Ohio University is just one of four Ohio colleges and universities preparing itself for a possible mandatory faculty furlough.
Mandatory furlough plans require select employees to take unpaid leaves of absence and are used to cut costs. Bowling Green State University, University of Toledo and Miami University have all created furlough policies during the last year and a half, but will not necessarily implement them.
When the Ohio House of Representatives approved the 2009-11 state budget, the bill also allowed state universities to create and use mandatory faculty furlough policies in order to save money. Before this bill was passed, only staff could be required to take a furlough.
BGSU executed a furlough plan last year, which required all 12-month employees to take time off. This included all library staff members and two faculty members from the College of Health and Human Services, said the university's Chief Human Resource Officer Rebecca Ferguson.
Employees coordinate their furloughs near holiday break to keep the university running smoothly, Ferguson said.
There was lots of communicating
Ferguson said. We had faculty who understood what we were trying to do.
BGSU saved more than $800,000, which it invested in recruitment, said Ferguson, who could not provide an exact amount BGSU saved.
Officials from Toledo could not be reached for comment.
Since Miami approved its policy in October 2009, it has not implemented any furloughs and there has been no talk of it said Claire Wagner, Miami's associate director of University Communications.
In an e-mail sent out to students yesterday, President Roderick McDavis and Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit reiterated that OU has no plans to implement a furlough in this current fiscal year. Faculty Senate voted for OU's potential furlough policy Monday, but the Board of Trustees must still approve it.
According to OU's policy, all regular university employees may be subject to a furlough, excluding student employees, faculty assistants and foreign employees with a work visa. Employees who perform functions essential to maintain health and safety on the university campus are subject to exclusion from a furlough but must be approved by the president.
Furloughs are intended to reach a targeted dollar figure or savings for an institution, said Becky Watts, chief of staff to McDavis. Universities must figure out how many hours or days each employee must take off to reach that amount. This can also mean administrators, Watts added.
Just to reiterate President McDavis can be required to take a furlough
too
Watts said.
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Pat Holmes
