Furlough Deal Fails at Southern University

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Southern University Faculty Senate has failed to reach an agreement on faculty furloughs that could prevent the administration’s call for a declaration of financial emergency on the campus.

The Advocate of Baton Rouge reports that the indecision comes on the heels of Moody’s Investor Services placing the Southern University System on its “Watchlist” for a possible debt rating downgrade because of the potential emergency, called financial exigency.

Such a downgrade could affect $60.9 million of outstanding debt on construction and student housing projects on Southern campuses, according to Moody’s.

The Southern Board of Supervisors on Friday postponed a vote on exigency in order to allow the faculty a few days to agree to take some time off without pay this year and the next school year in order to avoid exigency and shorter job termination notices for faculty. The furloughs would result in up to 10 percent pay cuts with time off.

The Southern University System Board has called a special board meeting on Wednesday to again consider exigency.

Southern Chancellor James Llorens said at least 90 percent of the faculty will need to agree to a suitable furlough plan in order to avoid exigency.

Southern Faculty Senate President Sudhir Trivedi said Monday that he will seek an injunction in federal court to prevent exigency if the Southern Board agrees to declare an emergency.