The Board of Regents approved added furlough days for faculty and staff at all institutions in the University System of Georgia, and also approved changes in health insurance programs affecting 5,000 employees during its monthly meeting in Atlanta on Wednesday.

“The state has already required that employees take three [furlough days] prior to the end of this year,” said John Vanchella, director of strategic communications for the Regents.

The three previously mandated furlough days must be taken before the end of December, and the remaining three days will be taken between January and June next year, he said.

The furlough days will affect all 40,000 employees in the University System, with the exception of the lowest paid workers – those with an annual salary of $23,660 or lower. Furlough days are the equivalent of up to a three percent pay cut, but they will not affect classes or employee retirement plans.

The decision comes as part of the Regents’ plan to reduce the budget by 4 percent, in accordance with a request from Gov. Sonny Perdue for all state agencies to come up with three tiers of budget cut plans. The three reduction plans total $94 million at the 4 percent level, $134 million at the 6 percent level and $176 million at the 8 percent level.

The Regents outlined their plans Wednesday for cutting the budget by 4, 6 or 8 percent. The plans will be submitted to the governor, who will then make a decision on which plan to implement after a presentation to the Georgia General Assembly in January next year.

“At that point, we will have a better handle on whether additional cuts will be required,” Vanchella said.

If the governor implements either the 6 percent or 8 percent plan, individual institutions within the University System will have a hand in deciding how to achieve the required reductions, Vanchella said.

“There’s some flexibility at the 6 and 8 percent levels,” he said. “They will require the System working with the institutions to make these cuts.”

And according to the University’s budget reduction plan submitted to the Regents, cutting the budget may have devastating effects on the University.

The University’s plan does not call for additional furlough days past the six approved by the Regents, but as many as 623 positions could be eliminated if the 8 percent level plan is approved. The University will have to cut 206 and 370 positions at the 4 and 6 percent levels, respectively.

Positions that would be eliminated will come from faculty, staff, graduate assistants and student workers. The highest percentage of eliminated positions will come from staff, with faculty falling closely behind and student workers with the lowest percentage.

If the 6 or 8 percent cut is approved, 136 to 229 additional layoffs may be required.

According to the University’s budget reduction plan, the loss of faculty positions will result in courses being taught less frequently, including core courses, and some courses not being offered at all. This could lead to less student advising, larger class sizes, reduced academic rigor and may delay student graduations by as much as two semesters.

The board also approved changes in health insurance programs affecting employees enrolled in the USG’s indemnity plan, which will be eliminated. Other changes will encourage retirees to move to Medicare Plan B, seed the high deductible PPO plan to encourage more employees to switch to this plan and make other structural changes in the System’s health insurance plans. These will go into effect this fiscal year.

These two changes – furloughs and health care plans – will generate $43.5 million of the $115 million being withheld and are part of the 4, 6 and 8 percent reduction plans. The remaining $71 million of the $115 million being withheld from the USG will be generated at the institutional level and could include layoffs and new employee furloughs, internal reorganizations, an increased focus on energy conservation and the elimination of low-enrollment programs.

The actions at the system and institutional level will meet the $94 million 4 percent reduction plan amount.

To reach a 6 percent reduction level ($134 million) the System will:

* Look to institutions to impose additional furloughs, new layoffs of employees, the elimination of positions and other actions institutions can identify to generate savings.

To reach the 8 percent reduction level ($175 million) the System will:

* In the spring semester of 2010 increase the institutional mandatory fee first implemented in January 2009 by $150 at the four research universities and some comprehensive institutions; by $100 at all other comprehensive four-year institutions; and by $75 at the state and two-year colleges. The changes to the mandatory fees will result in a cumulative total of $250, $175, and $125. UGA students will have to pay $250.

* Place a moratorium on other institutional mandatory student fee increases with the exception of public-private venture projects for FY11.

Any action regarding reductions at the 4, 6 or 8 percent levels will depend upon the final decisions by the Governor and General Assembly in January.