Message to students re: furloughs
Note: the following e-mail was sent on 8/12/09 to students.
Dear Student:
This coming Friday, August 14, and the following Monday, August 17, SF State will be closed. This is the start of the furlough days -- days on which faculty, staff and administrators do not work and are not paid -- that will occur throughout the year in response to the enormous budget cuts imposed on all California State University campuses by the governor and legislature.
Every CSU campus is required to implement furloughs. Most full-time staff and administrators are required to take 24 furlough days in the course of the calendar year; most full-time faculty are required to take 18 furlough days on academic work days during the fall and spring semesters. These unpaid days off represent a 9.23% pay cut for employees. For SF State, the savings will be approximately $17.7 million, somewhat more than half of the budget reduction we need to make.
I am writing to let you know what our current furlough schedule is and what it means to you. In developing this plan, we sought first of all to minimize the impact on the academic calendar. As much as possible, we have scheduled furlough days adjacent to planned holidays, weekends or such closures as Thanksgiving break.
Eighteen of the 24 furlough days that staff and administrators must take between August 1, 2009, and June 30, 2010, are fixed. On these days, the campus will be closed, though the University Police department will be open. Staff and administrators will schedule their remaining six furlough days in consultation with their supervisor.
Six of these campus closures fall on days when classes were scheduled and represent fixed furlough days for faculty. The other 12 days that academic year faculty must take are flexible – to be arranged by each faculty member in consultation with her/his supervisor. Faculty will let you know when their furlough plans affect class meetings, office hours, and the like.
A few things to note at the outset:
Spring break has been moved. It is now March 29-April 2, 2010.
Library hours will change. Check this library Web site: http://www.library.sfsu.edu/about/hours.html for detailed and updated information.
Many offices, including student services, may have shorter hours on some days when staffing is lower than normal. If you have time-sensitive business to conduct, I suggest that you check with the office you need ahead of time.
Both faculty and staff will be taking furlough days in addition to the campus closures listed below.
Following is the current campus closure schedule:
- August: Campus closed August 14 and 17
September: Campus closed September 4, 7, 8 (includes Labor Day)
October: Campus closed October 23 and 26
November: Campus closed November 11 (Veterans Day) and during Thanksgiving week, November 23–27.
December: Campus closed December 23-31
January: In addition to New Year’s, campus is closed January 15, 18, 19 (includes Martin Luther King Day)
February: Campus closed February 19 and 22
March: Campus closed March 29-31 (includes the first part of spring break and Cesar Chavez Day).
April: Campus closed April 1-2 for the remainder of spring break.
May: Campus closed May 27-28 and May 31 (includes Memorial Day).
June: Campus closed June 1.
Our furlough plan, developed after extensive consultation with deans, chairs, the Academic Senate and others, is as balanced and responsive to student and employee needs as we could make it.
Furlough is an unprecedented action for SF State and it will be hard on all of us. Please know, though, that we will continue to do our best to minimize its impact on you, our students. I am confident that we will move ahead in the same positive and practical spirit that has characterized SF State in other challenging times.
-- Robert A. Corrigan, president
For related budget news, visit http://www.sfsu.edu/~news/2009/summer/15.html
