A new president takes over Monterey’s Naval Postgraduate School this week, where about 1,300 of 1,800 employees are on furlough for the duration of the federal government shutdown.
Incoming president Ret. Vice Adm. Ron Route is one of the school’s few civilian employees still working, as he prepares for an official power transfer on Oct. 4, minus the usual ceremony.
“Quality of life activities” at NPS remain open, including the gym and Monterey Pines golf course, according to an Oct. 1 email from Commanding Officer Capt. Gerral David to employees.
NPS faculty gave students two weeks’ worth of reading material on the first day of the semester, Sept. 30 – the same day the U.S. Congress failed to reach a budget compromise, leading to a federal government shutdown until further notice.
Most of the 2,200 faculty members at the Defense Language Institute are still teaching, though the exact number of “non-essential” employees was still being calculated Oct. 1.
Pinnacles National Park and the Bureau of Land Management’s Hollister Field Office, which manages the Fort Ord National Monument, were closed.