(Photo by Diana Rogers)

by Jonathan Dorfan

At last Friday’s All Hands meetings I outlined for you our plan to meet our budget for fiscal year 2003. This year will challenge all of us to join together in keeping our Lab functioning at its current high level. We do not yet have a finalized Congressional budget, but we expect that we will receive considerably less than we requested for the SLAC High Energy Physics budget, and close to our request for the SSRL budget.

As you heard from speaker after speaker during the 40th Anniversary Celebration, SLAC science is renowned worldwide and SLAC staff is equally renowned for their talent, dedication and ingenuity. Our top priority in managing this year’s budget is preserving the quality of our science and avoiding an involuntary reduction in staff. We must Save Our Science and Save Our Staff.

I have been working with the Directorate for the past month to develop a plan that will meet our budget and maintain our programs and people. This plan involves a combination of cuts to program elements and sacrifices from the staff. I would like to remind you of how you can contribute:

1. Voluntary Layoff Program: Staff can request to be laid off and receive the same benefits they would receive if they had been involuntarily laid off. Requests can only be accepted if the organization saves a position immediately traceable to the layoffee’s position and if the person’s presence is not required by operational needs. In order to realize the necessary savings, SLAC is requesting that staff aim for January 8, 2003 as the effective date of their layoff.

2. Take Your Vacation Days: This contributes to our cost savings efforts because we pay for vacation from an accrual account and it does not count against a department’s operating budget. All HEP funded staff will need to take all of the vacation they earn during this fiscal year (October 1, 2002 through September 30, 2003). Whether you earn five weeks of vacation per year, or two weeks of vacation per year, HEP funded staff will be expected to take at least the full amount that you have earned within this fiscal year.

3. Voluntary Reduction in Hours Program: Staff can voluntary reduce their work hours for a period of time. This is intended to be temporary, but could be permanent if an employee and his/her supervisor/department agree to that arrangement.

4. SOS days: For the HEP funded programs, SLAC will shut down the week of Labor Day 2003. Monday, September 1 will be a Holiday; the HEP funded staff will be on leave without pay status during the four days from Tuesday, September 2 through Friday, September 5.

More detailed information on these programs is available at: http://www-group.slac.stanford.edu/hr/Important/notices.html

By planning ahead and by showing our solidarity, I believe that these measures will allow us to weather the expected shortfall and emerge at full strength.