while furloughed on his or her included fund sources, but may charge an equivalent amount of effort to extramural funding, provided this is permissible with the funding agency. All charges must be compliant with Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) Circular A-21. Appointees are responsible for attaining agency permission.
* Participation must be approved prior to the service period of the research activity and may not result in earning salary higher than the pre-salary reduction rate.
* Appointees who elect this option will forfeit their furlough hours and therefore will be expected to be in service during any other furlough periods.
* Faculty may not reduce their teaching loads in order to participate in this exchange program.
3. Furlough Time during Extended Leave
* Faculty may report furlough days during an extended leave, in order to avoid forfeiture of sabbatical credit, as is currently required under PPM 230-10.
* Extended leaves must still be approved, and the total length of the absence, including how many days will be counted against furlough accrual must be provided in advance.
Faculty who are on sabbatical or on a leave of absence with pay during the furlough period are subject to the furlough plan, and therefore must determine an appropriate way in which to utilize the furlough time.
Furlough time will not carry forward after the designated expiration date.
At the invitation of the Deans, I will attend the fall general campus divisional meetings to provide an update on the implementation of the salary reduction program and other campus efforts to ensure the continued excellence of our University, despite current budgetary
challenges. I encourage you to raise any questions you have with your department chair or staff personnel. You may also submit questions or comments to
For the latest questions and answers regarding the systemwide Furlough Plan or to determine whether your position is subject to the furlough program and how many furlough days you will need to take, please see UCOP`s Furlough Fact Sheet
visit UCSD's Budget Line for campus budget information and a quick link to the faculty pay-cut/furlough tables.
These times of financial difficulty are opportunities for re-examination and re-invention. UC Board of Regents Chair Gould has launched a Commission on the Future of UC co-chaired by himself and UC President Yudof to explore long-term options for the system. This will be informed by us all thinking creatively and strategically. I have tasked the Deans with planning for the "UC San Diego of Tomorrow" and exploring opportunities for new synergies and structures that cut across existing boundaries and enhance our University's excellence under new conditions.
I am also cooperating with the Academic Senate to establish a Joint Senate-Administration Task Force on Budget Reconciliation, as another pathway for fresh ideas to emerge regarding new revenue sources as well as other areas that might be consolidated or cut to achieve fiscal
efficiencies. I am counting on all of you to bring forward innovative suggestions about the future course of our University. Collectively, we can manage this challenging period without losing focus on our clear vision for academic excellence, and we can take control of our continued
evolution and eminence moving forward.
Paul W. Drake
Senior Vice Chancellor
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