President Michael Crow announced Wednesday that all ASU faculty, staff and administrators will be required to take unpaid furloughs before the end of the fiscal year.
The Arizona Board of Regents approved the proposal on Tuesday.
Because the absences must happen before June 30, repercussions may include canceled classes, though administration is working to avoid it.
University administrators, including deans and presidents, will take the longest furlough: 15 days. Classified staff members are required to take 10 days.
All other employees must take off 12 days, except those working part-time, who will be required to take mandatory furloughs proportional to their hours.
“The University’s leadership is confident that this is the most prudent way to address the [2009 fiscal year] reductions while preparing for the additional reductions proposed for [fiscal year 2010],” Crow said in a statement released to all staff Wednesday afternoon.
If ASU were to apply the proposed $129 million cuts by the Legislature, the per-student funding from the state of Arizona could be about 50 percent of the per-student rate in 1989, when adjusted for inflation, Crow said.
The furloughs will allow reductions to be shared and balanced among all faculty and staff at ASU, he said.
W.P. Carey Dean Robert Mittelstaedt said the mandatory furloughs are a necessary action, though they will affect the University negatively.
“It’s not a good move from a standpoint of continuing to run this institution at the high-quality level that students and parents have come to expect,” he said.
Mittelstaedt said faculty hope not to have to cancel classes, but it may be a negative side effect of the decision.
Vice President of Public Affairs Virgil Renzulli said administration plans to have employees stagger days off to avoid canceling any classes.
“The normal functions of the University will be harder, but it will continue to operate,” Renzulli said.
Mittelstaedt said furloughs aren’t uncommon in the U.S. right now.
“All universities in the country are in trouble financially to a different degree, but most are cutting costs and some are employing furloughs,” Mittelstaedt said.
In his statement, Crow said the furloughs would prevent the University from cutting more jobs this fiscal year.
In Fall 2007, ASU had more than 12,000 employees — 4,217 of them working part time. In the last few months, 550 staff positions and 200 faculty associate positions were eliminated, Crow said.
“We have chosen to implement the furlough to minimize layoffs rather than cutting core academic functions or reducing financial aid or services to students,” he said.
Renzulli said administration has made the best possible decisions to protect students and faculty, adding that he’s never heard of furloughs at ASU in the past.
“This budget crisis goes beyond anything we’ve ever experienced,” he said. “We will maintain full operation of this academic enterprise as best we can.”
Library Specialist Ann Leonard, 26, said the furlough has made her worry about the future.
“I’ve always had low income status, so all of the talk about the economy didn’t impact my life,” she said.
Leonard said seeing the budget problems affect her co-workers makes the crisis seem all that more tangible.
“I hope [the furloughs] won’t be a drastic hit,” she said. “A lot of customer service positions are already stretched to the limit.”
As a part-time employee, Leonard said she plans to stagger her five mandatory furlough days over the next few months.
“I can’t let it all hit me at once,” she said. “I already live paycheck to paycheck.”
Renzulli said furloughs were a last resort for ASU.
“There was no other way to find $24 million,” he said.
Reach the reporter at tessa.muggeridge@asu.edu.
