The housing and food services staff have been distributing prevention, referral and follow-up information to students. Students who demonstrate or report any symptoms are immediately referred to Student Health Services. Students who have roommates or share an apartment with a student who is sick can request to be relocated to different housing accommodations. Meals can also be provided via the “sick tray” program from the campus cafeteria. Please note that medical authorities have not recommended relocation as a prevention, as by the time a diagnosis has been made exposure has already occurred.

The University cannot speak as to the medical status of any specific student’s medical diagnosis or treatment plan. This information is confidential per the HIPPA and FERPA Federal Protection Laws. Students are referred to Student Health Services for medical treatment on a regular basis.

Please note that the University cannot legally quarantine a student. Student Health Services staff does advise students with flu like symptoms to self-isolate, which means that the student should refrain from contact with others by remaining in their apartment or residence hall room unless they are going to see their physician or responding to an emergency situation. Our health services staff have reported that the number of students reporting flu like symptoms has decreased over the last two weeks. We will continue to work on prevention and follow-up activities to try to keep these numbers as low as possible.

Any student who would like to take advantage of special accommodations due to medical reasons should contact Dr. Garvey (985-493-2609 or diane.garvey@nicholls.edu ). There will be an immediate response to any request received.

Response:

University staff will continue to monitor this situation and adjust procedures for responding to this and other health concerns as needed. Updates will be distributed electronically and in hard copy form throughout the campus community. An electronic link to this information is available at http://www.nicholls.edu .

My goal has been to eliminate any move to furlough classified, unclassified, instructors and non-tenured faculty this year, which is part of the current budget reduction plan. We were notified last week that our reductions were lowered. We plan to eliminate any furloughs. We believe that this is fair for all employees. Everyone will be asked to do more; we do not want them to do it for less pay.

It is a fact that other state agencies may have the finances to continue providing merit increases to their staff members. If our employees choose to leave the University to work for another agency, they certainly may be eligible to receive the merit increase this upcoming fiscal year. This holds true for all of our employees; there may be other opportunities for our faculty, unclassified and classified staff members. I personally hope that our employees can find the means to stay with us through these difficult times. I also understand that some will make the decision that, due to financial constraints, they have no choice but to leave and it is truly unfortunate if that happens.

I know that all employees depend on the annual merit increase. To me it is a matter of equity.

“I know that the budget reduction plan has been implemented, which involves the classified employees not receiving merit over the next fiscal year. Is this a plan that is being implemented state-wide, or is it only at Nicholls? I do understand that as classified employees of the University we need to do what we can to assist. However, how fair is it for classified employees to suffer this kind of blow? If I chose to take a job with another state agency, I would still possibly be getting my merit increase for this next fiscal year.”

Response:
Several universities across Louisiana have followed a compressed workweek schedule for two or more years. Each contends that there are real savings to be gained by such a schedule. We will not learn if this is true for Nicholls unless we give it a try. To be very honest, I have some doubts here. In any event, the effort will take planning across the facilities staff and the cooperation of university personnel campus-wide to generate any true benefit.

For Nicholls, the age and nature of our central loop heating and air conditioning system creates real challenges. The general concept during the pilot period is that our facilities personnel will power down thermostats both electronically and manually beginning on Fridays around noon. We will not be able to do this for all buildings, only those that do not have activities assigned to them during the weekend, whether those activities begin early or late Friday afternoon. Temperature reduction from noon on each Friday will mirror normal weekend conditions.

Efforts have been made to either change class times or move classes to facilities that we cannot power down until after 4:30 on Friday afternoons, or at all during the weekends. Tentatively, our plan is to power down buildings at noon on Friday such as Ayo, FACS, Gouaux, Talbot, Duhe etc. With these buildings offline, we expect to realize an additional energy savings. Mike Davis, the assistant vice president for administration, has been assigned the task of determining if savings are realized as we progress through the summer.

While I have mixed feelings with regard to the real benefits of a compressed workweek schedule, there is little doubt that the broader outside community is looking for indications of greater operating efficiency. By experimenting with this work schedule, we are providing a visible indication of institutional commitment to conserve resources.

As we move to introduce the new schedule on May 25, 2009, I am asking supervisors to work cooperatively with affected staff who may have personal scheduling problems over the course of the summer months. If we subsequently elect to introduce the compressed schedule year round, all staff can then make the necessary changes in their daily routines.

The decision to embrace the compressed workweek schedule for the actual calendar year will be made after consultation with faculty and staff.

Response:
The notification process will begin tomorrow (Friday) and continue Monday, until it is completed. Faculty and staff will be notified in a meeting by their appropriate dean or vice president. They will then be given a letter by that individual.

Response:
The full plan, as submitted to the University of Louisiana System, will be released by the President’s Office by e-mail attachment on Tuesday, April 28th.