Facing approximately $5 million in budget cuts from Sacramento, Sonoma State University officials are proposing to shut down the campus for 10 days beginning as early as this fall.

If approved, the mandated, unpaid furloughs would affect all 1,800 school employees and could save $1.8 million next year, according to Lynn McIntyre, vice president for university affairs. But the plan, which would close the campus on days when students are not attending classes, would not cut into state-regulated classroom hours, she said.

"It's not a salary reduction. It doesn't affect their (employees') health benefits or how their retirement is allotted," McIntyre said. "It cannot affect the instructional program, so it won't hurt the students in any way."

But eliminating days instructors use to prepare for class, grade exams and conduct research would lessen students' experience on campus, according to Victor Garlin, professor of economics and president of the California Faculty Association chapter at SSU. It would also require instructors to put in the same amount of work for less pay, he said.

"Although they (instructors) would have a pay dock of two weeks, the length of the semesters is not going to be cut," he said.

The proposal would close the campus on days not included in the traditional teaching schedule - likely at the beginning or end of a semester and over spring break, McIntyre said.

SSU President Ruben Armiñana is slated to meet with campus union officials today to discuss the proposal. The plan cannot be adopted without approval from statewide union leadership, as well as CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed.

Armiñana was in Long Beach on Monday meeting with Reed to discuss the plan and was not available for comment.

Garlin criticized Armiñana for approaching the local unions first, saying local leaders cannot accept or deny the president's proposal without approval from state union offices.

"The proposal gives the false impression that we have the power to make these changes on the campus," he said. "If we don't approve it, he can then blame the campus unions for not agreeing to his plan."

State union leaders are keeping an eye on the campus negotiations, according to Pat Gantt, director of the CSU division of the California State Employees Association, which represents dining hall workers, maintenance crews and other non-teaching staff.

"It's a pretty drastic measure," Gantt said of the SSU plan. "It's hard to deal with salaries and benefits at a statewide level, let alone a campus doing it on their own. This is an anomaly."

But the furlough plan is just one element campus leaders are discussing in the face of steep budget cuts. Armiñana announced last month that as many as 250 of the school's 300 part-time and temporary faculty and staff might not be rehired in the fall.

Meantime, some faculty members are interested in the furlough proposal, according to Catherine Nelson, professor of political science and faculty chairwoman.

"I'm with those who say it is interesting, but I would like to hear more," she said.

But Nelson acknowledged any plan that cuts into instructors' time, even if it is outside the normal class hours, will automatically have a negative effect on students.

"It could result in less material being covered in a given semester because you have not been paid to prepare for the class," she said. "You may have less time in the office for contact with students. Students may not get their papers back in the same amount of time. You may see research not getting done."

And some employees could not afford to forego pay for 10 days, said Greg Tichava, local president of the California State Employees Association.

"There are people here who are only making $20,000 a year - they can barely afford to live in the county let alone take away 10 days pay," he said. "We applaud the effort to try to do something, but we are very concerned about the low-end people."

Campus officials called the budget process fluid, and expressed hope that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's revised budget proposal, slated for a mid-May release, will offer some relief to the CSU system that was saddled with $240 million in cuts under the governor's budget proposal released in January. Sonoma State University is planning to cut $5 million to reach the budget targets set by Schwarzenegger.