The Davis campus’s Staff Assembly is soliciting opinions on possible employee furloughs — something that the UC system is considering, as UC President Mark Yudof reminded this week in a memo posted on Human Resources’ At Your Service Web site.

Neither Yudof nor the Board of Regents has taken action on furloughs or pay cuts, but Yudof’s April 7 memo indicated that the Office of the President is preparing a contingency plan and a standing order, authorized by the Board of Regents, that would serve as “a broad legal framework to allow for both systemwide and campus-by-campus furloughs and salary reductions, should deteriorating financial conditions so require.”

Staff Assembly launched its furlough survey on April 8, advising employees that their input would be “completely anonymous.” By the close of business the next day, nearly 1,000 responses had come in, said Tiva Lasiter, Staff Assembly coordinator.

Chair Peter Blando, business services manager for Communications Resources, said Staff Assembly planned to turn over the first batch of survey data to the administration next week.

Karen Hull, associate vice chancellor for Human Resources, said, “As part of the budget planning process, we appreciate feedback from all UC Davis employees.

“Staff Assembly’s survey is an effective strategy for gathering the perspectives of staff regarding furloughs,” Hull added, “and their voice is important to hear as we consider various options for addressing budget reductions.”

The survey does not address something else that the Office of the President is considering: pay cuts. Blando said Staff Assembly may prepare a second survey, one that might ask people to state their preferences for layoffs, pay cuts or furloughs.

“There might also be a ‘none of the above,’” Blando said, “but as Yudof mentions in his communications, 70 percent of the UC budget is related to employees, and any effort to meet budget reductions will touch staff in some form or another.

“We will continue to ask for input from staff directly using these surveys to provide the most complete perspective to the campus leadership.”

Hull reminded employees of “another important avenue” for feedback: SmartSite.

Blando said the Staff Assembly Executive Committee decided on its own to put together the furlough survey, in response to many calls and e-mails from employees, and conversations with them — all expressing concern about the possibility of being ordered to take unpaid time off.

“This is unfamiliar territory for us,” Blando said. “We may not be able to say if furloughs happen or not, but maybe we can help advise the administration on what’s the best way to do this.”

The survey is accompanied by an introduction that states: “While there are many arguments as to why we should or should not implement a furlough, this survey is simply intended to help campus administrators on the most effective method to implement furloughs that minimizes the impact to staff.”

For example, the first question asks whether the timing of furloughs should be consistent throughout the UC system, or if UC Davis should decide for itself on the implementation.

Blando said some employees have suggested that uniform furlough days may be the best way to go, for the entire UC system, so that everyone is off on the same days. “A lot of business is transacted between campuses,” Blando said, “and if one campus is open, and another is closed, that business cannot get done.”

The survey asks employees to state their preferences for when furloughs would be taken:

• All in one month (say, August or December)

• Throughout the year (say, the last Friday of every month)

• By individual choice, with departmental approval

• A combination of the first three options

• Other (with an invitation to “please describe”)

The survey notes that the first two options would result in campus shutdowns; a follow-up question asks: “Should some positions be exempt from furloughs or be exempt from a campuswide shutdown?”

Several questions are accompanied by boxes allowing for comments, and the survey ends with a box for “any other feedback on how to effectively implement furloughs that minimizes the impact to staff but could achieve its purpose of reducing costs.”

Staff Assembly announced the survey in a special edition of Staff Voice, the assembly’s e-mail newsletter. “The global economic decline is not unlike a natural disaster which has profound impacts on the lives of many,” Staff Voice declared. “While we continue to hope that furloughs can be avoided, we still need to prepare for such an eventuality, as with any natural disaster.”

Blando said employees are asked to complete the survey by April 11. The goal is to deliver the survey results and opinions to the administration in a timely manner, as officials prepare the contingency plan that Yudof has asked for.

However, Blando said, the survey will still be available for at least a few days after April 11, and Staff Assembly will continue to collect data and provide updated reports to the administration.

Blando added that Staff Assembly’s Executive Committee will review the feedback and provide consensus opinion in a future edition of Staff Voice.

Yudof’s April 7 memo acknowledges that “the university’s greatest asset — its human capital — comprises a significant amount of its budget.” He noted that more than 70 percent of UC’s core budget is devoted to faculty and employee salary and benefits.

“The state of California has implemented furloughs for state employees; we have not thus far. But particularly with the new projections of state budget shortfalls, I believe we need to begin planning for the possibility of employee furloughs and-or temporary and permanent salary reductions as an additional element of the university’s response to the state budget contraction,” Yudof wrote in his memo.

Yudof and others from the Office of the President said much the same thing in March when they briefed the Board of Regents on possible cost-saving measures, including furloughs and pay cuts.

In his memo this week, Yudof said he had asked Katherine N. Lapp, executive vice president for Business Operations, and Lawrence Pitts, interim provost and executive vice chancellor, to work with Human Resources, the General Counsel and the Academic Senate to develop a contingency plan for furloughs and pay cuts.

“My goal is to produce for consideration by the regents in May a flexible regental standing order that would serve as a broad legal framework to allow for both systemwide and campus-by-campus furloughs and salary reductions, should deteriorating financial conditions so require,” Yudof said.

“In my view, such an order should include two critical components — first, a delineation of roles and responsibilities of the regents, chancellors, the president and the divisional Academic Senates in determining whether to impose furloughs and salary reductions; and second, flexibility for each campus to implement these actions in ways appropriate to their unique circumstances, including the need to maintain clinical health enterprise operations, ensure public safety, and honor existing union contracts and government regulations.”

Yudof concluded: “Only when we have in place these decision-making processes and implicit recognition of the need for campus autonomy should we move forward with the actions necessary to respond to our changing fiscal situation.”

UC Davis budget news.