November 23, 2020
Re: UC Merced Job Protection Plan
To: All employees
Nov. 23, 2020
Dear Campus Community
Earlier today University of California President Michael Drake asked each campus to meet a savings target for personnel costs by the end of June 2021 — with the primary operating principle of preserving jobs and preventing layoffs. UC Merced supports this principle and is committed to putting people first as we address the fiscal impacts of the pandemic to the best extent possible.
We have listened to staff and faculty, and are thankful for your dedication to our mission and willingness to persevere in the face of adversity. Yet we must continue to ask for your patience, grace and shared sacrifice as we work together to lessen the financial losses brought on by the pandemic.
We are carefully considering how best to implement the savings target and have developed options that we will discuss with the campus community in the coming weeks. Our goal should be to meet our target through a combination of actions, with lowest-paid employees being the least impacted. Our local approach will commence in January 2021 and we intend to use a measured strategy that is well communicated to the campus to ensure that any program or action is an element of a broader fiscal conservation strategy.
In this initial phase we will be considering a curtailment action or temporary salary reduction equivalent to a maximum of five days for the highest paid employees. Moving forward, additional measures may or may not be needed as our fiscal circumstances become more clear.
Please join us from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4 for a campus-wide discussion of both our current fiscal challenges as well as the options we are considering moving forward. We will send an invitation to campus after the holiday weekend. After this session, we will survey campus on the options presented and will announce a determination and approach to the campus by Friday, Dec. 11.
We recognize that this is not the news anyone wants before the holiday season. However, you deserve transparency about the plans and constraints of the university as we work together to emerge from this difficulty. UC Merced has faced difficulty in the past, yet it has continued to grow and thrive — building a world-class research institution that has propelled success for students and their families throughout the San Joaquin Valley and beyond – and we will continue to do so into the future.
We have done all this as a community. And as a community, with shared purpose and resolve, we will find our path forward now.
Juan Sánchez Muñoz, Ph.D.
Chancellor
Gregg Camfield, Ph.D.
EVC and Provost
Kurt Schnier
Interim Chief Financial Officer
Remarks and Addresses
Academic Year:
