In the face of the recently announced 15% cut to UNO’s budget, we, the undersigned workers at UNO, demand that President Kathy Johnson and the Executive Cabinet prioritize the continued employment of as many workers as possible. To avoid mass layoffs, we demand specifically that the administration:

1. Protect positions in Academic Affairs and closely-related student services from elimination to the greatest extent possible.

2. Impose greater cuts to Athletics and other units that are not critical to the university’s core missions of teaching and research, and require that these units must henceforth be 100% self-sufficient. Additionally:

1. Transfer staff that would face layoffs in these units to divisions and departments that are critical to the university’s core mission

2. Terminate ineffective or bloated contracts with outside vendors and staff those functions with UNO workers who would otherwise face layoffs

3. Reduce administrative bloat to cut back on excessive spending on “institutional support," which includes expenses for general administrative services, executive-level activities, consultant fees, lawyers, finance, and management professionals.

3. Reduce UNO’s extraordinary spending on energy and other utilities by closing most campus buildings on Fridays, creating a four-day, 40-hour workweek (four, 10-hour days) or Friday remote work options for all regular staff, and moving all teaching to Monday/Wednesday, Tuesday/Thursday, or weekly meeting patterns. Additionally:

1. Implement common-sense sustainability initiatives such as unplugging unused appliances and computers, increasing the temperature on thermostats in the summer, closing curtains, and providing faculty with a checklist to reduce the energy consumption in their offices when they are not present.

4. Impose a one-time, one-year tiered (or graduated) salary reduction for all administrators, faculty and staff ranging from 1% (for workers earning more than $60,000) to 15% (for workers earning more than $150,000)

5. Partner with the Alumni Association and UNO Foundation and direct the university’s office of Strategic Communications & University Marketing to immediately launch an aggressive crowd-funding campaign to collect small-dollar donations from UNO’s more than 80,000 alumni--people who are “UNO Proud” and want to help protect the future of the institution. These potential supporters currently lack accurate information about the budget crisis and an easy way to contribute.