The University of Oregon held a virtual town hall on Apr. 2 to address COVID-19-related issues including paid sick leave, president Schill taking a temporary pay cut and the uncertain future at the university.
Missy Matella, the senior director for employee and labor relations, discussed a new webpage dedicated to “COVID-19 Resources for Faculty and Staff.”
Matella discussed new emergency sick leave options for UO employees, which include 80 hours of additional paid sick leave for full-time employees and “enough pro-rated, additional sick leave to cover two weeks of work” for part-time employees, according to the webpage. The emergency leave may apply to parents caring for children who are home from school or daycare due to public health emergency, along with health-related reasons such as “personal illness or the illness of a dependent requiring care,” the webpage states, and, “Leave options are based on employee group.”
Matella clarified that the emergency is not limited to COVID-19, but any sickness for an employee or their children.
“We implemented it in conjunction with the new federal and state law changes but, unlike the federal and state law, we’re guaranteeing that we’re actually gonna give you full pay during those 80 hours or the prorated-by-FTE 2 week amount,” Matella said. She advised that employees who have questions reach out to their supervisor, view the FAQ website or contact [email protected].
UO President Michael Schill said he has a “very high level of certainty” that the university will see a cut in state support “as the state goes into a recession.” He said he personally has taken a temporary pay cut of 12%, and vice presidents and the athletic director are taking 10% pay cuts. The reductions will be in place for at least six months, he said, and “may well be extended to the end of the 2020-2021 school year.”
Matella said the university is communicating with supervisors about increasing flexibility, which the webpage says includes flexible schedules, compressed work weeks, telecommuting, reduced (part-time) work weeks or reduced years and job-sharing.
The webpage also includes resources for individuals and managers to help with “working and leading remotely.”
Regarding whether the university will furlough or lay off employees, President Michael Schill said, “We can’t answer that question right now. There’s so much uncertainty.”
Schill said that whether certain faculty will have jobs in the future depends on the enrollment rates for the next academic year. “We won’t know for sure until October who’s here and who’s not here, but we will have a pretty good idea here in the next couple months as to what our admissions look like,” he said, referring to the application deadline.
“The level of uncertainty could not be greater,” Schill said. “I know a lot of you are worried about your jobs and your families, I get that. I wish I could eliminate your uncertainty in this Town Hall, but I can’t and I want to be honest about that.”
Schill said the university normally feeds and houses more than 4,500 students, which has now fallen to fewer than 300 students living on campus.
“In the past, there have been some folks who have tried to divide us and sow doubt in the sincerity of our leaders and our mission. I want to emphasize, in the strongest possible terms, this is not the time for that behavior,” Schill said. “It is fine to disagree with some of the decisions we will make. I, for one, am fully capable of making pretty big mistakes, but please do not doubt my motive. It is to ensure our community’s ability to thrive now and in the future.”
When asked about potentially transferring funds from the athletic budget, Schill said “Next to housing and food, athletics is the most financially impacted part of the university,” due to financial losses such as the cancellation of spring sports and the NCAA and Pac-12 cutting distributions. “We’re not going to be able to shift money from athletics over here because they’re operating in negative figures, and I certainly don’t want to shift negative numbers over onto our budget.”
Schill echoed those same sentiments when asked about transferring funds from ongoing construction projects, saying that they are funded by gifts and donations and that part of the Knight Campus is funded by state capital.
“I would be breaking contracts with donors and likely get sued,” he said. “These buildings need to get built. What we have to do and what we are committed to do is requiring our contractors to adhere to state rules.”
Town Hall host Jennifer Winters of University Communications reiterated that students can seek support from the Student Crisis Fund that was revealed in the Town Hall on March 30, and that those with questions should visit the university’s COVID-19 webpage or FAQ webpage, which includes links to other relevant pages.
“I think that the number one emotion that I have right now is pride in what this entire community is able to do,” UO Provost Patrick Phillips said. “But I totally appreciate and understand that that’s coupled with frustration that we don’t totally know what the future is going to hold.”
This story was updated Thursday night to correct the spelling of Jennifer Winters’ name.
