Oct. 29
Survey illustrates P&S budget opinions
by Erin Rosacker
Professional and Scientific employees favor furloughs to position eliminations or smaller retirement contributions to meet a mid-year budget reversion. The executive committee of the Professional and Scientific Council invited P&S staff to participate in a confidential electronic survey last Thursday and Friday to gauge opinions of budget-cutting methods. The answers -- and an additional 1,203 submitted comments -- were compiled and sent to president Gregory Geoffroy and executive vice president and provost Elizabeth Hoffman on Friday.
Regents' list
In response to the eight budget-cutting options outlined by the state Board of Regents, P&S employees agreed or strongly agreed with:
- Temporary layoffs/furloughs (62.8 percent)
- A tuition surcharge (58.6)
- Postponing deferred maintenance and repairs (86.5)
- Program eliminations (69.6)
- Selling non-essential assets (62.5)
Respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with:
- Temporary salary reductions (60.4)
- Temporary or permanent benefit revisions (63.2)
- Permanent layoffs (66.6)
Making comparisons
More than 50 percent of employees also agreed or strongly agreed with these statements:
- I would favor a furlough plan if number of days furloughed were relative to salary, 71.6 percent
- Mandatory furloughs are preferable to eliminating positions, 75.8 percent
- I would favor a furlough over a reduction in my retirement contributions by Iowa State, 68.8 percent
- I would favor a reduction in the employer's portion of my retirement contribution (eg. 10 percent to 8 percent) as a budget reduction tool if such a reduction had a specific end date (eg. 8-12 months), 56.3 percent
Who participated
Nearly 65 percent of ISU's 2,584 P&S employees completed the survey. A summary of the answers is available on the P&S Council web site. P&S Council president Camille Sloan Schroeder will present the results at the Board of Regents' Oct. 29 meeting.
