Though University faculty will be furloughed six days this academic year, the campus will still function normally for students, University President Michael Adams said Thursday.

“We have tried desperately hard to develop a plan for implementing a furlough that is workable and impacts our students and overall institution the least,” Adams said during a budget update forum in the Tate Student Center Theater.

Adams announced the six official furlough days – all student holidays with the exception of spring Reading Day – as an answer to the statewide budget shortfall. All faculty making more than $23,660 will be effected, with the exception of student workers, graduate assistants and workers with H-1B visas.

Adams said he was aware particular needs would need to be met during the Reading Day furlough, and the administration will work to meet those needs.

“There is plenty of time between now and that day to make sure that the necessary facilities and personnel are available to students,” he said.

Certain “critical” staff, such as those working in Food Services, will take different furlough days at the discretion of their unit head, Adams said.

“The department has to decide what they have to do without,” said Vice President for Public Affairs Tom Jackson.

“Each department will determine which operations must continue, and they will take the necessary steps.”

Though the administration promises that buses, food and research support will be available for students on furlough days, Adams gave little direction as to how the services will be implemented.

“I have a lot of questions myself,” Ron Hamlin, director of Campus Transit, said in a phone interview Thursday. “What will happen if a bus breaks down? It will affect our supervision, maintenance and ability to answer phone calls.”

The University Main Library, too, was unaware of how the furloughs will affect its services.

“As far as it being open and using it and such, that’s when we get work done like stocking the bookshelves and cataloging,” said Florence King, head of the library portion of the Miller Learning Center. “And that’s prime time for faculty to do their research.”

King said Thursday there are at least 45 library employees who will not be furloughed on the furlough days.

University Librarian William Potter said he is worried about the effect the furlough days will have on the library’s long-term projects, such as shipping and large-scale cleaning.

“I think they just won’t get done. There are things that may not get finished,” Potter said. “Will students see an effect? Yes. They may see books are not being re-shelved or cataloged as quickly.”

Potter said he has not yet met with his staff to determine specific needs in relation to furlough days.

“Whatever we do will have a minimal impact,” Potter said. “There are still details that need to be sorted out, and I think that’s what we have to do. Fortunately the first day is a ways off.”

Both the library and Campus Transit will be open on each of the furlough days. Without the administration, those services could be left for students to run.

“We have overnight service and weekend service that are managed by students now,” Hamlin said. “[The chosen furlough days make] it easier for those who provide service to students to close or reduce our service to meet the requirements.”

King said she is not worried about lower-level workers working without supervision.

“The library is open over 100 hours a week. There are times when a high level supervisor isn’t there. We are used to different schedules and being flexible,” she said.

When asked about upper administration taking additional furlough days, Adams said he would not.

“What [upper administration does] every day here matters, and it’s essential,” he said.

Adams said further furloughing of administrators “doesn’t come close to solving the issue.”

He discussed previous measures the University took this year to offset budget cuts – such as journal cuts, fewer phones and attrition- despite increasing enrollment.

“These are very real impacts on the ability of this institution to do the job the state asked us to do,” Adams said. “We’ve been hurt by these challenges, and [they] pose a very real threat to the long term quality of this institution.”

Adams said if there are further cuts, there will likely be layoffs. According to the University’s budget reduction plan submitted to the Board of Regents, as many as 229 layoffs may be required if Gov. Sonny Perdue implements an 8 percent budget cut when he reviews the plans in January.

Even without the prospect of layoffs, the University is having problems in staffing, Adams said.

“Arts and sciences simply has too many vacant faculty, making it too difficult to teach core courses,” he said.

Despite the budget and furlough situation, some faculty have a positive outlook.

“I think that for something that’s brand new for us, I support the way we are doing,” King said. “This is not fun at all for anybody. It’s very difficult to look at this as though it’s not unfair to somebody. It’s going to be interesting to see how this works out.”