Hoping to lop away at a $19 million budget deficit, Stanford University has told its workers they'll be home for Christmas. And New Year's too.

The university announced plans to shut down during the week of Dec. 22-25 and has "strongly encouraged" department heads to stay closed the following week, Dec. 29-Jan. 2.

Chief Financial Officer Randy Livingston said in a statement this week that Stanford hopes to save on utility costs by keeping offices shuttered and to encourage employees to use banked vacation time. Workers without enough vacation to cover the full shutdown period will have to take personal time or time off without pay.

Livingston said he realizes the move may be unpopular with some employees. But he noted that many workers already take vacation at the end of the year, when classes are not in session, and said it didn't make financial sense to keep buildings open "for just a few employees."

Even after freezing most faculty and staff salaries in March to pare $7 million from next year's proposed $2.4 billion budget, Stanford still faces a $19 million deficit for the coming fiscal year, which begins Sept. 1.

Stanford also announced that December shutdowns would take place in future years until further notice. The university closed down for one week last December, an increasingly common tactic for cash-strapped Silicon Valley businesses.

University officials could not say how much they hoped to save during the shutdown or how many of Stanford's roughly 8,740 employees would be affected. Individual departments have not yet finished their furlough plans, said Addie Johnson, director of human resource client services.

The shutdown agreement does not affect unionized employees, Johnson said. Other departments, such as those overseeing clinical drug trials and the campus police force, also cannot be closed.

Not all employees are immune.

"Some of us have been told we're on call and can't go anywhere," said a manager in the university's information technologies, systems and services division. He did not want his name published because he said he feared retribution.

The employee said his supervisors have said they hope to save $1.4 million in their division alone during the two-week closure.

Johnson said it is up to individual departments whether to keep workers on call. But she added that any worker on call would be "paid for the day as an exempt employee. That's considered work."

Employees will be given an extra paid day off during each week their departments are closed, Livingston said -- though those bonus days won't be repeated for winter shutdowns in future years.

Stanford Provost John Etchemendy in June told the Faculty Senate a sluggish stock market and rising health care costs were largely to blame for the projected deficit. This marks the second straight year of cutbacks at the school.

University officials say they still hope to avoid widespread layoffs but can't make guarantees. In late July, Stanford's two hospitals -- which are funded independently of the university -- announced layoffs of 175 staff.