November Highlights

Hi Everyone,

At the latest (11/4/08) SC meeting, our guest speaker was Associate VP for Human Resources, Barbara Johnson.

Her topic was the recent re-organization of Human Resource Services. The process was started several years ago out of the perceived need to make department operations more open and interactive between employees and administration. People were retrained and re-assigned into areas of specialization, and functions were re-grouped for better alignment with HRS business partners across campus.

The best first source of information is still their website. It's in the process of being redesigned to reflect the new structure, but to keep us able to find what or whom we need, for this transition period it lists the old dept.s we used to contact under the new categories they'll be wrapped into. The "Information Center" team of people who'll be answering questions on the phone or in person, will cycle periodically from the front desks to the data processing office in Colchester so that everyone stays current and accurate with information, policies and procedures.

During the Q & A period, the questions tended to focus on the pay band system, pay compression and staff development, and the answers fell mostly under the need to complete the third phase of the pay band: identifying and codifying skills levels for advancement across all the pay "families". She is very aware that this is an acute need, and it's high on their list of future goals.

We also offered alternative ideas to replace the increasingly controversial employee appreciation item that has accompanied the annual Employee Appreciation Week: create a scholarship or development fund, donate to a worthy charity chosen by staff, etc. She's open to all constructive ideas on this topic, so if you have a good suggestion you can pass it along via the Council either through a rep or directly to the Staff Council Office.

We thanked her sincerely for coming and clarifying the changes in HR, and for being so open to hearing from all the staff.

Next Speakers

I'm waiting for confirmation from the SC Office on these, but an "unofficial" list of future guest speakers and their topics is:

Professor Frank Bryan- Public Speaking
Provost Hughes- Annual Presentation
Professor Patty Prelock- Leadership
Associate Provost Jill Tarule- Accreditation Visit
Professor William Cats-Baril- Consensus Building


Holidays Approaching

However you celebrate or not, hopefully everybody has pleasant plans for the Thanksgiving time off. (If you need some ideas, there are lots of great deals still on the Discounts & Events section of the Council website!)

Try to stay warm and dry and have a great weekend,

Joanne