Boise State to furlough employees due to revenue losses from COVID-19 pandemic
Boise State University President Marlene Tromp emailed university staff and faculty on Monday, announcing furloughs for all employees paid more than $40,000 as the school deals with the financial strains of the coronavirus pandemic.
The highest-paid employees, those who make more than $150,000 a year, will take 10 furlough days. The lowest paid full-time employees (40,000-$74,999) will take four furlough days. Those making $100,000-$149,999 will take seven furlough days and those making $75,000-$99,999 will have five.
“I hope our swift action now can help us avoid what could be more grave action later and provide for the long-term well-being of both our community and the institution,” Tromp wrote in the email.
In the letter to employees, obtained by the Statesman, Tromp explained that Boise State is facing a funding shortfall due to canceled events that stretch into the summer. This is after the spring semester was turned into online schooling because of the virus.
“As many of you know, like 80 percent of universities across the nation, we made what I firmly believe was the right decision to provide millions of dollars of prorated refunds to our students for dining, housing and parking fees,” Tromp wrote. “We have also had to cancel millions of dollars in revenue-generating events through the school year and into the summer. These direct losses alone create a nearly $10 million impact.”
Tromp wrote that Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding cannot cover the losses, “and, justly, 50 percent of that funding must go directly to students.”
According to a copy of the email, the furloughs apply to all 12-month faculty, including administrative faculty, but not those who are teaching part-time over the summer. The furlough days must be taken between May 3 and July 31.
The email noted that employees may take additional voluntary furlough days if they wish to support the community effort. This requires their supervisor’s approval.
At an April 6 Idaho State Board of Education meeting, Tromp expressed concerns about the economic impact of the pandemic.
“A lot of students are considering staying closer to home or not enrolling in the fall, so we are going to continue to have impacts,” she said. “We don’t know what the fall holds for us, in terms of where we’ll be in terms of any restrictions for the size of gatherings, and that could affect classrooms.
“We’re attendant to the concerns of our students and their families. We’re attending to the potential for still working around certain limitations and restrictions. The financial impact of that will be large. It will be significant.”
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 7:07 PM.
