Campus closure June 14-15; use or lose your furlough days

by Dave Jones
June 11, 2010

As the spring quarter comes to an end, perhaps you need a breather.

How about a campus closure? The third and final such closure of the year is scheduled for Monday-Tuesday, June 14-15. For more information about the closure, see below.

Employees subject to furloughs were supposed to have saved at least two furlough days to take care of June 14-15. If you already used all your furlough days, or if you have only one left, you will need to dip into your vacation or take unpaid leave.

And, as a reminder, for anyone with more than two unused furlough days, most of you have only until Aug. 31 to use them — or lose them. For most employees subject to furloughs, Aug. 31 is the ending date, and the Board of Regents to date has taken no action to extend the program.

UC President Mark G. Yudof has been vocal about ending the furloughs. Gov. Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget for 2010-11 would allow that to happen — since he aims to give the university an additional $370 million to make up for cuts in 2009-10.

Of course, the governor’s budget still needs to pass muster with the Legislature, which is not likely to meet its constitutional obligation to send an approved budget to the governor by June 15.

The 2009-10 furlough program saved about $32 million at UC Davis, taking care of nearly one-third of the campus’s budget shortfall.

The systemwide furlough program began Sept. 1 for more than 100,000 of the university’s 180,000 employees, with exemptions for most medical center employees, for staff members paid with extramural grants, for employees in specific life-safety positions, and with union participation subject to collective bargaining.

The number of unpaid furlough days ranged from 11 to 26, corresponding to pay cuts of 4 percent to 10 percent. Where each employee fell on a seven-band salary scale determined how many furlough days that employee was assigned: the greater his or her annual pay, the more furlough days.

At UC Davis, the administration designated seven days as common furlough days and aligned them with three campus closures: Dec. 28-30, March 24-25 and June 14-15.

At the medical centers, the university exempted everyone but the Senior Management Group from the furlough program, so as not to affect patient care, but on the condition that the centers save as much money as would have been saved through furloughs.

The unions that represent Davis campus employees came to different agreements (or no agreement) on furloughs or modified cost-saving strategies, such as START (Staff and Academic Reduction in Time), in which employees cut their hours voluntarily.

Some of these agreements took effect after the systemwide furlough plan began Sept. 1, which means that, for some union members, furloughs and START participation may extend beyond Aug. 31.

For the unions that did not come to agreement on furloughs or modified strategies, the campus implemented an alternate plan comprising reduced percentage appointments or temporary layoffs — and those too may extend beyond Aug. 31.

Campus closure

While the campus will be officially closed, police and firefighters and other essential personnel will be at work as usual.

The Police Department, of course, always likes to hear from people if they see something amiss. This is even more important during a campus closure, Lt. Matt Carmichael explained, when there are fewer people who can lend their eyes and ears to the police.

So, Carmichael said, if you happen to be coming to campus, and you see anything suspicious, do not hesitate to call the dispatch center: 911 from campus phones or (530) 752-1230 from cell phones.

Here are some other reminders:

• With the weather finally starting to warm up, remember that thermostats in buildings will be set a little higher — to reduce the amount of energy that goes toward cooling.

• Employees can help the campus save even more energy by turning off electronic devices and/or unplugging them (to keep them from drawing standby power). Read more about energy conservation during holiday weekends and campus closures.

• If the power goes out, the Facilities Management dispatch center will be up and running 24 hours a day, and crews will be available to respond. They will take care of other emergencies as well, such as water leaks. The number is (530) 752-1655.

• Repro Graphics’ campus shop, in Hoagland Hall, will be closed June 14-15, but the main shop on Chiles Road will be open, with deliveries and pickups to be handled as usual.

Director Brian Wadell explained that Repro Graphics’ biggest clients, UC Davis Extension and the UC Davis Health System, are open June 14-15, “so we are staying open for them.”

“For sure we will have limited staff,” Wadell said, “but since we are going to be open anyway, we'll do work for anybody needing it.”

• Shields Library will be closed June 12-15; upon reopening on June 16, the library will be on its intersession schedule: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. June 16-18, closed June 19, and 1-5 p.m. June 20. Summer hours, effective June 21-Sept. 10: 7:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, and 1-7 p.m. Sunday. Exceptions: closed June 13-15, July 4 and Sept. 6; and reduced hours (noon-6 p.m.) July 5.

• The Activities and Recreation Center will be closed June 14-15.

• The Rec Pool will be open June 14-15 for lessons and open swimming and lap swimming. Summer hours, effective June 14-Sept. 6, for open swimming and lap swimming (two lanes): 2-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, and noon-7 p.m. Friday-Sunday. Exception: reduced hours (noon-7 p.m.) Sept. 6.

• Hickey Pool (lap swimming) — Closed June 14-15. Summer hours, effective June 16-Sept. 19: 7 a.m.-8:30 a.m., noon-1:30 p.m. and 5-6:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, and 10 a.m.-noon Saturday-Sunday. Exceptions: closed July 4; and reduced hours (noon-2 p.m.) July 5 and Sept. 6. Also, no lap swimming June 26 (to make way for Special Olympics).

• Unitrans announced that summer service will be in effect June 14-15. In fact, the campus-city bus service launched its summer service today (June 11); regular service is scheduled to resume Sept. 23. Complete schedule information.

• Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital — Open for emergency care 365 days a year.