Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2000

WRITER/CONTACT: Tom Jackson 706-542-8090

UGA ANNOUNCES FACULTY/STAFF HOLIDAY SCHEDULE FOR CALENDAR 2001

ATHENS, Ga. -- The University of Georgia today announced its schedule of holidays for faculty and staff for calendar year 2001. The university previously has established its schedule of paid holidays based on fiscal year, but a clarification of Board of Regents policy indicates this should be done by calendar year.

The Board authorizes observance of 12 paid holidays per year. The university traditionally utilizes three of these for single-day holidays at Independence Day, Labor Day and Martin Luther King Day; a two-day holiday at Thanksgiving; and the remaining seven for the Christmas/New Year's break. Although the University occasionally has been able to observe Memorial Day as an official holiday, that is possible only when Christmas and New Year's days fall on or adjacent to a weekend.

"Our choice for 2001 was between working on Memorial Day or on Monday, December 31," says university spokesman Tom Jackson. "In previous years, the staff has clearly indicated its preference that the Christmas-New Year's continuous break be maintained even if it means forgoing Memorial Day as a holiday."

The Maymester class calendar as adopted by University Council gives students Memorial Day as a holiday from class, but it will not be a faculty/staff paid holiday in 2001 in order to maintain the continuous year-end holiday break. The University will officially close operations for the 2001 Christmas/New Year's holiday season at the close of business on Friday, December 21, 2001, and will resume normal scheduled operations on Wednesday, January 2, 2002.

"Holiday calendars are established for each year dependent on how the calendar falls relative to the 12 available paid holidays," Jackson says.

The full holiday schedule for calendar year 2001 is as follows:

New Year's Day -- Monday, Jan. 1, 2001
Martin Luther King Day -- Monday, Jan. 15, 2001
Independence Day -- Wednesday, July 4, 2001
Labor Day -- Monday, Sept. 3, 2001
Thanksgiving -- Thursday and Friday, Nov. 22-23, 2001
Chrismas/New Year's -- Monday through Monday, Dec. 24-31, 2001

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