Faced with a budget crunch because of the coronavirus pandemic, the University of Miami athletic department is sending many of its employees on brief furloughs, according to two sources briefed on the situation.
One source said UM athletic department employees have been told to take two weeks off _ unpaid _ in June or July.
UM declined to comment on the matter or say whether any coaches have been asked to take pay cuts. But a source said there has been no indication that Hurricanes coaches have been asked to take pay cuts.
UM president Julio Frenk said on May 22 that the school would lay off employees in June and soon begin furloughs.
Since campuses officially shuttered March 12, "it has become clear that a reduction in workforce has regrettably become unavoidable," Frenk wrote in that letter which was posted on the UM web site on May 22.
In a follow-up interview with the Miami Herald last month, Frenk said: "The reason we're acting like that is to avoid having the university in a critical situation. The university was in a very strong financial position before the pandemic, and we're coming to this from a position of strength."
UM previously announced pay reductions for top officials and the suspension of both merit-based salary raises and of UM contributions to employee retirement plans.
Frenk told the Herald that a 15% pay cut for all senior executive leaders, including himself, plus a 10% pay cut for the top% of earners, saved the university $6 million. He said that could be revised in September or could be extended.
