UConn budget cuts include furloughs

STORRS — Top administrators at the University of Connecticut will face furloughs in the new academic year to help reduce a predicted budget deficit.

Starting next month, most non-union managers will be furloughed without pay for the equivalent of one day a month, which amounts to about 5 percent of their annual salaries.

Senior leaders, including UConn President Tom Katsouleas, will take two furlough days a month, or a 10 percent cut.

The furloughs are expected to save the university about $5 million, said Stephanie Reitz, a university spokeswoman.

More than 300 employees across the university, law school and health enter will take furlough days under the directive. Altogether, UConn has about 9,600 employees.

In a letter to UConn managers dated June 19, Katsouleas said the action is the result of the university facing its largest projected budget deficit in history. The shortfall occurred after campuses were closed and courses moved online in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UConn Board of Trustees on Wednesday is expected to deal with a projected 2020-21 budget shortfall ranging from $47 million to $129 million. In addition to the furloughs, the university is canceling merit pay increases budgeted for managers, which is expected to save $5 million..

Katsouleas said he expects the cuts to be temporary. “Once the virus passes and we can resume full in-person operations, our student demand, faculty talent and alumni support have never been stronger,” he wrote. “We expect our student, philanthropic and research-based revenues to rebound.”