A sign at the entrance to Haskell Indian Nations University is shown Friday, Aug. 5, 2016.

During the second week of a partial shutdown of the federal government, Haskell Indian Nations University is still operating, but it’s had to get creative to pay some key employees, including its facilities workers.

“Haskell remains open,” said Dan Wildcat, acting president of the university, on Wednesday afternoon. “That’s good news. We are looking forward to new students arriving Jan. 9, and classes starting Monday, Jan. 14. ”

Most employees at Haskell are exempt from the shutdown, which began Dec. 22. Specifically, all the university’s Bureau of Indian Education employees are considered exempt “because of our educational mission to serve our tribal nations,” Wildcat said. “We are unaffected as exempt employees.”

However, there is a concern with Haskell’s facility maintenance workers who are paid through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Winter break is an extremely busy time for those employees, Wildcat said.

“This is a crucial time for deep cleaning, general maintenance on the boilers and buildings,” Wildcat said. “We were concerned about facility and maintenance folks because they are Bureau of Indian Affairs excepted employees. They are in a category of nonpaid status. But, they are expected to be here and working.”

To solve the problem, Wildcat said, they have arranged to pay the BIA staff through bequest money gifted to Haskell to use precisely for this purpose. In total, 23 Haskell employees have jobs that put them at risk of being furloughed or unpaid, Wildcat said.

“We are going to submit their payroll using university bequest dollars so they will hopefully get paid next pay period,” Wildcat said. “Right now — fingers crossed — it looks like everyone at Haskell will get paid Jan. 15.”

However, there is collateral damage for Haskell when the government shuts down, because the university works with other agencies, including the government contracting office in Reston, Va. This stalls the processing of government contracts.

“Some contracts that are pending will not move forward until the government opens, including the Office of Personnel Management, which will help with some of the hiring at Haskell,” Wildcat said.

Instead, these contracts are sitting on desks in and around the nation’s capital.

“We depend on other federal offices to help us get work done, and we are on hold,” Wildcat said.

It’s difficult because Wildcat and his colleagues don’t know how long this will last.

However, Wildcat has been through many government shutdowns in his tenure at Haskell. He recalled a long shutdown under the Clinton administration that lasted a total of 27 days.

A mixed bag elsewhere in Lawrence

Meanwhile, patients were coming and going on Wednesday from the Haskell Health Center, 2415 Massachusetts St. Although the center is located on the Haskell Indian Nations University campus, it is not part of the university.

“We are still open with normal hours,” said Lt. Commander Shannon Lowe, with the U.S. Public Health Service, under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. No employees at the health center had been furloughed.

“We are just functioning like normal,” Lowe said, adding that she might begin to worry if the shutdown lasted through the end of January.

It was also business as usual at the VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System, 2200 Harvard Road. The federally funded clinic was open and helping veterans on Wednesday, according to Eric Rohleder, interim deputy director of the Kansas Commission on Veterans Affairs Office, Topeka.

“The federal VA is funded through 2019, so it doesn’t affect the clinic,” Rohleder said.

At the USDA’s Farm Service office at 4920 Bob Billings Parkway, an answering machine said the office was closed and all employees were on furlough as part of the shutdown.

The American flag and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flag were flapping in a light breeze in front of the Project Information Center on Wednesday at Clinton Lake. While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers webpage said the center was open, the door was locked. Whether it was a seasonal closure or because of the shutdown is unknown. A call made by the Journal-World was not returned.

A website for the Social Security office at 1440 Wakarusa Drive said the office remains open. Social Security checks continue to be sent during the shutdown, but media reports have said there may be a slowdown in processing new applications.