First things first: The system-wide furloughs approved by regents for 22,000 employees at the University of Maryland system — announced Friday in an email message to the campus from Chancellor William Kirwan and reported yesterday by the Washington Post — should not be confused with other recent budget cuts.

(Full disclosure: I am serving as an adjunct instructor at the University of Maryland for the 2008–9 academic year.)

Earlier this fall, the State of Maryland cut the university system’s 2009 fiscal year budget by about $15 million, which the university addressed, according to Chancellor Kirwan, by “implementing hiring freezes, increasing class sizes, and reducing facilities renewal funds.” But that was only the beginning of the cuts that College Park et al. face in 2009.

The furloughs are the university system’s response to Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley’s request that the University of Maryland system reduce its budget for salary and wages by $15.9 million — as part of a statewide reduction plan that is going to mean furloughs for state employees, too.

University of Maryland employees aren’t state personnel, which puts the University of Maryland system in a better position than their peers in state agencies. The University System of Maryland is able to determine its own furlough system. Better still, each University of Maryland campus has been given purview over the parameters of the furlough plan as it is implemented at that campus. Campus-tailored plans might make for the kind of flexibility that prevents any individual furlough case from causing true hardships.

Nevertheless, $15.9 million is some significant coin, and it doesn’t sound like the system has many suitable alternatives to temporary pay suspensions. According to the Post, officials at the flagship College Park campus have considered shutting down the campus for one day during spring break as a way to mitigate the real effects of furlough. (Chancellor Kirwan’s memo did not mention this option.)

Photo by m hoek