Furloughs not imminent, but plans must be developed

Our goal throughout the state budget crisis has been to be as open and transparent as possible, letting you know what we know and getting your feedback on how the University of Kansas can continue to fulfill its teaching and research missions during these challenging times.

I want to thank everyone who attended the budget forum last week, as well as the hundreds who watched the live feed or visited http://youtube.com/KU to see an archived video of the event.

Governor Parkinson's latest cut of 2 percent brought KU's total cuts and unfunded mandates to $36.6 million for the current fiscal year. We hope this will be the last cut of the year, but that will depend on the state's revenues keeping pace with estimates. That means we will be watching the monthly revenue figures very closely for signs of what to expect in the future.

If the revenue figures stay at or near the estimates, we may yet avoid further cuts. If there are additional steep revenue drops, then we should expect additional cuts.

Barring additional large cuts, furloughs or salary reductions should not be necessary. We certainly are not planning to implement furloughs now, nor do we currently have a plan in place for how they would be carried out.

However, because furloughs remain a possibility so long as the recession continues, I have approved a policy reminding all KU employees that furloughs and salary reductions are one way the university may respond to budget cuts. A reference to that policy is included in this year's salary notification letters and you can read the full policy here: https://documents.ku.edu/policies/Chancellor/FurloughAllUniversity.htm

Again, furloughs are not imminent nor are they a certainty. But because they remain a possibility, it is only prudent to begin to plan for how they would be carried out should they become necessary.

To that end, I have asked Interim Provost Danny Anderson to assemble a working group to develop a plan for the Lawrence campus. This builds on the meetings he has had with governance leaders regarding how best to deal with the budget crisis.

This group will include representatives from campus governance, deans and other stakeholders in order to ensure all affected groups have a seat at the table. A similar effort will be undertaken at the Medical Center campuses in Kansas City and Wichita by Senior Vice Chancellor Karen Miller.

Any furlough plan must take into account the complex nature of our university, including the different funding sources used to pay employees and the various laws and regulations governing the employer-employee relationship. And, as Danny and I said at the budget forum, any plan must also recognize the range of employee salaries and that employees with higher salaries are better able to weather furloughs than their colleagues.

I want to emphasize once more that we do not currently have a plan to implement furloughs, nor do we believe they will be necessary should the state's revenue picture remain where it is today. This is one of those instances where I hope a plan will be developed and never implemented.

I will continue to keep you informed of developments affecting KU's budget and want to thank you and your colleagues for their commitment to the success of this university.

Barbara F. Atkinson, MD
KU Interim Chancellor and Executive Vice Chancellor for the KU Medical Center