Minutes - January 20, 2005

These minutes were approved at the UT Staff Council meeting on February 17, 2005

Members present: Yolanda Aldaco, Claudia Gerardo, Mack Andrews, Alison Louise Brown, Philemon Brown, Melba Catchings, Julie Cunniff , Marlis Dagg, Laura Davis, Neil Fahlund, Phil Gavenda, Royce Gehrels Marco Gonzalez, Philip Guerrero, Charlotte Harris, , Margaret Hill, Tom Horn, Marcus Horton,Greg Howard, Kim Johnson, Amy Jones, Elizabeth Korves,Liz Landeros, Sonja Lane, Lynn Lecropane. Suzanne McIntyre, John Nelson, Chuck Pearson, Billie Pierce, Kathy Romberg, Craig Schroer, , Frank Simon, Sandra Sleeper, Didi Smith, Olen Smith, Sheril Smith, Jerry Spillar, Barbara Thompson, Jennifer Trost, Alayna Wadleigh, Erin Waneck, Sara Jackson Watson, Shane Williams, Teresa Williams, Cynthia Wilson, Glen Worley, Gabby Yearwood

Members absent with notification: Vickie Amidon, Johnnie Conley, Patrice Fox, Christy Habecker, Phillip Hebert, Bert Herigstad, Gayle Hight, Dreya Johannsen, Noah Lowenstein, Debra Madden, Jo Ann Richmond, Leslie Saucedo, Annamaria Sergi

Members absent: Tara Carlisle, Oscar Carmona, Augustin Collazo, Linda Frost, Rick Garza, Freida Golden, John Hibbitts, Georget Hughes, PG Moreno, Donna O'Kelly, Albert Puga, Jorge Puig, JR Watson

Guests:

Call to Order

Chair Glen Worley called to order the regular meeting of the UT Staff Council at 3:05 p.m. on Thursday, January 20 in Main 212. 46 UTSC representatives were present.

Announcements:

Next UTSC meeting February 17, 2005
Service Awards will take place on May 3.

Resignations:

Pat Alfano, District 581, is retiring.
Alanna Burney, District 391, has accepted a new position outside of her district.
The replacement process is underway.

Chair's report:

Patricia Ohlendorf, Vice President for Institutional Relations and Legal Affairs, will be a guest at the February 17 Staff Council meeting and will address us concerning what staff can/cannot do with regard to the state legislature. She will also answer any questions on the same subject.

Gwen Grigsby, Associate Vice President for Government Relations will be a guest at the March 10 Staff Council meeting. She will update us, as far as she can, on the issues in the Texas Legislature affecting UT that she is monitoring.
There was recently an article in the Austin American Statesman concerning benefits for retiree’s, that there will most likely be more money out of pocket for insurance benefits.

The Staff Council Executive Committee has received permission through HR from Kyle Cavanaugh to hold a one-hour orientation session for the new Staff Council members that will be elected in April. This orientation session will be held immediately preceding the May 19 Staff Council meeting. Topics that will be briefly covered are typical meeting agenda, the Staff Council issues process, committee assignments, and Robert’s Rules. If anyone has any suggestions for other topics that should be covered, please send them to any of the members of the Executive Committee.

The May UTSC meeting will be in the AVIA Conference room in the ACIS bldg.

HRS has asked me to make the following announcement:

The 44th Annual UT Austin Staff Recognition Program and President's Reception will be on Tuesday, May 3, 2005, from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m., in the Frank C. Erwin, Jr., Special Events Center. Classified and Administrative/Professional Staff with 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 years of service will be honored.

The names of employees to be honored this year, as well as program eligibility requirements, can be found at http://www.utexas.edu/hr/staff/service/. Staff members should review the list. If any additions or changes to the list are necessary, the staff member should alert their HR Contact. The HR Contact should then consult with Sarah Shafer, in Human Resource Services, at 475-8023 or sshafer@austin.utexas.edu. The deadline for requesting additions or changes to the list is February 28, 2005.

Elections will take place in March, be thinking about nominations for a new UTSC Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary.

Vice Chair's report:

No report

Recorder/Secretary:

Approval of minutes from December 20, 2005 meeting, with addition suggested by Gayle Hight.

Committee Reports:

Standing Committees:

Executive Committee/Bylaws Committee: Shane Williams

Regarding Term Limits for Staff Council members. Recommends that an assumed position as Interim Representatives not count against the two terms served, for this election. This issue would later be voted on by membership as a By-Laws change after elections.

Discussion began. Shane asked if the UTSC wanted to accept the Executive Committee’s recommendations, so that HR can prepare for the upcoming election, and since attendance at meetings has lessened at times.

Margaret Hill noted that some representatives could serve up to six years.
Shane explained that there was no time to amend the by-laws for this election.

Frank Simon brought up that this would imply setting aside the by-laws, and questioned what Roberts Rules of Order suggest.

Shane explained that we are interpreting the by-laws as a motion, not a resolution.

Royce asked how many people would this affect? It was determined that very few would be affected.

There was a rising vote take about the motion, with 25 votes for, and 20 votes against.
The motion passed.

Shane ended with a statement about the need for everyone to review the bylaws, and be prepared to suggest necessary changes in the future. He asks that suggestions regarding by-laws should be sent to him at bylaws_chair@utsc.utexas.edu.

The secretary stated it is often difficult to fill empty positions, and to meet a quorum.

The Chair stated the bylaws needed to be reviewed.

Retirement Committee Report: Billie Pierce

UTSC Issue 2004-11 - Optional Retirement Eligibility

Findings

Billie Pierce met with Kyle Cavanaugh and Faye Godwin to investigate the eligibility differences between Teacher Retirement System (TRS) and the Optional Retirement Program (ORP). Mr. Cavanaugh had several points regarding ORP:

• The ORP is governed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. UT Austin and UT System are required to abide by the eligibility rules as established for ORP by the governing board.
• Mr. Cavanaugh supports the idea of offering both ORP and TRS to all UT System employees.
• Existing supplemental retirement plans are available for all employees in addition to TRS (see http://www.utexas.edu/hr/irg/retire.html#supplemental). The plans are a Tax Sheltered Annuity Program 403(b) and a Deferred Compensation Plan 457.
• Any changes to ORP eligibility would have to be approved by the Texas legislature. It is Mr. Cavanaugh's understanding that no new bills have been introduced in the current legislative session to change the eligibility rules for ORP participation.
• Mr. Cavanaugh suggested that he would welcome a letter from UTSC supporting legislative change to ORP eligibility that could be presented to UT System.

Recommendation to UTSC

UTSC write letter to Kyle Cavanaugh at HRS in support of legislative change allowing all UT System employees to be eligible for the Optional Retirement Program.

Marcus Horton added that TRS is mandatory, and would rather have an IRA or 401K. Opting out might be another option.

Result:

Recommendation passed.

Compensation and Classification Committee: Sandra Moro Sleeper

Issue 2004-5 Special University Events-Comp Time vs. Volunteer Time

Recommendation:

The Compensation & Classification Committee makes the following recommendation:

• That UTSC write a letter to HRS requesting a modification of the new State Compensatory Time Policy to define employee "volunteerism" with regard to University-sponsored events.
• An employee IS considered a volunteer if he/she is acting on his/her own accord and not representing a University department.
• An employee is NOT considered a volunteer if he/she is representing a University department and consequently is expected to work the event OR if participation or lack thereof might affect the performance evaluation of either the employee or his/her peers. In this case, the employee should receive compensation for his/her participation.

Basis for Recommendation:

The committee's intent was:

1. To ensure that the Fair Labor Standards Act and UT Austin's State Compensatory Time Policy are being enforced for exempt and non-exempt employees working in excess of their normally scheduled time due to special University events; and,
2. To identify volunteerism, from mandatory overtime/compensatory time, and implied mandatory overtime/compensatory time, as well as the appropriate manner of dealing with the time accrual.

The committee received benchmarking information from:

1. Department of Physical Plant
2. Department of Mechanical Engineering
3. Office of the Dean of Students

We asked the following benchmark questions:

1. Do you encourage your employees to participate in University-sponsored events?
2. If so, are they compensated in any way?
3. If not, why?
4. Do you have an office policy to accommodate the absence of an employee who participates in a University-sponsored event?
5. Does participation in a University-sponsored event get noted on an employee's performance evaluation?

We sought HRS' opinion and position on volunteerism, mandatory overtime/compensatory time, and implied mandatory overtime/compensatory time: According to HRS,

1. If an individual wishes to volunteer his/her time to assist in University-sponsored events, acting on his/her own accord and not representing a department, this is considered volunteerism and does not accrue overtime/compensatory time;
2. If a department is being represented at a University-sponsored event and if employees are expected to work the event outside their normal work hours, overtime/compensatory time is accrued.
3. If participation or nonparticipation in a University-sponsored event is noted on an employee's performance evaluation, participation is not considered volunteerism and should be compensated accordingly.
4. If a department requires "volunteerism" at specific sponsored events and does not compensate accordingly for that participation, a complaint should be immediately filed with HRS/Employee Relations to rectify the matter.

After researching this matter, the committee feels the above-mentioned recommendation would facilitate the goals of the original issue.

Discussion began with Elizabeth Korves asking for clarification about whether the Handbook of Operating Procedures would be changed. Gabby Yearwood asked what is the definition of "Compensation." It is understood to mean "Pay" or "Time-Off."

It was noted that the Physical Plant cannot take compensatory time off at the end of the month. Each department head would have to decide how they would want to compensate.

Tom added that there is no such thing as mandatory volunteerism, and that compensation must be made.

Result:

Motion passed to write the letter to HR asking for the above outlined policy modification.

Issue 2004-1 Revise Staff Evaluation Process

Based on our research of the issue submitted, the committee is recommending upward evaluations in lieu of 360 evaluations. The committee felt that 360 evaluations-which require input from peers, customers, staff and supervisors-might be too cumbersome to administer. Upward evaluations would be easier to develop and implement as a tool to evaluate supervisory and/or managerial performance. With this in mind, we propose the following:

Recommendations:

The Compensation & Classification Committee makes the following recommendations:

1. UTSC make a statement in support of performance evaluations being performed a minimum of once every fiscal year for every benefit-earning employee.
2. The formation of an ad hoc committee by HRS in conjunction with UTSC to create and implement the policy and procedure for upward evaluations. The following points should be addressed during the development phase:
   1. Tracking performance evaluations as a compliance issue.
   2. The term "supervisor" should be defined as current evaluator of staff performance.
   3. Develop a weighting factor for the evaluations as well as guidelines for content of the upward evaluation instrument.
   4. Schedule upward evaluations prior to individual staff evaluations.
   5. Develop a mechanism, such as a web-based form, that provides anonymity for the employee who will be performing an upward evaluation.

Basis for Recommendation:

The committee benchmarked the following departments:

1. University Libraries
2. Division of Housing and Food Service
3. Department of Physical Plant
4. Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost
5. KUT Radio 90.5 FM
6. College of Natural Sciences, Dean's Office
7. Office of Accounting
8. Office of the Registrar

We proposed the following questions:

1. Do you practice upward evaluations?
2. If so, are they performed electronically or on paper?
3. How much influence does an upward evaluation have on an individual's performance evaluation?
4. Do you practice 360 evaluations?
5. If so, are they performed electronically or on paper?
6. How much influence does a 360 evaluation have on an individual's performance evaluation?

We also discussed the matter with HRS. Kyle Cavanaugh expressed interest in forming a committee with UTSC to pursue the matter of upward evaluations for university supervisory staff up to the level of associate director and/or associate dean.

After researching this matter, the committee feels our recommendations would facilitate the intent of the original issue.

Result:

Recommendation passed.

Miscellaneous Benefits Committee: Philemon Brown

Report from UTSC Miscellaneous Benefits Committee
Issue 2004-06

Objective:

Employees want food vendors allowed at the Pickle Research campus.

Reason:

The Commons has terrible food. Pickle is so remote that someone has to drive if he or she wants an alternative.

Investigation:

On August 17, 2004, two committee members met at the Commons for lunch on August 17, 2004. My lunch was of average quality, the overall layout of the facility was welcoming, and the area was clean.

Conclusion:

The Miscellaneous Benefits Committee recommends that the UTSC Chair draft a letter to Dave Putch, Associate Director Texas Union to assess the feasibility of having a food cart or other vendors placed at the Pickle Research Center.

Comment from Tom Horn was that Aramark would likely be the new vendor, which would not provide much variety as a result.

Result:

Motion passed.

Report from UTSC Miscellaneous Benefits Committee
Issue 2004-20

Objectives:

Expand massage service in Recreational Sports to all staff members even if they are not current recreational sport members.

Reason:

Currently non-members cannot get massages from recreational sports. How about expanding the service to all staff members

Recommendation:

Recommend no action on Proposal 2004-20. Current procedures allow non-recreational sports members access to message services.

Investigation:

Current policy allows non-recreational sport members access to message services through the mobile massage service and the guest pass program.

A unit representative coordinates the mobile massage team. There is a $54.00 1-hour minimum charge for this service and the total price of the service is determined by the time the mobile massage team is requested.

The guest pass program allows a non-recreational sports member access to the recreational sports facility. The guest pass cost $8.00 and provides staff access to massage services and the other recreational services in the facility for the day.

Result:

Issue was closed.

Unfinished Business:

New Business:

General discussion ensued. Frank Simon commented that budgets seem to have gotten tighter and we are often asked to do more with less financial and physical resources. Concern is disturbing, that UT may not continue to be a good place to work.

Tom agreed, stating the feeling of a corporate model for the University, with the distance between management and staff widening. We have a responsibility to make things better.

Marcus encouraged everyone to use the preview week at Recreational Sports, that is for staff and faculty only, and is free. Capitol Metro is also free, and they track how many UT Id’s use their service, which is also free.

The Chair closed the discussion by encouraging everyone to also take advantage of the terrific library facilities we have available, including a large selection of DVDs and terrific children’s book selection.

Adjournment:

Meeting adjourned at 3:30