Inside Iowa State

July 2, 2009

Voluntary leave, gifts top $600,000

by Anne Krapfl

As of Iowa State's June payroll, 297 university employees had elected to participate in the voluntary furlough/leave without pay option. This figure includes the 28 administrators and four athletics department leaders. The estimated total savings to the university is $505,208.

In mid-January, president Gregory Geoffroy approved voluntary furloughs and leave without pay as a strategy for meeting a 1.5 percent ($4.25 million) reversion in state funding for the 2008-09 fiscal year. June 30 was the deadline to participate. An earlier 1 percent reduction was covered at the university administration level.

Employee participation in a voluntary gifting program at the ISU Foundation also grew slightly over May figures: 104 employees have given a total of $97,333.

Combined, the two options have drawn 401 employee participants with total savings/gifts of $602,541.

A volunteer cohort of 401 employees contributed leaves without pay and cash gifts valued at $602,541 to help meet a state budget reversion in the fiscal year just completed.