A Town Hall Meeting on the Smathers Libraries 2009-2010 Budget has been scheduled for Monday, March 23rd. It will be held from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Smathers (Library East) Room 1A. Although this meeting is specific to the Smathers Libraries budget, not the Health Science Center Libraries, the Legal Information Center or FCLA budgets, it is an open meeting and individuals from those organizations are welcome to come.
The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the revisions to the proposed budget for the Smathers Libraries in advance of its submission to the Provost on April 1st. This will be an opportunity to receive a briefing on the updated proposal as well as to ask questions and provide comments.
Can someone explain the "requirement" to protect the Judaica Librarian position that was mentioned during yesterday's town hall meeting?
ReplyDeleteThe Smathers Libraries have an obligation to support all of the academic programs at the University of Florida, including Jewish Studies. The Libraries established the Judaica Librarian position because of the specialized knowledge and language requirements for the collection and the curriculum.
ReplyDeleteThe PowerPoint presentation from yesterday's Town Hall Meeting is now available through the blog under Useful Links.
ReplyDeleteDo we know at this point which specific branches/departments/units will see layoffs? For example, Dean Russell’s powerpoint presentation says that the branches will see 11.75 layoffs if we take the full 10% cut, but it does not say how this will be broken down at the individual branch/dept. level. Does anyone have any information on that? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, the 2009-2010 budget reduction proposal for the Smathers Libraries that is submitted on April 1st will prioritize the cuts that are being proposed to meet our $2.278 million (10%) goal. Once we know the official budget for the Libraries, we will determine whether some or all of the proposed cuts are necessary.
ReplyDeleteThese cuts were identified by the Department Chairs and Unit Heads, in consultation with the Directors and departmental staff, so the managers are aware of the positions in their areas that may be eliminated.
As I said at the Town Hall Meeting, we have not yet worked with University Human Resources to evaluate specific positions that have been identified for elimination or the status of the individuals currently in those positions. As we confirm that specific positions must be eliminated, and the status of the incumbents, we will notify the Director and Department Chair/Unit Head. We will speak with the affected employees about whether they are being reassigned or released, but this will not be an official notification. The Libraries Human Resources staff will also be available to meet with individual employees to confirm their anticipated status, inform them about the resources available to assist them, and answer their questions.
No official severance notices will be issued until after the Board of Trustees approves the University budget in early June. The severance date for specific individuals will vary depending on their status and how quickly reassignment and other issues can be addressed.
Because some individuals have "bumping rights" (or the equivalent), the incumbent in a position that is eliminated may not be the individual who receives a severance notice. Instead, the incumbent may receive notification of reassignment and the individual in the position to which he or she is reassigned may receive a severance notice, after his or her status is evaluated.
This is a complex process with specific UF regulations and each position and the individual in that position will have to be evaluated on a case by case basis. As a result, it is unlikely that all of the severance notices will be issued at the same time.
Based upon the above considerations, I have provided below a more specific table showing the distribution of possible layoffs that will appear in the report we submit to the Provost on April 1st:
PERSONNEL ...................... FTE
Retirements/Resignation/
Reassignment: .................. 5.0
Administration: ................ 3.3
Technical Services: ............ 5.2
Support Services: .............. 3.0
Library West & Marston: ........ 5.0
Other Branches: ................ 3.0
TOTAL: ........................ 24.5
NOTE: No personnel cuts are projected for ALF, DLC and Access Support. Reductions include two future retirements, one resignation, and three reassignments (2 FTE). There is also one conversion to a 9-month contract.