Please note that suggestions are being solicited to involve the campus community in the budget process to the greatest extent possible, and that proposed suggestions for cost-saving measures are being posted in the interest of promoting a free exchange of ideas. To that end, all suggestions received through the Budget Website except those that are malicious or contain information known to be untrue or misleading will be posted. The posting of these ideas, however, does not constitute their endorsement. 

As of March 30, 2009

Is it possible to turn off the Jumbo Tron at Kinnick??
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Everynight at the current Studio Arts building (Old Menards), the Menards sign is lit up at the corner of the enterance. During the day it appears white, but with the light on, it clearly displays Menards. If the university is footing the bill for the energy consumption out at this location, I’m not quite sure why it is paying to light up a sign for Menards every night. I’m sure it doesn’t cost a whole lot, but at the same time I know that a lot of little expenses add up to a lot of money. It would probably be an easy fix to shut the timer off or disconnect this sign unless of course Menards is paying for night-time advertisement.
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Turn off the heat or dial back the thermostat at UIHC Old Capitol Center by March 20th of each year. The space holds more than 300 energy-consuming fax machines, printers, computers that throw off lots of heat. When the weather is mild and the heat continues to pour into the space, we are forced to rely on personal fans to cool off thereby using even more energy in an attempt to do our work. It is easier to put on a sweater than it is to get comfortable in an overheated space. Surely something can be done.
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The government of India has done studies (and so has NASA) that have found that having 3 kinds of plants inside a building can filter the air and improve air quality, saving 15% on building energy costs and boosting productivity by up to 20%. The air quality in Iowa is probably a lot better than India’s, so we probably use less energy to process a building’s air supply, but if we’re looking at ALL ways to save money, then this should be explored.
Video presentation of India’s study:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/kamal_meattle_on_how_to_grow_your_own_fresh_air.html

NASA’s study:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/1837156/NASA-Indoor-Plants

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As  of  March 23, 2009

I suggest eliminating the Power Plant whistle. This whistle is VERY loud and disrupts the otherwise calm and peaceful University of Iowa atmosphere that we all enjoy. I suggest saving the money it takes to run the whistle and do away with this tradition.

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For help in reducing utility costs/overhead expenses, engage different parts of our University in competition with rewards to those who reduce, for example, energy consumption by the greatest percentage or reduce travel expenses by the greatest percentage.

We could have the dorms each competing against each other. Could have different academic units competing against each other or occupants of UI buildings on campus. Rewards could be monetary OR free tickets to UI events OR extra 4 hours of vacation time awarded to winners. Make it fun.
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This has probably already been suggested, but turn off the Kinnick Stadium scoreboards during the off-season. There is no reason to have flashing ads displayed on the boards if there are no eyeballs in the stadium to see them. On days when there might be activities in the stadium, then the boards could be turned on again.
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1. Turn off the flood lights, without exceptions, on any UI bldg, stadium, etc, with a façade that’s lit up for the sake of, what? And especially on the Pentacrest’s Capitol building and the UIHC General Hospital tower. It’s an inexcusable waste of money in these times and cannot be justified. Turning off every computer at night is pittance compared to the waste of electricity used by these flood lights.

2. Install motion-detection lighting systems everywhere. Hall lighting in after-hours closed buildings should be cut in half if they have to remain on at all.

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I believe a great way to cut costs at the U of I is to go the solar route – instead of replacing old single-pane windows, place energy efficient solar screens over them. They keep in the heat during winter and cut the heat from coming in during the summer, saving money on utilities, and also would render shades unnecessary for these windows (i.e., Solar Screens of Iowa).

Another important money saver that many others have suggested is telecommuting. This is a win-win situation for the University and the employee! There are entire areas that could simply work at home, with only a skeleton crew working at the University to maintain the work flow, etc. Centralized Transcription Service is a prime example of this: With PcAnywhere software and high-speed DSL, this is something that can easily be done at home 100% of the time, or several days of the week. The employee is more productive, there is a huge savings as only a small room would be required for the skeleton staff, parking opens up as the employees are at home, and sick time/vacation time takes a serious nosedive.

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From the Facilities management Web site

http://energy.uiowa.edu/renewableenergy.htm

Hydroelectric capabilities: The Power Plant was built in the 1920s and enclosed an existing hydroelectric facility. The hydroelectric facility continued to generate power until the 1960s, when the unit was shut down and the equipment removed. However, the structural portion of this facility is still inside the Power Plant and would support installation of hydroelectric generation equipment. An initial study has confirmed that it would be possible to restore hydroelectric generation to the Power Plant. We would expect about 500-KW of renewable energy would be generated from a restored hydroelectric generator.

Could a corporate sponsor or some type fund raising program or arrangement provide some of the funding to re-install the hydroelectric generator?

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There are many large, flat roofs on campus buildings. Would the use of solar panels for electricity and/or hot water make economical sense over the long run in this part of the country? This probably requires a large initial expense and a slow return on the investment. However, there may be federal funds available to help with the installation expense.

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Parking ramp 4, where employees park (near field house entrance) there are heat lamps and heated elevators, can we shut those off to conserve energy and cost? I have been out there multiple times in the past month and I do not feel they are necessary.
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I was just writing to let you know of an idea that I believe could save the University money. After a recent visit to a hotel, I noticed that they had installed motion sensors in every room. This motion sensor is connected to the heating/air conditioning unit. The unit will then be shut off after no motion is detected. I can’t share a whole lot more knowledge about this, but if it’s cost effective for a hotel, I assume it would be cost effective for the school, so long as it works with the schools current heating/cooling system. Anyway, I hope that if this has not been researched in the past, that it is helpful information.
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Rather than spend the 1.5 million for a temp boiler lets follow the example of Ball State University. They have started a project to drill 3,750 wells, each 400 feet deep, to tap the earth’s constant temperature for campus heating and cooling. The geothermal conversion project will eliminate the university’s coal fired boilers and 85,000 tons of carbon dioxide production a year. On a smaller scale a ground source heat pump system could be implemented on one building at a time.
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My suggestion is to place some of these Swift Wind Turbines on campus to reduce energy consumption.
Swift Wind Turbine Home Page:
http://www.swiftwindturbine.com/?r=1

Swift Wind Turbine Videos:
http://www.swiftwindturbine.com/videos.php

Federal Incentives:
http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/repi/

State Incentives:
http://www.dsireusa.org/
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I would like to simply reinforce all of the great ideas already suggested through the budget group web site targeting energy curtailment and a reduction of lighting. Implementing a handful of these very simple, “low-hanging fruit” ideas can drastically cut energy costs over the course of even a few short months. Let’s work to reduce lighting and “power down” in all buildings across campus all year long not only in an effort to be more sustainably minded and reduce global warming, but to save the university some money!
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Increase efficiency in utilities, especially in the older buildings. My office (in North Hall) is excessively hot, and I have no choice but to open the window even on the coldest winter days just to make the temperature bearable. There are likely many similar stories across the campus.
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Consider enforcing the rule against portable heaters. This would probably save quite a bit!
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I suggest that all personal refrigerators using University utilities be unplugged and taken home. Refrigerators that serve departmental needs, or are shared among larger staff numbers, or necessary due to ADA accommodation, would ideally be energy efficient models. Having been in a flooded building, I was amazed at the number of small dorm size refrigerators that needed to be emptied before the building was taken off line. Those of us who bring our lunch (and that number will probably increase due to the economy) could use thermal bags with ice packs.
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I believe that the Campus Theatre renovation in the Old Capitol Center was abandoned due to budget – however, there are several large lights visibly burning as you look at the front entrance of the former theatres. Small savings, but every savings counts.
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This summer should be “The Summer That Feels Like Summer.” We are all Iowans who own shorts, the thermostats should be cranked up and employees should be encouraged to dress accordingly. It would be great for the environment, save money, and provide an opportunity to experience real Iowa weather.
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Not sure if it would save tons of money but going to all motion sensor lighting instead of turning lights on and off they would just be used when people are in buildings or classrooms.
Also, could we eliminate telephones in offices. So much is now done on cell phones and by email.
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A way to aid energy cost reductions would be to cap the heating and cooling temperatures in buildings. As it is, individuals typically don’t dress for the weather anymore. Let’s investigate the cost savings from setting thermostats at 74 in the summer and 68-70 in the winter. Wear warmer clothes in the winter and get a desk fan for the summer.

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My suggestion for saving money is to turn the A/C up a couple of degrees in the summer. For those areas with a formal dress code, institute the “short-sleeve business shirt” exception (some major companies did this same thing last summer, I remember reading about it in the paper). Then people still look professional and can avoid sweating.

I for one think people over-chill buildings in the summer when we could all dress a bit more reasonably and save some money in the process.
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It’s so nice that the U is asking for our ideas to help. I don’t know about anyone else but since this whole stinky budget thing is affecting all of use, it’s good to have some input into ways to help. I have several ideas I would like to share:

1. LIGHTING - I suggest every building on campus turn off at least half their lights during working hours. I never understood why it’s only during the summer when we are asked to curtail our energy usage. That just doesn’t make any sense to me. We should be trying to save money all year long. This is a no-brainer. Most offices with windows shouldn’t need to use any additional lighting except on dreary days and when it’s dark outside. In our office, there is no reason to have all the hall lights on and both lights on in each office. This would apply to residence halls, too. ALL buildings on campus.

2. ELECTRONICS – All employees and students should be encouraged (by a HUGE campaign) to turn off monitors, printers, copiers, computers, etc when they are done using them. I can see that computers might need to stay on in the ITC labs and libraries but there is no reason why the monitor shouldn’t be shut off after each user is done with it. Turning off these electronics would be a big money-saver for the U.

3. FLEX SCHEDULES - Another idea would be to have 4 10-hour work days and/or allow workers to work from home if their job would allow that flexibility. The U would save on electricity, water, parking, etc. Flexible schedules are the only schedules that make sense to me. I used to be in HR for a number of years, and I know for a fact that employees are MUCH happier, which makes them much, much, MUCH more productive, when they are working a flexible schedule or working from home. It’s a proven fact that happy employees are productive employees. The offices could still be open 5 days a week but if you allow flexibility in work schedules so that the office has adequate coverage for all 5 days, and the work gets done, there is no reason why flex schedules would not work and save the U a lot of money while getting much more productivity out of the employees. We’re all being asked to do more with less. This would be a great way to get that.

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My suggestion is to put a power strip on every desk and plug in computers, printers, speakers, and any other device that is not used over night. If it is convenient, people may flick a switch as part of their leaving work pattern.
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The budget cuts certainly are inconvenient! My knowledge of the logistics and infrastructure involved with running the university are very limited, but I do understand the ever increasing cost of energy. I have noted, and confirmed with other residents, that the dormitories as well as other buildings are warmer than necessary. During the late fall and winter months I have had no choice but to leave the windows gaping to keep the temperature reasonable. Often times it reaches 80+ degrees, with the windows opened. Apart from being incredibly wasteful it is not conducive to a comfortable learning environment.
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With the continued tight budget, we should implement and continue long term to reduce the amount of electricity used across both the college and hospital. There are areas where we could easily lower the light usage, when safety is not an issue. During the high peaks of electrical usage, the employees doing this to help, why not do this year around? We can also mandate for non-essential employees to work from home even one day a week remotely which would reduce the electrical usage even further.

Another idea is to promote among the employees cost cutting suggestions, allow the departments to post or commend the employee for their part in cutting the budget. Run a contest among the students/staff to harness the broad sector of thinking to come up with ways to cut corners or recycle and possibly provide the winners with a monetary award or possible “free” semester of education. We loose out on so many good ideas because most people for 1) don’t know who to contact 2) thinks no one really cares 3) has no ownership to the betterment of the University College or Hospital. How many times have you heard the statement, “that’s the University’s way?”
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in the building i work in which is health science there are a lot of lights that are on the whole entire time the building is open because of the building is wired no light switches in these rooms or if someone is gone lights are still on can something be figured out to save energy cost
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The department of Anesthesia has many flat screen monitors that rotate the staff at the front desk and three others down by the lecture room. These are all left on in the night hours as well as weekends. If this happens in many areas, just shutting off the monitors on these down times, could save a bunch.
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I am sure that keeping all the U’s buildings at the right temperature is a difficult job, but I am equally sure that we are wasting lots and lots of energy. This seems especially true of the air-conditioning of buildings that get little use, or are cooled to temperatures that make them actually cold to be in.

I strongly suggest that the UI figure out how to heat and cool buildings in a more energy-efficient manner. Can we, for example, turn the air-conditioning up just a couple degrees everywhere? And similarly, can we turn the heat down a couple degrees for instance?

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My suggestion would be to have as many coders/cancer abstractors work out of their homes as possible. This reduces the cost of office space, utilities, and computer usage at the University of Iowa. I have read articles in trade magazines that other facilities have found this cost effective.
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Lights in this hospital seem to be on all the time, regardless of whether or not they are being used. If staff attempt to be mindful of this and begin turning off unnecessary lights, a lot of wasted money and energy will be saved.

I would like to see greater emphasis placed on turning off lights, especially at the end of a day.
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Our building is poorly insulated and must cost the university much more that it should to heat and cool. Insulation is an upfront cost, but some types of weatherizing investments can be recouped in as few as a couple of years. To be proactive, we have attempted to obtain an energy audit for our building, but so far to no avail. My suggestion, let’s getting the university really committed to energy savings. That means all buildings.
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Light continue to be left on in areas that are not used, especially at night, why are we leaving so many lights on in non-patient areas.
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Get people to turn off their lights when they leave!
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Perhaps the flood lights that illuminate the Old Capitol at night could be turned off. In place some more energy efficient lighting could be installed in the cupola below the dome if it is felt lighting is necessary.
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In walking through the second floor skywalk, leading to the Parking Ramp II, I have noticed it is frequently uncomfortably hot in there from registers blowing hot air (even in the summer). Patients and their families are negatively affected by the heat by the time they get to the ramp. Especially with all the windows in the skywalk, turning down the heat should have a great cost savings. We could also think about not heating the stairwells in the ramps.

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One area that I feel the University of Iowa (UI) could save money is in the bus system. It has always amazed me how a bus will stop and pick up one passenger and possibly a second along the way from where I get on at Westlawn and travel to the South Hospital with only two passengers. Although I have had on occasion to wait at least 30 minutes for a bus in freezing weather, it seems that I have also been trying to catch a bus only to see the driver stop and take off without looking around to see if there are any individuals trying to hurry to catch the bus.

It is convenient to have the buses every ten minutes but perhaps there would be a more efficient way of setting up routes where the buses have more passengers to save on the fuel costs associated with running them. Perhaps if the bus stops and waits for 7-10 minutes to give people a chance to catch it then it would be more efficient. After all we sit in the cold and wait well over that amount of time for the bus to arrive. And if the buses are fuller it might require far less buses to travel with only one or two passengers. When there is an event such as a game or major UI gathering the buses could run at full force in the areas where traffic is higher. With the cost of fuel these days this is something I believe should be reviewed.
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Plant wildflower seeds rather than potted plants/flowers, cut the grass, and trim the trees and bushes less, install sensors so that lights go off when there isn’t anyone in a room, rather than logging off, shut down computers between people, wash windows less, start a recycling program and use the money you gain from aluminum and the like, cut out all employee bonuses.
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In the spirit of shared sacrifice I would like to suggest 1 day per month furloughs for all full time faculty and staff for FY2009-2010.

In an effort to reduce energy consumption I would like to suggest that some buildings go dark and with reduced heating or air conditioning after 9pm Monday thru Friday, and for specified periods of time on the weekends. Many postdoctoral scholars and graduated students work, study, or hang out in research laboratories at all hours of the night requiring lights and HVAC to run 24 hours a day in buildings occupied by only a few people.. I am not trying to slow down work production, but only suggesting consolidation of effort into blocks of time that can be supported with reductions in energy. If the building is lighted and the HVAC is on they will not modify their behavior. If changes are made they will adapt.
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Cutting electricity costs: power outage shut all running electrical items - how much did that change electrical use and can that be translated into shutting down night/weekend items not in use?

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Please consider two early retirement options:
1. Ages 62 -65 - provide health care coverage for those who retire during these years. This may encourage those who are “ on the fence” about retiring to leave early. There are quite a few staff members of this age who may want to retire early, but just “hang on at the U of I” because of the health care coverage issue. Do not replace these staff members when they retire.
2. Ages 55- 62 – provide health care and a salary (50% of current salary with at least 20 yrs. of service) or some severance package to encourage these staff members to retire early. Offer this plan for a maximum time period of five years in length. You would not replace these staff members when they leave either. Providing a partial salary in this case would entice quite a few to leave the University. In the past, the early retirement programs would just get people off the U of I payroll, but then these folks would still need to work somewhere (unless they had a working spouse). And why leave the U of I with a higher salary with benefits and work somewhere else with lower salary/benefits? There would not be sufficient incentives to leave the U of IA early. There would be the costs that go along with this plan, but in the long run the University would save because these staff members are no longer on the payroll as full timers, no vacation time, no sick time usage etc. and you would only pay for a maximum for five years or less depending when people reached 62 and then they can start collecting Social Security and the 50% salary benefit part of the incentive ends. And then just pay for their health care until their full retirement age. I believe Deere and Co had similar early retirement programs to “get people off their payroll” in the early 1980’s and it worked. Try it here and make it work for for all merit and P & S people.
3. Thank you.
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I propose that the University offer debit cards for employees to pay for qualified expenses from Health Care Flex Spending Accounts. The implementation of debit cards would achieve savings in several areas:
1. Decrease in the University’s FICA Tax: Because of the added convenience of paying for eligible expenses with debit cards, the University would see participation increase in the Health Care Flex Spending Account benefit; which would lead to a decrease in the amount the University pays for FICA taxes.
2. Lower Bank Fees: The number of ACH transactions related to the University direct depositing reimbursements into employee bank accounts would decrease, thus lowering bank fees associated with ACH transactions.
3. Reduction in Labor Costs: The labor costs involved with processing reimbursement claims as well as the time an employee spends filing their claim with Benefits would decrease; the savings in time and wages would allow skills and resources to be redirected to other projects and/or responsibilities.
4. Environmentally friendly: The consumption of paper would be reduced since it would no longer be necessary to file for reimbursement of eligible health care expenses. Many people are still printing paper copies of their claims and expenses even though these can be submitted to Benefits electronically.

While the University benefits from the savings listed above, employees also benefit by the elimination of their out-of-pocket health care expenses. In this time of budget cuts and tough economic challenges, a change such as this would demonstrate that the University empathizes with its employees and is looking for solutions that can reduce our collective financial burden.
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I feel health insurance is the biggest issue for many of us who would consider retirement, but can’t because of the horrific cost. Someone suggested 10 days pay for each year worked. This sounds great, but most likely our Uncle Sam would take half of it especially if you begin Social Security. . If University contributed even 50% for a health insurance package that certainly would help and continue contributions to TIAA/CREF until age 65 would be an added bonus.
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My suggestion is for all University of Iowa making over $42,000 to take a 2% cut in pay. Everyone.
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1) A 4 day, 10 hour work week would save on energy, transportation, parking, cafeteria, and other service costs. I believe they did this in California.
2) Shutting down between Christmas and New Years without pay.
3) Go to 38 hour work weeks.
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My suggestion is to eliminate the “trailing spouse” hiring practice. I know firsthand of one example where a job position was created specifically for a trailing spouse in a non-patient care area. The department had no need for another employee but was forced to take him on and try to find something for him to do. Wasteful expense and terrible for morale. I would like to see how much money the university is spending on trailing spouses.
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I have been working with FRIC for the past 8 months on the benefits issue. I have proposed an alternative to the FRIC 2011 proposal (the so-called “Spencer Plan”…for details, see www.FixFlex.Org).

In my view, the UI community would support implementation of my plan in 2010 (vs. the FRIC plan which will be implemented in 2011). This would save UI $600,000 - $1,000,000 in the next calendar year. Richard Saunders is in the process of determining how much money the Spencer Plan would save relative to the current benefits system.

I hope you do not lay people off. I would like to see saving from attrition where it is possible. Cutting matching savings funds would be preferable to loss of jobs. One day of furlough for everyone would be fair. It would be unfair to furlough some, but not all employees unless it was done on a voluntary basis. Increasing employee parking fees and Iowa City bus passes would save. Providing free breakfast and lunch for meetings should be cut. You could charge a nominal fee for Cambus. Charge for parking at Oakdale and other outer University lots. Cut employee recognition gifts and provide a letter of thanks instead. All of these ideas would have a negative impact on employees but nothing equal to loss of jobs.
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Permanent Part-time staff: should not receive fulltime benefits
cut their benefits in half

TIAA/CREF contributions: time to cut 1-1 instead of 2-1

No new positions hired…lived without them this long…can live longer without them

Combine sports under one person for men and women or cut non-profitable sports

Cut the dead weight staff…there’s plenty of them

Quit promoting staff who have reached their top end in salary: e.g. secretaries promoted to Admin Assit

Quit having HR rep for every depart…make staff go to HR depart if they need assistance; thats what the depart was created for

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Submission of time sheets could be handled much more efficiently electronically as was done in my old department before I came to internal medicine.
The cost savings of working from home a couple days a week when being at the office could also be a great cost savings when factoring the many things that would add up to savings including employee moral.
Instead of asking for paycuts, reduce the UI match into employee retirement funds down from 10% to 5% temporarily for all employees. That way struggling families can still feed their families now and the UI can still meet their budget cut.
In communities with multiple vanpools, meet in a shared location and combine vans when ridership in low. (May not be possible in all situations/locations)
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I would like to suggest that departments that do not support phased retirement be asked to consider the option when possible. Many departments support the program while others do not approve requests for any staff within their department. It basically is their “policy’ not to approve phased.
This is one way to reduce expenses for the departments but retain good employees for several more years.
There are many employees who have been with the University for 25 years or more and are age 60 or older that would welcome the opportunity to start phased as they are not ready to give up work, but would be willing to work less hours with reduced pay that the phased retirement program would allow.
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Utilize manpower more effectively. Take for instance we have” 3” correlating labs/departments. All workers are able to perform all job requirements within the” 3 “labs/departments and yet we are segregated. Waste of money- and it not being very cost effective while some work and stay overtime while others sit around when they are perfectly capable of helping out, therefore not requiring any OT. This would cut down on OT cost. There is no team effort in this institution. It’s all about- this is yours and that is mine….. Just because someone does not want to work out side the box… It’s ridiculous.
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Iowa is a Right-To-Work state and we should utilize the protections afforded by this status. Negotiated contractual raises and step increases are negotiated for union members. Legally, we do not have to give these raises to non-union members. This would be a tremendous savings from merit, security, technical and P&S salaries.
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I think the U would save money if they would eliminate overtime . Also if a physician needs to travel, have all expenses come out of their pocket.
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Some have suggested shutting down campus around the New Year.

My suggestion is to shut down campus in late July or early August. I am assuming the cost of cooling campus is greater than the cost to heat it. Also, gas is usually priced higher during this time of year as well. Implement a 2 day furlough and 3 days vacation program.

I would rather see a 2-3 day furlough over a pay cut.

There are essential services, like some other have suggested, which would be exempt.

Thanks for listening to the suggestions.

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My suggestion would be to offer staff an academic year 12 pay appointment instead of a fiscal year appointment. Or allowing a reduction of hours during the summer months and over the winter break. When my children were younger, it would have cost less to stay at home during the summer months than to pay for child care when they were not in school.
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It is my understanding that if a department head resigns and returns to teaching full time, they are still paid at their department head rate. If this is true, why is their pay not reduced to professor level commensurate with their work? Looks like this could be an area of savings.
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I have been most pleased with your openness about the budget problems at hand, and your willingness to welcome and at least look at ideas submitted by staff.
I would first like to say I found the “deferred compensation/forced savings” being done in Arizona very interesting. I wondered specifically about the people who contributed to the “deferred compensation/forced savings” and retired before the return of any money. Once retired, would those people still get their investment in the government returned? I may have missed that point in the article.
My other thoughts encompass the early retirement incentive. I hope the retirement incentive can be truly an incentive. Many people seem to have health insurance as their top priority. I realize health insurance is an important aspect of everyone lives, but not everyone employed by the U of I absolutely needs to retain U of I funded insurance, when they retire. People with pre existing conditions are certainly in a different category than people who are genuinely healthy. Healthy people should really shop around. On the other hand, there are people, who will retire and will not need the U of I insurance, because they can be added to their spouse’s plan. In this respect, health insurance will not be an incentive for everyone eligible to retire. Personally, I would rather receive a ten days pay for each year I have worked for the University of Iowa. I would like the pay to be divided by four weeks per month and received as a monthly check for however many weeks of entitlement. I would also like to have my contribution to the TIAA/CREFF program continue until age 65. Whatever the incentive, I think those who don’t need health insurance, should have a comparable incentive too, for this program to really be a early retirement incentive.
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Perhaps we should consider decreasing the employee cost for use of UIHC. If we made UIHC the health care center of choice for the majority of our employees, wouldn’t it be best for everyone? If the cost of the premiums/out of pocket for non-UIHC facilities was increased, the incentive to use UIHC would be huge. Perhaps the outcome would create savings on the order of the generic prescription change made a few years ago. At any rate, we need to think of new ways to make UIHC the health care center of choice for our employees!
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UI could consider changing the rules regarding when an employee can have access to their TIAA-CREF retirement funding. Perhaps if age + years of service = 80, then a person can begin to use their TIAA-CREF. Considering the number of baby-boomers in the workforce, every employer is going to need to figure out ways to move us out of the workforce! Presumably most positions would be replaced with younger, less expensive employees. Perhaps departments could have the option to pay the health care of employees to take advantage of this option thus eliminating cost to the “central pool”. In my opinion, many employees would consider leaving the workforce earlier if they had access to paid healthcare and the ability to access TIAA-CREF.
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Encouraging flex schedules that emphasize working from home would save in many ways. If units equiped employees with laptops instead of PCs, and enlarged remote access capabilities, there would be a huge savings in energy including electricity, heating and cooling. Employees would save on commuting costs but bear the cost of energy in their own homes while they work. Flex scheduling may also improve morale!
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If academic programs were to eliminate summer & vacation operations, and totally close, there would be multiple cost savings. Most academic programs have faculty on 9 month appointments. Has UI ever considered staffing these offices only during Fall & Spring sessions, i.e. 75% time, thus reducing the percent effort of the employees associated with the programs? This would also mean closing offices during the summer months when air conditioning costs are highest, as well as closing during the 4 week break in the winter. This should be seriously considered for smaller programs that don’t need to hold summer classes.
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It is always the right time to look at improvements and efficiencies and cost savings that could be realized. It is imperative at this time. While I agree with the strong sentiment that layoffs should be prevented if possible, I also think that there are areas that could be cut that would not compromise our mission. It might be an entire work area like UI Wellness (they offer very nice services, but in really tough times they surely would not be considered essential) or it might be cutting back on work areas whose functions are essential but could be accomplished with fewer people. We need to make sure we have the right people in positions. Everyone within a work group must be accountable. Everyone must perform their assigned jobs. We really must stop carrying those employees who do not meet job expectations. I believe, sadly, there are plenty of those scenarios spread throughout. If managers refuse to deal with these issues, then someone should deal with the managers.

Change the long-standing policy (it may be unwritten, but I believe it is tightly adhered to) of not reducing a person’s salary when their job changes. Have you ever known anyone whose job duties were changed and responsibilities were reduced, yet they kept the same salary they had when they had a more responsible position, one at a higher level? I have. Quite a few. How is this work practice serving the best interests of the University? It’s back to accountability. It should be OK, no, it should be required, that people’s compensation match their job duties and levels of responsibility.

Take a critical look at organization structures. It appears to me that on the business (not academic) side, we are very heavy in management numbers – middle managers on up. We have Assistant Directors, Senior Assistant Directors, Associate Directors, Senior Associate Directors, Directors, and so on. It often appears that titles are handed out for political reasons more than true business reasons. Of course there is always the salary increase that goes with the title. And do the job responsibilities truly change/increase in all of these cases?

Do away with bonuses (I mean P&S, I don’t know how/if faculty or merit might be affected by bonuses). We are paid to do our jobs. Sometimes we do above and beyond, but that’s part of being a professional. Giving bonuses to some and not others who also work hard and work extra is insulting to those who don’t receive them.

Perhaps if we’d managed our human resources and associated compensation better all along, we wouldn’t be in quite the economic crisis we are right now.

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Taking already established holidays unpaid.
Have rolling, unpaid closed days for departments/units or close during the Holiday break (12/25-01/02) to save on the operating cost for that day and person-power.
Renegotiate Union contracts with an emergent situation clause to allow for equal sacrifice on pay raises for general fund-funded positions.
Reduce the amount of paper/office supplies budget by a centralized recycling effort. Put more into sustainability.
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I think voluntary hourly cuts for staff should be allowed with departmental approval. An
Application process takes place just as a request for early phased retirement.
A full-time staff should be able to request 75% to 80% time with departmental
Review of course. This application process should be reviewed on a year to year basis.
I would think those staff paying babysitters for before & after school would love this opportunity.
In addition, see that the early phased retirement at age 57 yrs & over with at least 15 yrs of
service is an attractive choice with maintaining the benefit package for those employees.
Most departments are currently not willing to offer that package for employees. Encourage those
employees / departments make the choice with reducing hours will bring far more $$’s back into the budget.
For those making the big $$’s, I question whether there is some way that a donation of
Salary can some way become a beneficial tax credit for them at the end of the year?
We need to look at these presentations as a win-win opportunity, or I’m afraid the changes will have a
Negative affect & harm our relationships with our students, patients, faculty & staff throughout the Institution.
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To elevate the process of laying off or losing positions on campus for both full-time and student part-time, how many days would it take to furlough all University of Iowa employees, straight across the board to meet the needs of the budget constraints we are and will be facing in the future?
I know this could be problematic when it comes to the union but if it’s for the good of all and all are included then I would be willing to do whatever it takes.
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Please consider closing the University for two or even three weeks (or only for one week) at the end of the Autumn semester. For many years, I worked at Yale University and that University was closed during the Holidays to save on energy costs. I don’t know how much energy and money were saved, but it was substantial, especially as energy costs rose.
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I suggest we solicit for voluntary furlough over spring break, winter break and summer break where plausible.

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Would “closing” the university (i.e. shutting down non-essential services) between Christmas & New Year save $$ and be feasible?
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Thank you for allowing us this opportunity to provide input and for taking such careful consideration of this very crucial matter. In the worst case scenario, I would be in favor of furlough time if it means saving jobs. However, I would ask you to consider one thing regarding furloughs: There are some of us whose positions are “academic year only” already. I love my job and look forward to the summers off, but I already do not receive a paycheck for three months out of the year. And as a Secretary I currently, I depend heavily on my other paychecks. Any further “furlough” would be a real hardship to me and probably others in this same situation. Thank you for your consideration.
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Days without pay for all Faculty and Staff during spring/summer breaks or summer school:
Current budget year - One day during spring break and one day the last week in May.
Next budget year – One day the first week in August, then if needed the same as the current budget year.
Departments could use optional days to ensure daily/normal business functions. However, as I say this I know many P & S will actual work them due to already heavy workloads. Allow some flexibility with-in the Hospital to meet their needs.
Also on a long term basis, reduce the # of yearly sick days from 18 to 12.
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Shut down the University (except the UIHC) during Spring break and one week in the winter.
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I have always wondered why some departments let jobs empty for several months and then expect the new person to come in and be ready to go with no training. I have had 2 different positions within the University. With my first position I was new to the University and had 2 hours of training with the person that had been at the job when she came in to show me a few things. My next position had been empty for 4 months and I received very little direction as to what was expected of me. It has been a year now and I still am learning. Seems to me it would be cost effective on some jobs to not have a gap and for the new person to work with the incumbent for a period of time. I think sometimes we get so caught up in saving money that we forget about efficiency.

I work with many 40 + year employees who are at the top of their pay scale and are over 62 and waiting with anticipation to see if there will be an incentive given for retirement. In my department alone I think it would make at least 5 people retire. If this were true across the board this may very well take care of a great deal of the shortfall and new employees would be on a lower pay scale.
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Close the three state universities between Christmas & New Years Day except for non-essential services. Major companies (e.g., Rockwell Collins, Hewlett-Packard) already do this. Quoting a Silicon Valley news source: Stalwarts like Hewlett Packard, Advanced Micro Devices and Cisco are shutting down for extensive Christmas vacations for the first time ever as they try to conserve cash in the face of a global downturn.
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I believe everyone needs to contribute to helping solve the budget problems – after all we are trying to save jobs and this affects everyone!
Budget reduction ideas - -
(1) Furloughs - -Possibly close the UI (without pay for day or 2 or whatever is needed) during holidays/spring break(?) or other “less busy” times that would not inconvenience people if Univ. were closed. This would also save money on electricity, etc. & be less disruptive (less paperwork) to departments/University if everyone took the time off at same time.
(2) If salaries are taken back, I believe that there should be a differential (the more you make, the more you should give back).
(3) Possibly giving early retirement incentives for people to retire before age 62 (currently UI contributes approx. $100/mo. toward health benefits if you retire at age 62). Someone could do the figures to see if this would save the UI money in lower salaries (higher paid employees leaving/new employees pd. less). If this savings were spent on health care for an additional year (ex. retirement at age 61=$1,200), would the difference in salary & $1,200/employee pd. for health care make it a worthwhile thing to do? - - Hope that makes sense to you.
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Consider compressed work schedules OR identify days when the University can shut down completely (i.e. winter break, spring break, summer) to minimize energy use.

Create mechanisms by which employees can volunteer to take 1-2 days off per month without pay.
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A few suggestions for budget savings:
1. Ask for voluntary furlough days. I know several long-time university employees who would be happy to take 6-10 unpaid furlough days if it means saving other jobs. Employees in their 50’s and 60’s (especially married employees) are in better financial circumstances than younger and/or single employees and many would be willing to sacrifice several days pay.
2. Ask for voluntary reductions in time for staff who could complete their work in less than 40 hours per week. Believe me - there are plenty who would be willing to do this.
3. Encourage more flexibility such as working from home and/or 4 day work weeks. This not only saves energy in the workplace, but helps save commuting costs.
4. Close the University between Christmas and New Years Day. With the exception of UIHC and some sensitive research projects, there is absolutely no reason for the University to keep its doors open during the holidays. More than 50% of the staff are absent and very little is accomplished during this time period.
5. Close the University during spring break.
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I’m not sure what the projected cost savings would be, but you could offer unpaid leave without the loss of benefits on a case by case basis. For example, if someone wants to extend their maternity leave but has run out of sick and vacation days, they would have to take unpaid leave without benefits. Some people may opt to take a few months off if they knew they still had health care, retirement contributions, etc. and a job to return to.
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Personally, I would be fine without a pay increase for the next fiscal year. I consider The University of Iowa a top employer in our community. But certainly hope that if this decision is made, administration would share how this helped the bottom line.
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Why not ask each employee to take 1 day off without pay. That would save the University A LOT of money if each employee did that.
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I think that a lot of people would retire if you had a retirement incentive package. Age 57 and 15 years or even age 60 and 15 years would catch a lot of people that would like to retire but can’t because of insurance. Insurance and some severance would be great, but I imagine a lot of folks would retire if insurance was offered. I know this would cost the University some, but if you figure what you’d save by retiring some older, higher paid people and replacing them with new hires that get paid less, it still should save money. I’m not speaking of faculty and start up packages, but of merit, merit-exempt, and p & s people. Look in any office and you are bound to see quite a few of us. Thanks for listening.
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Encourage departments and employees to voluntarily reduce their percentage of FTE in order to reduce costs and save jobs. I would be more than happy to work 80% in order to keep my job and help save another.
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I would like to suggest we first begin with a wage freeze. I also would like to suggest a one day a month closing of “ALL“ non-essentional services. I figured based on my current salary if all employees of the university library gave up one day of pay for a day off it would amount to 300,000 dollars of savings per year. I am much more in favor of a “furlough day” over layoffs. Layoffs hurt those who lose their jobs and also cause a lot of bumping of jobs and unrest for all involved. For those essential employees they would rotate a different day off during the month so “ALL” would be contributing to the budget short fall. This would also include hospital employees. We manage to close for holidays so maybe we could call it “Budget Relief Day” of “Save our Jobs Day”. The court system is doing this now and I know we will need to do something too. If we did this I think a Friday or a Monday would be best because then staff could plan a long weekend where they might travel and this would spur more funds into the economy as well. Friday would probably be better since there are fewer classes on Friday. I know we will need to do something and I do not envy those who will need to make these choices.
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I have wondered for a number of years why the University has not become a leader in promoting telecommuting. Maybe now is the time to take a serious look at that. With a university-wide effort, I would believe the cost savings could be substantial if well managed – telecommuters within a department could have alternating schedules and share office space, parking spaces could be shared.

There are people at the University who do work some days from home each week and have done so for quite a few years. But it has not had a university-wide promotion. Many managers are only comfortable with the traditional work model and could probably benefit from a mandated look at this as a cost-saving alternative.

Certainly not every job is suited to a telecommuting situation and not every person is suitable for that work model. But for the cases where it works, it could really work.
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This offers an excellent opportunity to improve our operational efficiency. Since we as The University of Iowa compete with other universities for students, public/private corporations for research grants, and other state agencies for earmarked funds – we must improve our operational efficiency to stay competitive.

Here are some suggestions:
1. Please do not punish the grants/contracts funded personnel because we (contract funded people) live on the edge earning our own income and suffer consequences if we do not get funding. The general education funded staff would improve their efficiency if they faced the same funding uncertainty.
a. Since the UI gets 10% of all my contract awards, you will get less if my labor rate decreases by five or ten percent.
b. Do we return grant money because we cannot spend our budgeted salary amounts?
c. Please do not cripple our research programs with mandatory hiring freezes. We hire because we are awarded contracts that fund 100% of our salaries.

2. Discipline individuals and departments who are accountable and improve performance and efficiency.
a. Demand performance accountability for facilities service groups so that we are not employing $40,000 salaries who could be replaced with $25,000 salaries. Most of these poor performers unfortunately are supervised by similar attitudes of performance complacency. The Compensation and Classification re-design project should help identify what job responsibilities are, but you could also have top-down departmental reviews by third parties to evaluate productivity. We should not be the brunt of “easy money because you work for the U” mentalities.
b. Similar to above, eliminate redundancy in operations. Someone outside the department should evaluate this, rather than an internal review.
c. Demand that poor performers be disciplined economically. If a supervisor consistently gives poor performance reviews to an employee, terminate the employee and make that termination process easier than now. If the employees within a department have a manager who does not discipline poor performers, make it possible to discipline the supervisor. A supervisor should be held accountable to evaluate, discipline, promote, and communicate to improve employee performance. The University must have accountability in their employees and supervisors to prevent wasted spending without performance.
d. Demand that tenured faculty help support the University by coupling their paychecks to their research funding AND teaching performance. Cutting ten $150,000 faculty who bring in no funding and teach poorly (according to their own students!) and work 25 hrs per week seems more efficient than cutting fifty $30,000 jobs. Remember that salary should be coupled with responsibility and self-motivation to perform to position expectations, so those who make $150,000 should be responsible to bring in funds, teach well, and improve the University’s academic/research reputation and monetary efficiency.

3. Reward individuals and departments who are accountable and improve performance and efficiency.
a. Reward those people who bring in funding. Even a 1% commission incentive to bring in grants and contracts would motivate people who are not currently rewarded for good performance. In fact, you could cut every UI employee’s paycheck by 10% and then give it back in terms of commission for good teaching reviews, bringing in funding, advising more graduate students, or even tie it to the annual reviews.
b. Reward departments with commissions for increasing student enrollment, decreasing operating costs, and saving money elsewhere. (This might be the best way to motivate and reward Merit staff too.)
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As a P & S staff member, I agree with the suggestion of a couple of days a month of furloughs as has been suggested and reported in the media. This is obviously not ideal as we all have had to curtail our personal spending in these tough financial times. This simply would mean that all of us would share the burden, which I’m willing to do. I include, however, all the university community in this—from Sally Mason through the vice-presidents on down. The only people I would exempt are those who are seeing clients who bring in revenue. For example, if you are seeing for consultation 3 clients a day in a clinic, it might not make sense to bring down the number of clients by 6 each month if the money that would bring in is more than the two day’s furlough dollar savings. (I’m not sure that last sentence makes sense, but hopefully you get the idea.)
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I am wondering if they are going to offer a retirement package like pay insurance til 65.
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I wanted to comment on the idea that voluntary furloughs are a bad idea. As one of many underemployed UI employees, divorced, 3 children, 1 graduated ISU last year, 1 at UI currently, one a high school senior who plans to attend ISU in the fall, I earn under $40,000 with overtime. My burden of lost wages is much more severe than say a 2-income professional couple with a paid off house and lots of savings. Please consider the cost to the employee earning under a certain income, the burden is not shared equally if we all must lose income, some can afford this much more easily than others. Thanks for considering my suggestion.
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Based on 14,000 UI Full-Time Staff Members averaging $100.00 per day

Each staff member having 5 unpaid days deducted over a 5-alternating- month period.

14,000 x $100.00 = $1,400,000 $1,400,000 x 5 days = $7,000,000

Example of alternating months:

** Reason for alternating males and females would be due to the fact that a lot of husbands and wives work at the University and having two deductions the same month would definitely create a bigger hardship.

Males would have deduction taken the following months:

March

May

July

September

November

Females would have deduction take the following months:

February

April

June

August

October

The staff members could take the days whenever / however they work it out with their supervisors knowing that the money is going to be deducted no matter when the days are taken.

Based on 2,500 UI Part-Time Staff Members averaging $50.00 per day

Each staff member having 5 unpaid days deducted over a 5-alternating- month period.

2,500 x $50.00 = $125,000 $125,000 x 5 days = $625,000

Ø This estimate of Full-time & Part-time staff members unpaid days combine for a total savings amount of $7,625,000.

This is only an estimate of what kind of savings we could have. We have people who definitely make over the $100 per day and of course there are those that make less than $50 per day.

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There may already be processes in place to accomplish these objectives, but if so, I’m not familiar with them and others may not be either. I think that if the potential complications of unpaid leave for employees’ personal finances and UI benefits could be minimized, some employees would be happy to volunteer. For example, if an employee took an unpaid week’s leave, could the salary reduction be spread over a couple of paychecks, perhaps in advance of the leave? Or if an employee temporarily reduced from 100% to 80% FTE, could something be worked out that the difference in benefits coverage wouldn’t come out of the employee’s pocket (perhaps even out of the amount that, for some of us, ends up by default in medical reimbursement even though we don’t make a dent in – grateful as we are for the presence of the funds should we need them and for the good health that permits us not to)? If unpaid leave seems like a good option for the University to explore and there are ways around these implications for employees, this info should be communicated. Finally, any instances of unpaid leave taken in an effort to make a small contribution to budget reductions should be trackable as such, so that employees know their efforts are “counted” towards the goal. Thanks for your consideration.
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My suggestion for easing the UI and State of Iowa budget is to consider allowing employees to reduce their contributions to TIAA-CREF (if even temporarily). The benefit of the UI’s match is incredible and way beyond any other employer’s I’ve ever been aware of. And in these times some people may really need every dollar they can have access to today. So allowing individuals to choose whether they’d like to reduce their contribution, and accordingly reduce the UI’s contribution by 2-times that amount, could benefit both during these drastic times.
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1. Telecommuting; Many individuals do not need to be physically present at an office to complete their jobs effectively.

The administrative units may determine areas which do not require a physical individual’s presence at the office and offer that individual the opportunity to telecommute, working from home for 3-4 days/week in exchange for a temporary 1-5% salary decrease for the next 6 months. This can be renewed for next 6 months, if approved by supervisor and requested by employee. This is assuming that there are costs associated with commuting, including gas, meals at work, child care, etc UI saves salary.

Benefits: UI may save energy and resources, individuals will save money on commuting, meals at work, etc, gain benefit of working from convenience of home. This would be an elective program pending approval by supervisors.

2. Offering part time appointments to interested employees. Many employees have interest in a part time appointment to fulfill childcare and other family commitments, but these are not commonly available. These part time appointments can be offered for the next 6-12 month period, at the end of which the supervisor and employee can make a decision on going back to full time. This will help employees be more efficient by consolidating their UI functions on a few days a week.

3. Coordinating UI travel: many staff/faculty do UI related travel at the same time but due to not knowing other individual or unit plans will not carpool or share accommodations. A central office for travel coordination could identify individuals that maybe be able to share resources.

4. Banning all UI sponsored food services at UI meetings for next 12 months; how many cookies, doughnuts, others meals are left unused at meetings, we also pay high price for those. Most individuals can bring their own food. Make all meetings a mandatory bring your own food or brown bag meeting.

5. Reduce paper printing: how many times we all get a meeting agenda via e-mail or online and then print it and discard, or the meetings are printed for distribution.

Add a mandatory foot note to all UI e-mail in green font: before you print this consider: “Please only print essential documents. Save resources and help save the planet” or something like this.
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I would strongly prefer a furlough to staff cuts or benefits cuts. I’m a little curious to learn how much we might save by having 4-day work weeks, thereby reducing the heating and cooling costs, not to mention transportation costs. Of course, I realize this is a bit tricky and wouldn’t work for every department, but just curious about how much we would save, if anything?
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I am writing to alert you to the fact that it appears that some in nursing management and human resources at UIHC were given raises as large as 40%.. Some of these raises in salaries are for as much as $20,000 in one year. Prior to bargaining nurses and the allied health professionals at UIHC were told to expect no pay raise due to budget difficulties. Fortunately we were able to negotiate for a small raise. These pay raises are public knowledge. I do not know why these were not divulged. I believe that extremely large raises of this sort in management need to be monitored and divulged. Closer monitoring of management raises would help keep us out of financial difficulties that we are in now.
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I suggest that if each administrator who makes over 100,000 a year would take a 10% pay cut for the duration, it would help in a very important way. To teach a course as an adjunct or lecturer costs the University about $10,000. Every administrator who takes a cut will be saving one course for the students. In addition, the moral boost that would occur would be enormous.

Early retirement, I am guessing that there are a lot of us “baby boomers” hanging on because of the economy and health care costs. The package that was cancelled a few years back gave away the farm. Only having to work 15 years and be 57 was way too low and then retirement money and healthcare was provided until 62 and 65 respectively for the retiree. We were told that the reason it was cancelled was that it was not cost effective. Not surprising. I would suggest a rule of years of service plus age to be at least 88. I know this is used in other organizations. Have the U pay the University’s healthcare contribution for the person and spouse up to age 65 not to exceed 3 years (i.e. both retiree and spouse attain age 65, but not to exceed 3 years). Pay into retirement until retiree is 62.
When are we going to return to a discussion of fringe benefits? The double spouse benefit is above and beyond the call of duty for the University. You know all the stories about people that spend day and night figuring out ways to spend every dime on massages and similar “fluff”. Yes we have people that are now used to it and indeed counting on it. They have spent beyond their means, because the university is paying them full daycare. Judging from the furor created by this threat, maybe we cannot take it away now, but we can stop the bleed by changing the rules for every new hire. We are not going to lose a prospective candidate because we aren’t paying for their daycare.
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I’m hearing rumors of some layoffs-or possible plans for layoffs-something I thought the university was going to try to avoid. Not that I want a salary cut, but have you looked into a hospital wide furlough for a day or two-obviously taken on different days to minimize any patient impact? It seems to be working other places so they can avoid laying people off.
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Please consider two early retirement options:
1. Ages 62 -65 - provide health care coverage for those who retire during these years. This may encourage those who are “ on the fence” about retiring to leave early. There are quite a few staff members of this age who may want to retire early, but just “hang on at the U of I” because of the health care coverage issue. Do not replace these staff members when they retire.
2. Ages 55- 62 – provide health care and a salary (50% of current salary with at least 20 yrs. of service) or some severance package to encourage these staff members to retire early. Offer this plan for a maximum time period of five years in length. You would not replace these staff members when they leave either. Providing a partial salary in this case would entice quite a few to leave the University. In the past, the early retirement programs would just get people off the U of I payroll, but then these folks would still need to work somewhere (unless they had a working spouse). And why leave the U of I with a higher salary with benefits and work somewhere else with lower salary/benefits? There would not be sufficient incentives to leave the U of IA early. There would be the costs that go along with this plan, but in the long run the University would save because these staff members are no longer on the payroll as full timers, no vacation time, no sick time usage etc. and you would only pay for a maximum for five years or less depending when people reached 62 and then they can start collecting Social Security and the 50% salary benefit part of the incentive ends. And then just pay for their health care until their full retirement age. I believe Deere and Co had similar early retirement programs to “get people off their payroll” in the early 1980’s and it worked. Try it here and make it work for for all merit and P & S people.
3. Thank you.
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I propose that the University offer debit cards for employees to pay for qualified expenses from Health Care Flex Spending Accounts. The implementation of debit cards would achieve savings in several areas:
1. Decrease in the University’s FICA Tax: Because of the added convenience of paying for eligible expenses with debit cards, the University would see participation increase in the Health Care Flex Spending Account benefit; which would lead to a decrease in the amount the University pays for FICA taxes.
2. Lower Bank Fees: The number of ACH transactions related to the University direct depositing reimbursements into employee bank accounts would decrease, thus lowering bank fees associated with ACH transactions.
3. Reduction in Labor Costs: The labor costs involved with processing reimbursement claims as well as the time an employee spends filing their claim with Benefits would decrease; the savings in time and wages would allow skills and resources to be redirected to other projects and/or responsibilities.
4. Environmentally friendly: The consumption of paper would be reduced since it would no longer be necessary to file for reimbursement of eligible health care expenses. Many people are still printing paper copies of their claims and expenses even though these can be submitted to Benefits electronically.

While the University benefits from the savings listed above, employees also benefit by the elimination of their out-of-pocket health care expenses. In this time of budget cuts and tough economic challenges, a change such as this would demonstrate that the University empathizes with its employees and is looking for solutions that can reduce our collective financial burden.
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I feel health insurance is the biggest issue for many of us who would consider retirement, but can’t because of the horrific cost. Someone suggested 10 days pay for each year worked. This sounds great, but most likely our Uncle Sam would take half of it especially if you begin Social Security. . If University contributed even 50% for a health insurance package that certainly would help and continue contributions to TIAA/CREF until age 65 would be an added bonus.
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My suggestion is for all University of Iowa making over $42,000 to take a 2% cut in pay. Everyone.
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1) A 4 day, 10 hour work week would save on energy, transportation, parking, cafeteria, and other service costs. I believe they did this in California.
2) Shutting down between Christmas and New Years without pay.
3) Go to 38 hour work weeks.
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My suggestion is to eliminate the “trailing spouse” hiring practice. I know firsthand of one example where a job position was created specifically for a trailing spouse in a non-patient care area. The department had no need for another employee but was forced to take him on and try to find something for him to do. Wasteful expense and terrible for morale. I would like to see how much money the university is spending on trailing spouses.
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I have been working with FRIC for the past 8 months on the benefits issue. I have proposed an alternative to the FRIC 2011 proposal (the so-called “Spencer Plan”…for details, see www.FixFlex.Org).

In my view, the UI community would support implementation of my plan in 2010 (vs. the FRIC plan which will be implemented in 2011). This would save UI $600,000 - $1,000,000 in the next calendar year. Richard Saunders is in the process of determining how much money the Spencer Plan would save relative to the current benefits system.

I hope you do not lay people off. I would like to see saving from attrition where it is possible. Cutting matching savings funds would be preferable to loss of jobs. One day of furlough for everyone would be fair. It would be unfair to furlough some, but not all employees unless it was done on a voluntary basis. Increasing employee parking fees and Iowa City bus passes would save. Providing free breakfast and lunch for meetings should be cut. You could charge a nominal fee for Cambus. Charge for parking at Oakdale and other outer University lots. Cut employee recognition gifts and provide a letter of thanks instead. All of these ideas would have a negative impact on employees but nothing equal to loss of jobs.
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Permanent Part-time staff: should not receive fulltime benefits
cut their benefits in half

TIAA/CREF contributions: time to cut 1-1 instead of 2-1

No new positions hired…lived without them this long…can live longer without them

Combine sports under one person for men and women or cut non-profitable sports

Cut the dead weight staff…there’s plenty of them

Quit promoting staff who have reached their top end in salary: e.g. secretaries promoted to Admin Assit

Quit having HR rep for every depart…make staff go to HR depart if they need assistance; thats what the depart was created for

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Submission of time sheets could be handled much more efficiently electronically as was done in my old department before I came to internal medicine.
The cost savings of working from home a couple days a week when being at the office could also be a great cost savings when factoring the many things that would add up to savings including employee moral.
Instead of asking for paycuts, reduce the UI match into employee retirement funds down from 10% to 5% temporarily for all employees. That way struggling families can still feed their families now and the UI can still meet their budget cut.
In communities with multiple vanpools, meet in a shared location and combine vans when ridership in low. (May not be possible in all situations/locations)
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I would like to suggest that departments that do not support phased retirement be asked to consider the option when possible. Many departments support the program while others do not approve requests for any staff within their department. It basically is their “policy’ not to approve phased.
This is one way to reduce expenses for the departments but retain good employees for several more years.
There are many employees who have been with the University for 25 years or more and are age 60 or older that would welcome the opportunity to start phased as they are not ready to give up work, but would be willing to work less hours with reduced pay that the phased retirement program would allow.
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Utilize manpower more effectively. Take for instance we have” 3” correlating labs/departments. All workers are able to perform all job requirements within the” 3 “labs/departments and yet we are segregated. Waste of money- and it not being very cost effective while some work and stay overtime while others sit around when they are perfectly capable of helping out, therefore not requiring any OT. This would cut down on OT cost. There is no team effort in this institution. It’s all about- this is yours and that is mine….. Just because someone does not want to work out side the box… It’s ridiculous.
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Iowa is a Right-To-Work state and we should utilize the protections afforded by this status. Negotiated contractual raises and step increases are negotiated for union members. Legally, we do not have to give these raises to non-union members. This would be a tremendous savings from merit, security, technical and P&S salaries.
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I think the U would save money if they would eliminate overtime . Also if a physician needs to travel, have all expenses come out of their pocket.
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Some have suggested shutting down campus around the New Year.

My suggestion is to shut down campus in late July or early August. I am assuming the cost of cooling campus is greater than the cost to heat it. Also, gas is usually priced higher during this time of year as well. Implement a 2 day furlough and 3 days vacation program.

I would rather see a 2-3 day furlough over a pay cut.

There are essential services, like some other have suggested, which would be exempt.

Thanks for listening to the suggestions.

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My suggestion would be to offer staff an academic year 12 pay appointment instead of a fiscal year appointment. Or allowing a reduction of hours during the summer months and over the winter break. When my children were younger, it would have cost less to stay at home during the summer months than to pay for child care when they were not in school.
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It is my understanding that if a department head resigns and returns to teaching full time, they are still paid at their department head rate. If this is true, why is their pay not reduced to professor level commensurate with their work? Looks like this could be an area of savings.
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I have been most pleased with your openness about the budget problems at hand, and your willingness to welcome and at least look at ideas submitted by staff.
I would first like to say I found the “deferred compensation/forced savings” being done in Arizona very interesting. I wondered specifically about the people who contributed to the “deferred compensation/forced savings” and retired before the return of any money. Once retired, would those people still get their investment in the government returned? I may have missed that point in the article.
My other thoughts encompass the early retirement incentive. I hope the retirement incentive can be truly an incentive. Many people seem to have health insurance as their top priority. I realize health insurance is an important aspect of everyone lives, but not everyone employed by the U of I absolutely needs to retain U of I funded insurance, when they retire. People with pre existing conditions are certainly in a different category than people who are genuinely healthy. Healthy people should really shop around. On the other hand, there are people, who will retire and will not need the U of I insurance, because they can be added to their spouse’s plan. In this respect, health insurance will not be an incentive for everyone eligible to retire. Personally, I would rather receive a ten days pay for each year I have worked for the University of Iowa. I would like the pay to be divided by four weeks per month and received as a monthly check for however many weeks of entitlement. I would also like to have my contribution to the TIAA/CREFF program continue until age 65. Whatever the incentive, I think those who don’t need health insurance, should have a comparable incentive too, for this program to really be a early retirement incentive.
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Perhaps we should consider decreasing the employee cost for use of UIHC. If we made UIHC the health care center of choice for the majority of our employees, wouldn’t it be best for everyone? If the cost of the premiums/out of pocket for non-UIHC facilities was increased, the incentive to use UIHC would be huge. Perhaps the outcome would create savings on the order of the generic prescription change made a few years ago. At any rate, we need to think of new ways to make UIHC the health care center of choice for our employees!
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UI could consider changing the rules regarding when an employee can have access to their TIAA-CREF retirement funding. Perhaps if age + years of service = 80, then a person can begin to use their TIAA-CREF. Considering the number of baby-boomers in the workforce, every employer is going to need to figure out ways to move us out of the workforce! Presumably most positions would be replaced with younger, less expensive employees. Perhaps departments could have the option to pay the health care of employees to take advantage of this option thus eliminating cost to the “central pool”. In my opinion, many employees would consider leaving the workforce earlier if they had access to paid healthcare and the ability to access TIAA-CREF.
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Encouraging flex schedules that emphasize working from home would save in many ways. If units equiped employees with laptops instead of PCs, and enlarged remote access capabilities, there would be a huge savings in energy including electricity, heating and cooling. Employees would save on commuting costs but bear the cost of energy in their own homes while they work. Flex scheduling may also improve morale!
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If academic programs were to eliminate summer & vacation operations, and totally close, there would be multiple cost savings. Most academic programs have faculty on 9 month appointments. Has UI ever considered staffing these offices only during Fall & Spring sessions, i.e. 75% time, thus reducing the percent effort of the employees associated with the programs? This would also mean closing offices during the summer months when air conditioning costs are highest, as well as closing during the 4 week break in the winter. This should be seriously considered for smaller programs that don’t need to hold summer classes.
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It is always the right time to look at improvements and efficiencies and cost savings that could be realized. It is imperative at this time. While I agree with the strong sentiment that layoffs should be prevented if possible, I also think that there are areas that could be cut that would not compromise our mission. It might be an entire work area like UI Wellness (they offer very nice services, but in really tough times they surely would not be considered essential) or it might be cutting back on work areas whose functions are essential but could be accomplished with fewer people. We need to make sure we have the right people in positions. Everyone within a work group must be accountable. Everyone must perform their assigned jobs. We really must stop carrying those employees who do not meet job expectations. I believe, sadly, there are plenty of those scenarios spread throughout. If managers refuse to deal with these issues, then someone should deal with the managers.

Change the long-standing policy (it may be unwritten, but I believe it is tightly adhered to) of not reducing a person’s salary when their job changes. Have you ever known anyone whose job duties were changed and responsibilities were reduced, yet they kept the same salary they had when they had a more responsible position, one at a higher level? I have. Quite a few. How is this work practice serving the best interests of the University? It’s back to accountability. It should be OK, no, it should be required, that people’s compensation match their job duties and levels of responsibility.

Take a critical look at organization structures. It appears to me that on the business (not academic) side, we are very heavy in management numbers – middle managers on up. We have Assistant Directors, Senior Assistant Directors, Associate Directors, Senior Associate Directors, Directors, and so on. It often appears that titles are handed out for political reasons more than true business reasons. Of course there is always the salary increase that goes with the title. And do the job responsibilities truly change/increase in all of these cases?

Do away with bonuses (I mean P&S, I don’t know how/if faculty or merit might be affected by bonuses). We are paid to do our jobs. Sometimes we do above and beyond, but that’s part of being a professional. Giving bonuses to some and not others who also work hard and work extra is insulting to those who don’t receive them.

Perhaps if we’d managed our human resources and associated compensation better all along, we wouldn’t be in quite the economic crisis we are right now.

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Taking already established holidays unpaid.
Have rolling, unpaid closed days for departments/units or close during the Holiday break (12/25-01/02) to save on the operating cost for that day and person-power.
Renegotiate Union contracts with an emergent situation clause to allow for equal sacrifice on pay raises for general fund-funded positions.
Reduce the amount of paper/office supplies budget by a centralized recycling effort. Put more into sustainability.
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I think voluntary hourly cuts for staff should be allowed with departmental approval. An
Application process takes place just as a request for early phased retirement.
A full-time staff should be able to request 75% to 80% time with departmental
Review of course. This application process should be reviewed on a year to year basis.
I would think those staff paying babysitters for before & after school would love this opportunity.
In addition, see that the early phased retirement at age 57 yrs & over with at least 15 yrs of
service is an attractive choice with maintaining the benefit package for those employees.
Most departments are currently not willing to offer that package for employees. Encourage those
employees / departments make the choice with reducing hours will bring far more $$’s back into the budget.
For those making the big $$’s, I question whether there is some way that a donation of
Salary can some way become a beneficial tax credit for them at the end of the year?
We need to look at these presentations as a win-win opportunity, or I’m afraid the changes will have a
Negative affect & harm our relationships with our students, patients, faculty & staff throughout the Institution.
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To elevate the process of laying off or losing positions on campus for both full-time and student part-time, how many days would it take to furlough all University of Iowa employees, straight across the board to meet the needs of the budget constraints we are and will be facing in the future?
I know this could be problematic when it comes to the union but if it’s for the good of all and all are included then I would be willing to do whatever it takes.
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Please consider closing the University for two or even three weeks (or only for one week) at the end of the Autumn semester. For many years, I worked at Yale University and that University was closed during the Holidays to save on energy costs. I don’t know how much energy and money were saved, but it was substantial, especially as energy costs rose.
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I suggest we solicit for voluntary furlough over spring break, winter break and summer break where plausible.

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Would “closing” the university (i.e. shutting down non-essential services) between Christmas & New Year save $$ and be feasible?
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Thank you for allowing us this opportunity to provide input and for taking such careful consideration of this very crucial matter. In the worst case scenario, I would be in favor of furlough time if it means saving jobs. However, I would ask you to consider one thing regarding furloughs: There are some of us whose positions are “academic year only” already. I love my job and look forward to the summers off, but I already do not receive a paycheck for three months out of the year. And as a Secretary I currently, I depend heavily on my other paychecks. Any further “furlough” would be a real hardship to me and probably others in this same situation. Thank you for your consideration.
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Days without pay for all Faculty and Staff during spring/summer breaks or summer school:
Current budget year - One day during spring break and one day the last week in May.
Next budget year – One day the first week in August, then if needed the same as the current budget year.
Departments could use optional days to ensure daily/normal business functions. However, as I say this I know many P & S will actual work them due to already heavy workloads. Allow some flexibility with-in the Hospital to meet their needs.
Also on a long term basis, reduce the # of yearly sick days from 18 to 12.
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Shut down the University (except the UIHC) during Spring break and one week in the winter.
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I have always wondered why some departments let jobs empty for several months and then expect the new person to come in and be ready to go with no training. I have had 2 different positions within the University. With my first position I was new to the University and had 2 hours of training with the person that had been at the job when she came in to show me a few things. My next position had been empty for 4 months and I received very little direction as to what was expected of me. It has been a year now and I still am learning. Seems to me it would be cost effective on some jobs to not have a gap and for the new person to work with the incumbent for a period of time. I think sometimes we get so caught up in saving money that we forget about efficiency.

I work with many 40 + year employees who are at the top of their pay scale and are over 62 and waiting with anticipation to see if there will be an incentive given for retirement. In my department alone I think it would make at least 5 people retire. If this were true across the board this may very well take care of a great deal of the shortfall and new employees would be on a lower pay scale.
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Close the three state universities between Christmas & New Years Day except for non-essential services. Major companies (e.g., Rockwell Collins, Hewlett-Packard) already do this. Quoting a Silicon Valley news source: Stalwarts like Hewlett Packard, Advanced Micro Devices and Cisco are shutting down for extensive Christmas vacations for the first time ever as they try to conserve cash in the face of a global downturn.
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I believe everyone needs to contribute to helping solve the budget problems – after all we are trying to save jobs and this affects everyone!
Budget reduction ideas - -
(1) Furloughs - -Possibly close the UI (without pay for day or 2 or whatever is needed) during holidays/spring break(?) or other “less busy” times that would not inconvenience people if Univ. were closed. This would also save money on electricity, etc. & be less disruptive (less paperwork) to departments/University if everyone took the time off at same time.
(2) If salaries are taken back, I believe that there should be a differential (the more you make, the more you should give back).
(3) Possibly giving early retirement incentives for people to retire before age 62 (currently UI contributes approx. $100/mo. toward health benefits if you retire at age 62). Someone could do the figures to see if this would save the UI money in lower salaries (higher paid employees leaving/new employees pd. less). If this savings were spent on health care for an additional year (ex. retirement at age 61=$1,200), would the difference in salary & $1,200/employee pd. for health care make it a worthwhile thing to do? - - Hope that makes sense to you.
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Consider compressed work schedules OR identify days when the University can shut down completely (i.e. winter break, spring break, summer) to minimize energy use.

Create mechanisms by which employees can volunteer to take 1-2 days off per month without pay.
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A few suggestions for budget savings:
1. Ask for voluntary furlough days. I know several long-time university employees who would be happy to take 6-10 unpaid furlough days if it means saving other jobs. Employees in their 50’s and 60’s (especially married employees) are in better financial circumstances than younger and/or single employees and many would be willing to sacrifice several days pay.
2. Ask for voluntary reductions in time for staff who could complete their work in less than 40 hours per week. Believe me - there are plenty who would be willing to do this.
3. Encourage more flexibility such as working from home and/or 4 day work weeks. This not only saves energy in the workplace, but helps save commuting costs.
4. Close the University between Christmas and New Years Day. With the exception of UIHC and some sensitive research projects, there is absolutely no reason for the University to keep its doors open during the holidays. More than 50% of the staff are absent and very little is accomplished during this time period.
5. Close the University during spring break.
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I’m not sure what the projected cost savings would be, but you could offer unpaid leave without the loss of benefits on a case by case basis. For example, if someone wants to extend their maternity leave but has run out of sick and vacation days, they would have to take unpaid leave without benefits. Some people may opt to take a few months off if they knew they still had health care, retirement contributions, etc. and a job to return to.
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Personally, I would be fine without a pay increase for the next fiscal year. I consider The University of Iowa a top employer in our community. But certainly hope that if this decision is made, administration would share how this helped the bottom line.
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Why not ask each employee to take 1 day off without pay. That would save the University A LOT of money if each employee did that.
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I think that a lot of people would retire if you had a retirement incentive package. Age 57 and 15 years or even age 60 and 15 years would catch a lot of people that would like to retire but can’t because of insurance. Insurance and some severance would be great, but I imagine a lot of folks would retire if insurance was offered. I know this would cost the University some, but if you figure what you’d save by retiring some older, higher paid people and replacing them with new hires that get paid less, it still should save money. I’m not speaking of faculty and start up packages, but of merit, merit-exempt, and p & s people. Look in any office and you are bound to see quite a few of us. Thanks for listening.
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Encourage departments and employees to voluntarily reduce their percentage of FTE in order to reduce costs and save jobs. I would be more than happy to work 80% in order to keep my job and help save another.
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I would like to suggest we first begin with a wage freeze. I also would like to suggest a one day a month closing of “ALL“ non-essentional services. I figured based on my current salary if all employees of the university library gave up one day of pay for a day off it would amount to 300,000 dollars of savings per year. I am much more in favor of a “furlough day” over layoffs. Layoffs hurt those who lose their jobs and also cause a lot of bumping of jobs and unrest for all involved. For those essential employees they would rotate a different day off during the month so “ALL” would be contributing to the budget short fall. This would also include hospital employees. We manage to close for holidays so maybe we could call it “Budget Relief Day” of “Save our Jobs Day”. The court system is doing this now and I know we will need to do something too. If we did this I think a Friday or a Monday would be best because then staff could plan a long weekend where they might travel and this would spur more funds into the economy as well. Friday would probably be better since there are fewer classes on Friday. I know we will need to do something and I do not envy those who will need to make these choices.
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I have wondered for a number of years why the University has not become a leader in promoting telecommuting. Maybe now is the time to take a serious look at that. With a university-wide effort, I would believe the cost savings could be substantial if well managed – telecommuters within a department could have alternating schedules and share office space, parking spaces could be shared.

There are people at the University who do work some days from home each week and have done so for quite a few years. But it has not had a university-wide promotion. Many managers are only comfortable with the traditional work model and could probably benefit from a mandated look at this as a cost-saving alternative.

Certainly not every job is suited to a telecommuting situation and not every person is suitable for that work model. But for the cases where it works, it could really work.
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This offers an excellent opportunity to improve our operational efficiency. Since we as The University of Iowa compete with other universities for students, public/private corporations for research grants, and other state agencies for earmarked funds – we must improve our operational efficiency to stay competitive.

Here are some suggestions:
1. Please do not punish the grants/contracts funded personnel because we (contract funded people) live on the edge earning our own income and suffer consequences if we do not get funding. The general education funded staff would improve their efficiency if they faced the same funding uncertainty.
a. Since the UI gets 10% of all my contract awards, you will get less if my labor rate decreases by five or ten percent.
b. Do we return grant money because we cannot spend our budgeted salary amounts?
c. Please do not cripple our research programs with mandatory hiring freezes. We hire because we are awarded contracts that fund 100% of our salaries.

2. Discipline individuals and departments who are accountable and improve performance and efficiency.
a. Demand performance accountability for facilities service groups so that we are not employing $40,000 salaries who could be replaced with $25,000 salaries. Most of these poor performers unfortunately are supervised by similar attitudes of performance complacency. The Compensation and Classification re-design project should help identify what job responsibilities are, but you could also have top-down departmental reviews by third parties to evaluate productivity. We should not be the brunt of “easy money because you work for the U” mentalities.
b. Similar to above, eliminate redundancy in operations. Someone outside the department should evaluate this, rather than an internal review.
c. Demand that poor performers be disciplined economically. If a supervisor consistently gives poor performance reviews to an employee, terminate the employee and make that termination process easier than now. If the employees within a department have a manager who does not discipline poor performers, make it possible to discipline the supervisor. A supervisor should be held accountable to evaluate, discipline, promote, and communicate to improve employee performance. The University must have accountability in their employees and supervisors to prevent wasted spending without performance.
d. Demand that tenured faculty help support the University by coupling their paychecks to their research funding AND teaching performance. Cutting ten $150,000 faculty who bring in no funding and teach poorly (according to their own students!) and work 25 hrs per week seems more efficient than cutting fifty $30,000 jobs. Remember that salary should be coupled with responsibility and self-motivation to perform to position expectations, so those who make $150,000 should be responsible to bring in funds, teach well, and improve the University’s academic/research reputation and monetary efficiency.

3. Reward individuals and departments who are accountable and improve performance and efficiency.
a. Reward those people who bring in funding. Even a 1% commission incentive to bring in grants and contracts would motivate people who are not currently rewarded for good performance. In fact, you could cut every UI employee’s paycheck by 10% and then give it back in terms of commission for good teaching reviews, bringing in funding, advising more graduate students, or even tie it to the annual reviews.
b. Reward departments with commissions for increasing student enrollment, decreasing operating costs, and saving money elsewhere. (This might be the best way to motivate and reward Merit staff too.)
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As a P & S staff member, I agree with the suggestion of a couple of days a month of furloughs as has been suggested and reported in the media. This is obviously not ideal as we all have had to curtail our personal spending in these tough financial times. This simply would mean that all of us would share the burden, which I’m willing to do. I include, however, all the university community in this—from Sally Mason through the vice-presidents on down. The only people I would exempt are those who are seeing clients who bring in revenue. For example, if you are seeing for consultation 3 clients a day in a clinic, it might not make sense to bring down the number of clients by 6 each month if the money that would bring in is more than the two day’s furlough dollar savings. (I’m not sure that last sentence makes sense, but hopefully you get the idea.)
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I am wondering if they are going to offer a retirement package like pay insurance til 65.
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I wanted to comment on the idea that voluntary furloughs are a bad idea. As one of many underemployed UI employees, divorced, 3 children, 1 graduated ISU last year, 1 at UI currently, one a high school senior who plans to attend ISU in the fall, I earn under $40,000 with overtime. My burden of lost wages is much more severe than say a 2-income professional couple with a paid off house and lots of savings. Please consider the cost to the employee earning under a certain income, the burden is not shared equally if we all must lose income, some can afford this much more easily than others. Thanks for considering my suggestion.
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Based on 14,000 UI Full-Time Staff Members averaging $100.00 per day

Each staff member having 5 unpaid days deducted over a 5-alternating- month period.

14,000 x $100.00 = $1,400,000 $1,400,000 x 5 days = $7,000,000

Example of alternating months:

** Reason for alternating males and females would be due to the fact that a lot of husbands and wives work at the University and having two deductions the same month would definitely create a bigger hardship.

Males would have deduction taken the following months:

March

May

July

September

November

Females would have deduction take the following months:

February

April

June

August

October

The staff members could take the days whenever / however they work it out with their supervisors knowing that the money is going to be deducted no matter when the days are taken.

Based on 2,500 UI Part-Time Staff Members averaging $50.00 per day

Each staff member having 5 unpaid days deducted over a 5-alternating- month period.

2,500 x $50.00 = $125,000 $125,000 x 5 days = $625,000

Ø This estimate of Full-time & Part-time staff members unpaid days combine for a total savings amount of $7,625,000.

This is only an estimate of what kind of savings we could have. We have people who definitely make over the $100 per day and of course there are those that make less than $50 per day.

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There may already be processes in place to accomplish these objectives, but if so, I’m not familiar with them and others may not be either. I think that if the potential complications of unpaid leave for employees’ personal finances and UI benefits could be minimized, some employees would be happy to volunteer. For example, if an employee took an unpaid week’s leave, could the salary reduction be spread over a couple of paychecks, perhaps in advance of the leave? Or if an employee temporarily reduced from 100% to 80% FTE, could something be worked out that the difference in benefits coverage wouldn’t come out of the employee’s pocket (perhaps even out of the amount that, for some of us, ends up by default in medical reimbursement even though we don’t make a dent in – grateful as we are for the presence of the funds should we need them and for the good health that permits us not to)? If unpaid leave seems like a good option for the University to explore and there are ways around these implications for employees, this info should be communicated. Finally, any instances of unpaid leave taken in an effort to make a small contribution to budget reductions should be trackable as such, so that employees know their efforts are “counted” towards the goal. Thanks for your consideration.
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My suggestion for easing the UI and State of Iowa budget is to consider allowing employees to reduce their contributions to TIAA-CREF (if even temporarily). The benefit of the UI’s match is incredible and way beyond any other employer’s I’ve ever been aware of. And in these times some people may really need every dollar they can have access to today. So allowing individuals to choose whether they’d like to reduce their contribution, and accordingly reduce the UI’s contribution by 2-times that amount, could benefit both during these drastic times.
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1. Telecommuting; Many individuals do not need to be physically present at an office to complete their jobs effectively.

The administrative units may determine areas which do not require a physical individual’s presence at the office and offer that individual the opportunity to telecommute, working from home for 3-4 days/week in exchange for a temporary 1-5% salary decrease for the next 6 months. This can be renewed for next 6 months, if approved by supervisor and requested by employee. This is assuming that there are costs associated with commuting, including gas, meals at work, child care, etc UI saves salary.

Benefits: UI may save energy and resources, individuals will save money on commuting, meals at work, etc, gain benefit of working from convenience of home. This would be an elective program pending approval by supervisors.

2. Offering part time appointments to interested employees. Many employees have interest in a part time appointment to fulfill childcare and other family commitments, but these are not commonly available. These part time appointments can be offered for the next 6-12 month period, at the end of which the supervisor and employee can make a decision on going back to full time. This will help employees be more efficient by consolidating their UI functions on a few days a week.

3. Coordinating UI travel: many staff/faculty do UI related travel at the same time but due to not knowing other individual or unit plans will not carpool or share accommodations. A central office for travel coordination could identify individuals that maybe be able to share resources.

4. Banning all UI sponsored food services at UI meetings for next 12 months; how many cookies, doughnuts, others meals are left unused at meetings, we also pay high price for those. Most individuals can bring their own food. Make all meetings a mandatory bring your own food or brown bag meeting.

5. Reduce paper printing: how many times we all get a meeting agenda via e-mail or online and then print it and discard, or the meetings are printed for distribution.

Add a mandatory foot note to all UI e-mail in green font: before you print this consider: “Please only print essential documents. Save resources and help save the planet” or something like this.
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I would strongly prefer a furlough to staff cuts or benefits cuts. I’m a little curious to learn how much we might save by having 4-day work weeks, thereby reducing the heating and cooling costs, not to mention transportation costs. Of course, I realize this is a bit tricky and wouldn’t work for every department, but just curious about how much we would save, if anything?
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I am writing to alert you to the fact that it appears that some in nursing management and human resources at UIHC were given raises as large as 40%.. Some of these raises in salaries are for as much as $20,000 in one year. Prior to bargaining nurses and the allied health professionals at UIHC were told to expect no pay raise due to budget difficulties. Fortunately we were able to negotiate for a small raise. These pay raises are public knowledge. I do not know why these were not divulged. I believe that extremely large raises of this sort in management need to be monitored and divulged. Closer monitoring of management raises would help keep us out of financial difficulties that we are in now.
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I suggest that if each administrator who makes over 100,000 a year would take a 10% pay cut for the duration, it would help in a very important way. To teach a course as an adjunct or lecturer costs the University about $10,000. Every administrator who takes a cut will be saving one course for the students. In addition, the moral boost that would occur would be enormous.

Early retirement, I am guessing that there are a lot of us “baby boomers” hanging on because of the economy and health care costs. The package that was cancelled a few years back gave away the farm. Only having to work 15 years and be 57 was way too low and then retirement money and healthcare was provided until 62 and 65 respectively for the retiree. We were told that the reason it was cancelled was that it was not cost effective. Not surprising. I would suggest a rule of years of service plus age to be at least 88. I know this is used in other organizations. Have the U pay the University’s healthcare contribution for the person and spouse up to age 65 not to exceed 3 years (i.e. both retiree and spouse attain age 65, but not to exceed 3 years). Pay into retirement until retiree is 62.
When are we going to return to a discussion of fringe benefits? The double spouse benefit is above and beyond the call of duty for the University. You know all the stories about people that spend day and night figuring out ways to spend every dime on massages and similar “fluff”. Yes we have people that are now used to it and indeed counting on it. They have spent beyond their means, because the university is paying them full daycare. Judging from the furor created by this threat, maybe we cannot take it away now, but we can stop the bleed by changing the rules for every new hire. We are not going to lose a prospective candidate because we aren’t paying for their daycare.
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I’m hearing rumors of some layoffs-or possible plans for layoffs-something I thought the university was going to try to avoid. Not that I want a salary cut, but have you looked into a hospital wide furlough for a day or two-obviously taken on different days to minimize any patient impact? It seems to be working other places so they can avoid laying people off.
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