UA employees will not be forced to take unpaid time off this year, contrary to what university officials had expected going into the school year, according to an e-mail message sent to faculty and staff from President Robert Shelton on Tuesday.

Prior to the current fiscal year, the President’s Office told faculty and staff to plan for furloughs, but not to schedule them until September at the earliest, Shelton said in the e-mail.

“”When we were preparing for the current fiscal year, it was unclear whether the state would accept federal stimulus funding,”” he said. “”In anticipation of further budget cuts for the FY10 year, furloughs became a necessary component of efforts to balance our budget.””

Shelton stressed that the UA is not completely saved from its financial problems by the federal stimulus money that has been given to the university.

“”While critically important to our budget for this year, they do not resolve the more fundamental long-term issues that result from the state appropriation reductions,”” Shelton said. “”They do, however, make it possible to eliminate the furloughs that had been planned for this year.””