Furlough Notices Go Out to 19 U of A Faculty and Staff as Federal Cost Centers Shut Down

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A total of 19 employees at the University of Arkansas — eight faculty members and 11 staff — received furlough notices Monday evening, Oct. 14. All 19 were to receive pay from National Science Foundation or NASA grants, but the university is unable to draw funds from those grants as a result of the partial federal government shutdown. Three days earlier, Friday, Oct. 11, Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe issued an order that if the federal funds were not available as of Oct. 15, the affected employees would have to be furloughed until the end of the federal shutdown.

Of the 19 affected employees, 10 received 90 or 100 percent of their salary from federal funds and are on full furlough. The rest will be on partial furlough, since they only receive a portion of their salaries from federal funding. Those portions range from 3 percent federal funding to 67 percent. Two faculty members will lose only the “extra compensation” they receive from their federal grants, in addition to their university salary, for the duration of the shutdown.

“We have 80 students whose work is funded through federal research grants,” said Jim Rankin, vice provost for research and economic development. “Their colleges and departments have been able to find alternate funding for them and work assignments, and no students have been furloughed.”

Furloughed employees will receive health care benefits through October. If the furlough lasts longer, they will need to arrange for health care coverage, and should contact the office of human resources.