SUBJECT:

Your Feedback Regarding Budget Reductions Made a Difference

We appreciate the feedback we had received from the UC San Diego community regarding the University of California Office of the President's proposed salary reduction options for UC faculty and staff. In addition to your comments gleaned from five Town Hall meetings attended by more than 2,300 people, we received more than 1,700 emails.

We conveyed your concerns to President Mark Yudof and his staff because we understand the significant impact any reduction will have on our faculty and staff. We wish it were possible to avoid any salary reduction or furlough program. However, if a salary reduction plan is inevitable, we believe it should reflect the concerns you had expressed.

The plan announced this morning for a vote by the Regents next week includes major changes that incorporate a number of issues we had raised with the President. If approved, the plan would then be discussed by the Office of the President at the collective bargaining table. The plan now includes:

* More stratification with the pay reduction percentages, with those at higher salaries carrying a larger percentage of the burden.

* Furlough days instead of straight salary cuts, based on a tiered percentage system. In addition, there will be some campus flexibility in allocating furlough days between designated campus days and the furlough days scheduled by individuals with their supervisor.

* The request that the Regents protect retirement and benefits.

* Students (graduate and undergraduate) and postdoctoral fellows are exempt if they are not covered by collective bargaining agreements.

* Employees fully funded by extramural funding (e.g., government research grants) are exempt from salary reductions because those reductions would not aid in the state's budget crisis. By October 2009, campuses will determine with the Office of the President whether employees whose salaries are paid less than 100% by extramural funds can also have that percentage exempted from the salary reductions.

* More flexibility for Medical Centers to ensure that they meet their budget reduction target but without negatively impacting patient care.

We appreciate President Yudof's willingness to seek input from our faculty and staff. His proposal to the UC Regents may be found on UC San Diego's Budget Line webpage under(lastest news) at http://budgetline.ucsd.edu

Thank you for speaking up and providing sound recommendations for action by the President. We appreciate your patience and support as we weather one of the worst financial crises in the history of the University. It is your passion and dedication that make UC San Diego one of the nation's best higher education and research universities.

Marye Anne Fox Chancellor Paul Drake Senior Vice Chancellor