William Weber, vice president for business affairs, is heavily invested in the process for developing a decisive furlough policy.

After attending all three forums, the last of which was yesterday, Weber reiterated that furloughs should be a last resort in approaching the university’s tough fiscal times.

“We have a tradition at this university that when we run in to tough fiscal times, layoffs are the absolute last thing that we want to do to address them,” Weber said. “I personally see furloughs in the same light.”

Wednesday’s open forum, scheduled to collect comments and questions from the campus community regarding Eastern’s draft furlough policy, marked the final of the three forums, which took place this week.

Members of the Council on University Planning and Budgeting will now prepare to submit their final recommendations to President Bill Perry at their meeting on Friday before a decisive policy is drafted.

Sandy Bowman, interim assistant human resources director, who conducted all three forums, stressed the importance of the open discussion surrounding the draft furlough policy.

“There is no way to know what the final policy will be until we know what our shortfalls are,” Bowman said.

Bowman mentioned that the hundreds of people who attended the forums, as well of those who submitted comments via the CUPD Web site, voiced a number of concerns, but that two in particular were among the most common.

“Some have assumed that the draft policy implies a furlough period of 30 consecutive days, although the policy doesn’t stipulate that in any way,” Bowman said.

The other most common concern involved the effect that a furlough policy may have upon the reception of benefits.

A page featuring frequently asked questions concerning the draft furlough policy was posted Wednesday on the business affairs’ Web site.

Karen Drage admitted that those who attended might have expected more out of the forums.

“We’ve tried to communicate that this is a general policy, and I think some have been disappointed that we haven’t been able to give many specifics,” she said.

Despite Drage’s feelings, one individual who attended Wednesday’s forum took the opportunity to thank the council members directly for encouraging discussion and collecting input from the campus community.

“I would like to say something positive. I appreciate the fact that the president and the counsel didn’t just implement the policy, but are having these discussions and asking people for input,” an unidentified audience member said. “I think this is probably unusual given the way it’s done at most universities and I hope that as you give your advice to the president and as he comes up with a policy – and I do think having a policy is better than not having a policy – that you’ll be listening both to the specifics of what people said and the spirit behind these specifics.”

Weber said having a policy in place does not necessarily mean it will be implemented.

Bowman agrees with this statement.

“This is a very emotional topic,” Bowman said.

Once this policy is finally in place, hopefully we can just sweep it under the rug, Bowman said.

Jason Hardimon can be reached at 581-7942 or jrhardimon2@eiu.edu