Campus update regarding furloughs

Faculty and Staff:

As the interim chancellor, I have been humbled at the dedication you all have shown to ECU and the hard work you put in to making this fall semester as successful as possible, despite the challenges we have faced. I am always proud to serve as your chancellor, and I am proud of the greater mission our university serves in this region. I am grateful for you all.

Unfortunately, I am writing to let you know that we have made the tough decision to furlough some employees who work in our auxiliary and receipt-based areas.

This is a hard decision. No one likes this outcome; we’ve tried to reassign employees in affected units to vacancies in other divisions when possible. Because of the significant decline in revenues during the coronavirus pandemic, these decisions are necessary for the long-term sustainability of ECU and our mission.

At this time, employees are being furloughed who work in departments that have experienced significant revenue declines in Administration & Finance and Academic Affairs. At this time, 25 employees are being furloughed in these two areas, and they have been notified. Some employees will be placed on furlough for a set number of days while others will be on full furlough for the remainder of the fiscal year.

The university continues to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in multiple ways. Our current estimate for fall is more than $25 million in decreased revenue. We’re in the process of issuing prorated refunds for housing, dining and parking and have had other revenue streams adversely affected. In the coming weeks, we anticipate additional furloughs as a result of disruption of revenue.

Across campus, the reduced demand for employee services and such a large disruption to revenues has forced an institutional response. Units that provide auxiliary services rely on the sale of goods or services to fund their operations; state law does not allow ECU to use tuition or state-appropriated funds to cover any revenue shortfall in these units.

ECU has seen success this year with increased enrollment, and we have been very disciplined in how we spend our money which puts us in a good position as we move forward. It will be a difficult year financially, but one I know we can get through. We are preparing to bring students back in the spring and will announce those plans soon.

As I said earlier, these decisions are hard—some of the toughest I’ve had to make in my career. I appreciate your commitment and dedication to the mission of ECU.

-Interim Chancellor Ron Mitchelson