Financial Mitigation Plan (FMP)

From Dr. Silvertooth's May 1 Friday Extension Note:

Updates from this week include:

• Clarification that CES positions funded on capacity grant funding, e.g. EFNEP, and other federal sources of funding are exempt from the furloughs and salary reductions associated with the University of Arizona (UA) financial mitigation plan.

• On 29 April Governor Ducey issued Executive Order 2020-33 extending the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy, and Stay Connected” until 15 May. The University of Arizona (UA) is also continuing with the remote operations.

• We submitted a request to the Provost and UA Chief Financial Officer for an exemption of CES positions funded on Smith-Lever and state funding from the CES allocation in the state budget due to the fact that this funding is not at all connected to tuition-based revenues. This request is under review and will communicate the decision as soon as possible.

_____

The University of Arizona will implement Employee Furlough and Pay Reduction Programs on May 11, 2020, to remain in effect until June 30, 2021.

On your timesheet in UAccess Employee, enter the number of University Furlough hours using the Time Reporting Code “UFP” (positive pay reporters) or “UFE” (exception pay reporters) on the day(s) in which furlough time is taken.

Employees who take a furlough day during an unpaid Family and Medical Leave absence should use the codes “FUFP” (positive pay reporters) and “FUFE” (exception pay reporters).

_____

President Robbin's modifications to the Furlough and Pay Reduction Plan as of May 1, 2020.

_____

In response to President Robbins' recently-proposed financial mitigation plan (FMP) of enacting furloughs to help offset the financial strain of the COVID-19 issue, we've developed a separate page to house frequently-asked questions (FAQs). You can still enter additional questions in the comments section below and they will be added to the list to obtain responses.

______

April 28, 2020, Human Resources posted new guidance for the Grant-Funded Researchers: Furlough Program. This guidance was extensively reviewed by all Deans, Regents and Distinguished Professors, Administration personnel, Centers and Institute Directors, several Faculty and Department / Unit Heads.

______

This is a reminder that you can find the ALVSCE Furlough FAQs that KC Armenta put together here. It can also be accessed through the ALVSCE COVID-19 Business Guidance found here. Janis Rutherford, Director of Finance, ALVSCE

Are sponsored-funded employees required to take a furlough?

Faculty and Staff who are 100% funded on sponsored awards are exempt under the furlough plan. Faculty and staff who only devote a portion of their effort to sponsored awards will be subject to the furlough plan, proportionate to the FTE distributed to sponsored accounts. Sponsored funding is, for the purpose of this guidance, defined as: Awards from federal, state, other governmental agencies, non-profit and for-profit agencies including grants, contracts, clinical trials and cooperative agreements.

For University of Arizona purposes, sponsored funding is in the 3XXXXXX-4XXXXXX account range.

The term “sponsored” does NOT include funds generated from indirect costs recovery, royalty sharing, or state general funds.

All faculty and staff who spend all or a portion of their time on extramural awards, will convert to the furlough plan. For those researchers making $150,000 - $199,999, and who would have been subject to a 17% pay-cut otherwise, they will now be included in the furlough program at the 17% equivalent 44 furlough day limit. Likewise, those researchers making more than $200,000 would now be included in the furlough program at the 20% equivalent of a 52 furlough day limit.

Under a furlough, the institutional base salary is unchanged. Continue to use your current, pre-furlough UA salary in proposal application budgets.

Will the furloughs apply to fully grant-supported positions like grad students and postdocs? How does this apply to T32 postdocs and other contract workers (non-employees)?

T32 Trainees, fellows and contract workers are not University of Arizona employees, and are excluded from the furlough. Postdoctoral Research Associates hired under UHAP Chapter 12, Undergraduate, and graduate students are not subject to the furlough plan.

Summer supplements for many faculty are paid out of grant dollars. How will salaries paid from grants, in light of the fiscal responsibilities to funding agencies including project progress, be impacted

Individuals that receive summer supplemental compensation on grant dollars will be able to continue receiving summer supplemental compensation.

How will furlough affect our relationships with sponsors?

We are committed to ensuring that we complete our sponsored research, which is why we have exempted the proportional efforts on sponsored awards. Sponsoring agencies expect institutions to have policies in place regarding the payment of salary and wages for employees that reflect no more than the percentage of time actually devoted to the project. The Arizona Board of Regents / State of Arizona has the legal authority to impose furloughs on employees, funding agencies would not have a basis to object to such a policy as long as the policy does not violate the terms and conditions of the grant/contract and all funds remain available for applicable grant/contract activities.

Are start-up funds for faculty being viewed like grant funds (i.e., if faculty pay their personnel off start up, are those people also exempt from furlough)? What about people who are state-funded who 100% support the activity of research faculty?

No. Employees funded on start-up funds and state funds are subjected to the furlough policy as these are institutional funds.

How will it work for those faculty whose salary is above the NIH cap and the UA pays cost share?

As faculty who receive extramural funding will be converted from salary reduction to furlough, there will be no effect on the NIH cap. Total compensation remains the same, the faculty member will just need to take their furlough time commensurate with the effort devoted to sponsored awards (see question #1 above).

Are staff whose salaries are part of a cost sharing commitment exempt from furlough or pay cuts?

No. If your grant/contract/agreement has a required cost share amount, work with your program officer on options to cover the cost sharing commitment in light of the University of Arizona’s furlough policy.

If someone is on the salary cusp, can they take a salary reduction to bring them down to a lower furlough percentage?

No.

In addition, the below questions have yet to be answered. When they are, we will post them above with the rest of the FAQs.

Do the furloughs include hourly employees?
Since Cooperative Extension has a separate state line item from the University and it does not receive income from tuition or any student / campus driven auxiliary services are they included in the furlough and if so, why?
How will the furlough impact 9 month employees versus 12 month employees? The straight day calculation for those under $150K represents a MUCH higher percentage for 9 month employees.
Will supplemental compensation be considered in the salary ranges and how they relate to the number of furlough days?
How do the measures we are taking, such furloughs and layoffs compare to our peer institutions, both in state and around the nation?
Is the salary range for furlough including stipends from Other Professional Services that are outside our base appointment/contract?
We are being deluged with questions from our physician faculty. Are they exempted from furloughs? if not, how does this work for them? furloughed only on the UA source and not the Banner source? what salary? academic only? clinical rate ? blended total salary? Thank you!
How does furlough work for faculty? Faculty do not report time like staff do. Additionally, will workload be reduced then or are faculty expected to do 5 days of work in 4 days?
Will furloughs apply to individuals funded on auxiliary (recharge) accounts?
Are faculty also subject to furlough? They are paid by contract so I assume they aren't subjected to this new policy
Are endowed positions safe from furloughs?
Can faculty take unpaid leave?