University of Arizona is pushing back furlough plans that were set to start on July 1 for a second time, according to an email to faculty by university President Robert Robbins obtained by KJZZ. This decision comes after general faculty members passed a nonbinding resolution last week calling on the university to delay furlough plans until September. Robbins met them halfway and is now looking to implement them in August. 

"While this move will cost the university approximately $4 million, it will allow us to come together and have meaningful and transparent discussions regarding the trade offs we must consider for all faculty and staff who will be impacted," Robbins said in the email.

UA furlough program was first announced on April 17, five weeks before it would be implemented to give the campus community time to weigh in. That response led to significant changes to the program, including a floor for employees making less than $44,500, a more graduated scale, and a delay in the implementation date to July 1, Robbins said in the email. 

UA has already lost $60 million in revenue last fiscal year. The university's executive team has implemented cost-saving measures, including taking salary reductions themselves, but Robbins said the institution "cannot recover additional losses if the furlough and furlough-based salary programs do not advance."

"Our financial challenges remain severe, and with the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Arizona and nationwide, we must plan for ongoing adjustments to university operations," Robbins said. 

The Coalition for Academic Justice at the University of Arizona, a faculty group, has previously said the university's financial situation does not justify the "extreme level" of the furlough plans. 

The coalition said it’s been asking administration for the past two months to join rank-and-file faculty, staff and graduate students to find other strategies to address coronavirus-related financial shortfalls. Those measures include taking out short- and long-term loans, and shifting steeper pay cuts to those in the upper administrations, where the coalition said compensations have risen dramatically in the past few years.

“We need to bring all responsible financial tools to bear on meeting that shortfall, in other words, we seek a more comprehensive savings plan that immediately halts ongoing layoffs and non-renewals,” said Farid Matuk, member of the CAJUA steering committee.