Summary:
ASU will be implementing mandatory unpaid furloughs for all employees between now and June 30, 2009, to help the university cope with the severe reduction in state funding available to us over the next five months. This decision was made after consultation with faculty, staff, students, administration and the Arizona Board of Regents. With so little time left in the current fiscal year, the university’s leadership is confident that this is the most prudent way to address the FY09 reductions while preparing for the additional reductions proposed for FY10 because the furlough allows the FY09 reductions to be shared and balanced among all the faculty and staff of the institution.
The furlough will involve all employees, including the president, vice presidents, deans, faculty, varsity coaches, academic professionals and classified staff. The length of any individual employee’s furlough will be determined by three general job classifications: University administrators (including the president, vice presidents and deans) – 15 days Classified staff – 10 days All other employees – 12 days – except for those who do not work a full week or work less than a 12-month schedule, in which case their furloughs will be prorated for the lengths of their appointment or the number of hours worked weekly. Depending on the length of an individual’s furlough, the salary loss would be equivalent to 8 to 12 percent of the employee’s remaining FY ’09 salary. Faculty will take furloughs on days they don’t teach class, and supervisors of staff will be staggering furloughs so that the university remains fully operational. Employees will be allowed some flexibility in scheduling their furlough days in conjunction with their supervisor but are encouraged to consider scheduling the furlough days proportionally across all remaining pay periods in the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30, 2009.
Furloughed employees are eligible to apply for unemployment compensation for time lost. The university’s Employee Assistance Program Office (http://www.asu.edu/hr/employee_assistance) will be available to consult with those who are particularly hard hit by the loss of income. Full details of the implementation of the furlough will be available Thursday on the Human Resources website (http://www.asu.edu/hr/).
Through this furlough the university will save approximately $24 million to help toward meeting its FY09 state budget reduction, which could total more than $60 million. Although ASU must find additional savings to meet its anticipated cut, the furlough is intended to ensure that all enrolled students can still finish the current semester and those completing their degrees can graduate on time.
