By Sarah Price

BRISTOL, R.I. — On November 13, 2025, the President of Roger Williams University, Ioannis Miaoulis, sent a letter to the faculty and staff of the University explaining that a week-long furlough would be implemented. Within the letter, Miaoulis states that the furlough “will address up to half of the projected budget gap.” 

The University also released a statement stating: “Roger Williams University continues to take proactive steps to resolve its current-year budget gap. The university made the difficult decision to implement a one-week unpaid furlough for most employees before the end of the 2026 fiscal year. Layoffs are not being considered at this time. This is a temporary measure that will allow the university to preserve positions, wage increases, and healthcare benefits for our dedicated staff and faculty, while maintaining the student experience.” 

On November 24, a letter was sent to the University from the National Education Association of Rhode Island (NEARI) addressing the week-long furlough. NEARI represents three of the five private sector bargaining units at Roger Williams University. 

In response to the NEARI letter, Jill Pais, the Assistant Vice President of Communications and Media Relations, made several statements, elaborating on some details. The statements are as follows: 

“This one-week furlough measure is intended to preserve jobs and address our small FY26 budget shortfall. Employees have been asked to identify, in coordination with their managers, one workweek during which they will serve the furlough. Those weeks have been identified and proposed for winter, spring break, or the week after graduation, in order to enable affected employees to plan and without adversely impacting the student experience.”

“Most employees will be participating in the furloughs, except for our Public Safety and Dining employees. The President and the President’s Cabinet, as well as non-union personnel, will participate in the furloughs. Employee health benefits will not be interrupted, and eligible employees will continue to receive bonus days off between the winter break and the New Year.”

“The Roger Williams University faculty received a 3% wage increase on September 1, 2025, and other union employees have received or will receive negotiated wage increases consistent with the terms of their collective bargaining agreements. All other RWU non-union employees will be eligible for wage increases in 2026. In addition to the President and the Cabinet participating in the furloughs, they are also forgoing raises for the remainder of this fiscal year.”

“RWU carefully reviews open or vacated positions regularly. The university has not instituted a hiring freeze.”

“There was, in fact, direct communication between university administration and NEARI before the furloughs were announced. In addition, the President and leadership responded promptly to a November 17, 2025, request from three of our unions, but, as of today, the relevant union representatives have not responded to scheduling requests. Instead, the NEARI representative emailed a first-person memo to the RWU Legal Counsel.”

In addition to the last statement made by Pais, when speaking with Jennifer Azevedo, the NEARI deputy executive director/legal counsel, she commented, “I can confirm that a courtesy call was made to a union representative on November 12, the day before the public announcement on November 13.” However, Azevedo expands upon this, stating that the “last-minute heads-up” was not a meaningful consultation with the NEARI unions and is not the legally required process when wanting to discuss the possibility of a furlough. 

Furthermore, on the morning of December 4, President Miaoulis sent an email to the students of Roger Williams addressing the concerns of the students. Within the email, the president reiterated comments previously made by other University sources. The president added that “while some disagree with the temporary furlough measure, we have also heard from employees that they appreciate that this is being implemented across our entire employee base and not just impacting one group.” 

The Capsized Tribune is continuing our investigation, and more information will be brought to you as we receive it. Stay updated through our website and media platforms.