Melissa,

I feel very lucky that I have a job (and one that I enjoy!) in this economy. I have been relatively unaffected by the recent economic environment (except for a hit on my retirement portfolio), but I know so many people in other industries that aren't as lucky.

Holly

Hi Melissa,

I do no currently work a second job as a result of the economic troubles faced by our country. However, our Board of Regents just issued a public statement saying that non-unionized employees like me at the University of Iowa may not get raises this year because of the recession. Some people may have to take pay cuts or take time off from work without pay. We are still waiting to find out exactly what will happen. The situation is rather complicated, because the money to pay University of Iowa employee salaries comes from different sources, such as the State of Iowa, tuition paid by students, and research grants from federal agencies. Each of these sources has been affected differently by the economic crisis. The University of Iowa, as well as the Iowa City and Cedar Rapids areas, are also still recovering from the damage caused by the record-breaking flooding in 2008. Right now, the President of the University of Iowa and our Board of Regents are trying to come up with a plan to keep the University running even though they have been warned by the State Legislature that we will face huge budget cuts this year. The federal economic stimulus package could help the University of Iowa compensate for the decrease in State of Iowa funding, but we won't know for sure until the precise funding levels in the State of Iowa budget and the federal stimulus package have been determined.

I am very glad right now that I am a member of the University of Iowa Staff Council, which is an elected body that represents about 5,500 Professional and Scientific Staff Members at the University of Iowa. We are not a labor union, so we do not have much power to negotiate employee compensation packages, but attending Staff Council meetings helps me keep informed of the situation.

Kris