Dear University community,
The second week of fall semester is already coming to a close. Fall is definitely in the air, but we still have warm days to come. Meanwhile, we hear steady reports of engaged classrooms, energetic student extracurricular involvement and healthy campuses. Thank you for your efforts.
It has also been another week of hard work on the initiatives to move our institution forward.
I want to thank Provost Martini for leading an Academic Planning forum and workshop this week. Two additional workshops are scheduled Sept. 21 and 25. I hope you will be able to attend and share your ideas.
Furloughs
You may have taken your first furlough day this week; we know these are tough and impact people in different ways. I want to remind you that you must log your furlough days on a timesheet accessed through your “My UW System” link. You will find instructions for filling out the form on the furlough page created by Human Resources. Scroll down to Furlough Entry Tipsheets, and you will see separate instructions for your employee classification.
Workforce reduction
A number of UWO employees met this week with representatives of Human Resources, Finance and Administration and a UW System-supported consultant to develop a workforce reduction recommendation. Leadership will soon review their proposed plan, consult with shared governance leadership and make a final determination. We expect to begin notifying impacted staff members in early October. Human Resources continues to develop a list of supportive resources that will be posted at the workforce reduction website.
We are moving quickly through this process as one way to reduce the stress of a drawn-out reduction. We are going to lose colleagues we value and care about—both through workforce reduction and the voluntary retirement program. We will have our work cut out for us as we reassign duties and decide what we will no longer do.
I will keep these weekly updates coming, and I thank you for staying informed.
Chancellor Andy Leavitt