Dear UMKC Colleagues,
We have been grateful in recent months for the shared sacrifice of each person at UMKC. We have worked together to meet the COVID-19 health crisis head-on and to bear the financial burdens that came with the pandemic.
In May, as part of that fiscal pain, we announced mandatory temporary across-the-board salary reductions for all faculty and staff making $50,000 or more, including grant-funded positions. Those cuts ranged from 5% to 12.5%, depending on salary level. We promised to review those pay reductions at the end of first quarter. That time is here. We are pleased to announce that we will discontinue campuswide mandatory pay reductions, beginning Oct. 1. Unit leaders do not need to take further action to make up for the annualized budget impact of these campus-wide pay reductions.
This is wonderful news, but we must temper it with some caveats. While we have had a successful start to our academic year, the future is still far from certain. If adverse circumstances occur later in the year, we may need to revisit this option.
Furthermore, some units adopted other unit-specific cost-saving measures that must continue if they are to meet their budgetary goals. So while we are lifting the mandatory campuswide pay reductions, other budget actions in individual units may remain, including other salary, FTE reductions, furloughs or expense cuts. Unit and fiscal leaders will receive specific, separate guidance from the Provost and Office of Finance and Administration regarding their FY21 budget plans. Employees affected by those unit plans in the second quarter will receive individual notification prior to Oct. 1.
And last but not least, we all must continue to exercise extreme fiscal prudence in every way that we can. We will continue to review UMKC’s overall budget on a quarterly basis, and we must and will continue to work on our UMKC Forward process, looking to achieve long-term fiscal stability that will allow UMKC to flourish even though the financial future for higher education looks foreboding.
Until then, let us all pause and celebrate this moment before we move on to new challenges. We have successfully launched our academic year, while keeping the effects of the pandemic manageable at our university. We have crossed our first hurdle of the fiscal year. Shared sacrifice is never easy, but it’s the only way we can move our beloved institution forward. Go Roos!
Sincerely,
C. Mauli Agrawal, Ph.D.
Chancellor
Jenny Lundgren, Ph.D.
Provost
Sharon Lindenbaum
Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration
