A decision about furloughs could hurt the University’s competitive edge and research enterprise, said some faculty members at a University Council meeting last week.

University President Michael Adams has furloughed all employees at the University – including those funded entirely by outside grants and sponsorships – but employees at both Georgia Tech and Georgia State aren’t getting the same treatment.

The presidents at these schools have chosen not to furlough employees who are paid entirely through non-state funds, said John Millsaps, spokesman for the Board of Regents.

“The only exceptions [for furlough days at the Univ.] are those making below $23,660 and those with H1-B visa status,” Millsaps said in a phone interview last week. “And there’s also presidential discretion.”

A furlough is mandatory time off without pay, implemented to save money.

Those affected by the president’s decision to furlough all employees regardless of pay source are primarily technicians and post-doctoral researchers, said Mark Farmer, a professor and department head of cellular biology, who also conducts research.

“These people help generate data that is often responsible for future grant opportunities,” Farmer said.

They might receive their money through federal grants or corporate sponsorships.

Though the extent of the furlough policy’s negative impact is debatable, there is the potential for some harmful effects, he said.

“If you’re looking to recruit talented post-docs and technicians, and if they see that the policy is to furlough, then it could put us at a comparative disadvantage,” Farmer said. “It could hurt productivity and the competitive stance with other labs also pursuing research interests.”

And it wouldn’t just hurt our researchers – undergraduate students also benefit from learning alongside talented research professionals, Farmer said.

Students can gain hands-on experience in the labs and learn about new, emerging elements of science, he said. Some of Farmer’s students learn about his research five to 10 years before it ever appears in a textbook.

“If you are being taught by faculty who are on the cutting edge of their disciplines, it factors into the quality of the education you receive,” he said.

The post-doctoral researchers and technicians support these faculty members as they generate data and make discoveries in the lab.

William Lanzilotta, an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, said he has seen the effects of the president’s decision in his lab.

“I’m already having a hard time attracting the best people here because another university under the same guidelines and Board of Regents is doing something completely different,” Lanzilotta said at the University Council meeting Thursday.

But Adams stuck by his decision, even after acknowledging that the University needed to have more federally funded employees.

“We made the philosophical decision that everybody was in this and that we were all, as members of the University of Georgia organization, going to pull together to get through it,” Adams said at the meeting. “And we were not going to do layoffs.”

He said the University would be willing to work creatively with employees receiving outside money to make sure they are able to complete their jobs and maintain their outside support. He said the University would help them come up with solutions on an individual basis. But he was not going to make any exceptions to the rules.

“I don’t feel comfortable with a single protected class at the University and the other 88 percent or so [of employees paid by the state] in a different class,” Adams said.

And he will continue to defend his position.

“I make decisions every day that I know not everybody agrees with,” he said. “And there were several of us in on this one, but the buck stops with me, and I feel compelled to defend it.”