Most staff at the University of New Orleans will be furloughed through the end of the fiscal year under a plan the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors approved Thursday. Until June 30, nearly every staff member — including upper administrators such as President Kathy Johnson — making more than $30,000 annually will be required to take unpaid time off during each two-week pay period. Lower-paid staff will be required to take a day and a half of unpaid time off per pay period, while the highest paid will take three days off every two workweeks. The furlough plan excludes faculty, staff on H-1B visas, those in fully grant-funded  positions, staff with athletic department contracts, part-time employees and contract employees. In total, 290 of 575 full-time employees will be required to take furlough. Administrators who also have tenure will also be subject to the unpaid leave. The furloughs are expected to save the university $1.7 million through the end of the fiscal year, which ends June 30. “We deeply regret the impact these actions will have on our employees and their families. However, these steps are necessary to overcome our current financial challenges and secure the university’s future,” Johnson said. “We remain committed to transparency and to supporting those affected during this transition, and we believe that UNO will emerge from this.” This measure and others the university has taken, including a $2.2 million reduction in administrative salaries from a restructuring that took effect Jan. 1, still leave the university short of filling a $10 million budget deficit. Edwin Litolff, UNO’s chief financial officer, told the UL Board another $2 million in savings would be realized from budget and hiring freezes. That still leaves a deficit of more than $4 million. Litolff said staff layoffs and more aggressive furloughs are currency being considered to make up that difference. The university will have a better idea of its true financial position in a couple of weeks once student financial aid is distributed, Litolff said. “At that point, what I’ve said [is] we will furlough whatever we need to make it to the end of the year,” Litolff said at the board meeting. “And if some people are taking off the whole month of June, plan your Disney location, go on your cruise, because that’s where we may end up being.” In an interview, Litolff said details on staff layoffs, such as when they might occur and how many staff will be laid off, have not yet been finalized. Correction: After publication, a UNO spokesman reached out to correct information he had previously shared. This story has been updated to reflect the correct number of employees furloughed and the correct groups of employees subject to the furlough.