Earlier today we discussed a draft of a university furlough policy with the leaders of the Administrative Senate, Classified Senate, Faculty Senate, and the Chairs and Directors Council. As we stressed in our meeting, there are no plans to implement a furlough in the current fiscal year. Because we were conservative in our budget planning for fiscal year 2011, even the lapsed State Share of Instruction payment described in the email sent on Wednesday by Vice President for Finance and Administration Stephen Golding can be met within current resources.

The same conservative approach to budgeting is behind our decision to take to the Ohio University Board of Trustees a resolution in November creating a furlough policy. Prudence rather than necessity is the motivation for establishing this policy. A furlough provides one means of addressing an operating deficit in the short term and would not be used as a long-term solution. Having a furlough policy in place will provide needed flexibility at an institution where close to 70% of expenditures are personnel related.

In the wake of the recession, some public universities have implemented furloughs to help cope with significant and unexpected state budget reductions or investment losses. Fortunately, Ohio has not had to confront the type of cutbacks in state support for higher education experienced in California, Arizona, Florida, and Illinois. Nevertheless, witnessing what was happening in other states and understanding the depth of our own state budget issues the Ohio General Assembly in July 2009 passed legislation allowing university boards of trustees to adopt mandatory furlough policies. Since the statute was signed into law, Bowling Green State University, Miami University, and the University of Toledo have established furlough policies.

Ohio University's draft policy is modeled on the Miami policy. It outlines the circumstances under which a furlough plan could be established and creates a shared governance process to provide recommendations about the development and implementation of a furlough plan. The draft furlough policy is available by clicking on this link. This policy does not detail implementation specifics. Those details would be included in a furlough implementation plan developed under the parameters of the policy. Through a set of FAQs, we have provided answers to questions you may have about the furlough policy.

In a climate of economic uncertainty with a state budget deficit of $8 billion, we may not always receive advance warning of budget cuts. We need to be prepared to respond to situations in which advance warning from the state is not possible. We will continue to budget conservatively in support of our efforts to become the nation's best transformative learning community.
 
 
 
Cordially,

Roderick J. McDavis
President

Pam Benoit
Executive Vice President and Provost