Dear CIRES Colleagues,
I hope this note finds you well and safe.
I am reaching out to explain a decision I’ve made for all of CIRES: I will not be offering four additional days of administrative leave in late December this year, even though CU Boulder campus is giving Colleges, institutes and other units the option of offering them. I know you all are working extremely hard right now, and I would very much like to offer additional time off. But there are several reasons for my decision.
First, it’s costly to our sponsors: The university does not pay for this additional leave, our sponsored projects do, and four additional days of un-accrued leave would total nearly $1M for the institute—that is an enormous unexpected expense on our grants and contracts. The cost to NOAA in particular—our partner and primary sponsor—would be significant as they provide salary support for the majority of our employees.
Second, there’s an issue of consistency. I have worked very hard to shield our researchers and other staff (almost everyone but faculty) from CU Boulder’s furloughs. I did this by successfully making the argument that because we are self-funded, we have commitments to our sponsors that must be met. It would be inconsistent and unfair for me to argue “CIRES is different” only when we benefit and not respect and acknowledge those differences when they are not in our favor. When we compare the benefits of avoiding furloughs to the costs of not getting this administrative leave, the vast majority of CIRES employees come out well ahead.
I strive to support CIRES and you in every way I can. I appreciate CU Boulder’s generous vacation policies, and I hope you do, too. I will continue to urge all CIRES supervisors to practice flexibility, to help supervisees find schedules that work in this new reality. And everyone, please, in these challenging times, take care of yourselves, and others if you can. Talk with your supervisor or supervisees about any further support and flexibility you or they may need, and as always, reach out to our excellent HR team (CIREShr@colorado.edu) if you have questions.
Sincerely,
Waleed Abdalati
CIRES Director
