Staff Advisory Council

Linda Heffernan from HR was our guest to speak to us on various policies:

Interim Criminal Offense Convictions Policy: We may come to know that a current employee my have a conviction leading to dismissal. A conviction may have direct effect on employment status.

Could you define "Other Means" as it references this policy? Newspaper Story, Court Case Recitation, or Anonymous Phone call. HR would pay attention to these data sources but action would not take place if verification was not possible.

Is employee notified when allegations are being investigated? HR uses due process – if it became clear that action was needed the employee would be notified. This policy does not trump any other due process policy.

Is the age of the offense taken into consideration? This depends on the issue and how it is connection to the employee’s job.

How does HR classify sensitive positions at UA? Cash handling, Work involving children, Computer positions with access to sensitive data, Departments can designate "sensitive positions"

Interim Re-Eligibility for Rehire: If fired from UA employee not eligible for rehire unless an appeal is approved by HR. HR decision is final.

Could you define "Terminated for Cause"? If you are discharged for misconduct, failure to perform then you have been terminated for cause.

What happens when an employee realizes they may be fired and they resign before they can be terminated? Resignation in lieu of discharge is marked on the employee’s record.

What if there is an employee/supervisor conflict leading to discharge or resignation? If the employee is discharged for caused then they are given a notice that they are ineligible for rehire. They can appeal this decision.

Does HR continue investigations if an employee resigns? Yes. HR must determine the seriousness of the alleged offense for the employee record.

Does this apply to students? If they are not an employee then they are covered under through an academic process and not an HR process.

The former employee only has 10 days to appeal. Why such a short time? The employee has already been through the discharge process and has been made aware of the situation. The process needs to be done quickly so the person has the opportunity to get back into the workforce. Timeliness is important as it affects evidence, witnesses, etc.

Exit Studies: Exit studies have been handed out. Leslie will come to SAC and report on preliminary data. HR would like one-year of data collection before attempting analyzing. Analysis will be done by a third-party vendor.

Internal Transfer Survey: In the final stages, On website, Email requests are sent to complete

A panel was set up to inform us on domestic partner benefits:

LBGT – OUTreach Campus Organization

Outreach is made up of faculty, staff, and grad students

group meets twice a semester

holds social events once a month

Domestic Partner Benefits:

Group is working with Pres. Shelton on issue

Would like to see insurance benefits for partners

Sexual Identity and Gender Identity are already addressed in UA guidelines

Goal for OUTreach is to raise awareness on the domestic partner benefits issue

Mike – research specialist at UA: Has been with partner for 3.5 years. Partner is half-time student with health ailments preventing him from attending full time and thus making him not eligible for student health benefits. They have been using the domestic partner tuition benefit but would like the health benefit also. Mike currently spends over $700 a month to self insure his partner and medications are also very costly.

Beverly – Media Arts, Assoc. Dept. Head: Has been with partner for over 19 years and her partner has severe asthma. When first arriving in Tucson their income was low enough that they received the Access -- Indigent Healthcare assistance. Her partner suffered an attack at Christmas and did not go to the ER because of money. It is not rational that after serving 16-plus years at UA that her partner cannot get healthcare benefits.

Nina – Bio 5: Has been with her partner for more than 25 years and they have 2 children. The family healthcare policy covers her children but not her partner. Her partner is also a UA employee and they must purchase two plans to cover their family instead of one family plan. It would be less expensive for the State to cover them under the family plan instead of covering 2 policies. For 10 years they had to pay for private insurance while one partner stayed home to care for the children. Both partners are listed on birth certificates as parents because they lived in Washington D.C. where this is done. They are lucky to have this so they can insure their children. Other partners, where both are not listed on birth certificates, do not have this option.

Jessica – LGBT people face many issues not faced by heterosexuals. Adoption issues are difficult in the State of Arizona and some LGBT UA employees must consider moving out of state in order to adopt. My mate is a man (formerly a woman) and we are now married and have access to so many benefits. Independent insurance is very expensive. Access is only available if you have a low income. We need classified staff support in order to raise awareness on these issues. We’re looking for momentum and do not want to do this alone. We are trying to put faces to stories.

Does Pima County offer health benefits to domestic partners? Yes. Domestic partner benefits would save the state money but it’s hard to convince the state board. The state is not basing its decision on money when data is there to support the cost savings. The university could break away from the state and create our own system and offer a benefit independent from the state benefit. President Shelton is okay with this if there is cross-campus support.

What about people that just live together? To receive benefits domestic partners must register with the County. Reciprocal beneficiaries – the language would look at more than gay couples. Family plans would look at the person and how they define their family. The cost would be the same for my family as it would a standard family.

What about insurance for your parents? This should be open to all families and anyone needing insurance for their family including adult siblings, partners, elderly parents, long term roommates. The point is I’m willing to get benefits for my partner and this should be my choice. We’re trying to equally spread benefits to across all UA employees on campus.

Mrs Adrian Shelton came to introduce herself to SAC and give her views on staff issues:

My husband Robert was born and raised in Phoenix and moved away in the 9th grade. I work for UA but I’m not an employee and I was the same at NC. I’m the oldest of 5 children and my dad was a career military man in the Air force. I was born in Oregon and spent a lot of time in California. My mother is from Oregon. I attended High School in Hawaii. Rob and I met as freshmen at Stanford. We were both there on scholarships. Rob was a waiter and a dishwasher. We married before our senior year. He typed my senior thesis because I can’t type as well. We have 3 children: 2 sons are professors and our daughter is in medical school.

I have been a university staff member for 20 years now and worked at UC Davis in contracting. At NC I work in research administration and I’m working on getting my position there filled. I telecommute right now. I work with faculty all the time. Staff are needed to run the university and they make sure business happens. We are all members of the same community.

NC has an employee forum similar to your mission here. It is important for all of us to be active members of our community.

It is hard to get people to volunteer. Do you have any ideas on how to get people involved? A: None off the top of my head.

It is hard for some at UA to get supervisor support. I spend 14 hours a month on SAC and I’m lucky to have support from my staff and supervisor. A: I understand the difficulty in getting people to volunteer.

A: What issues are important to classified staff this year? Budget cuts.

A: Rob is in Washington right now talking budgets. We plan to do as much fundraising as we can. My first 7 ears at UC I was on top of the layoff list. We got a salary decrease and I had to reduce my hours. I know what it is like to live month to month not knowing and living with budget pressures. We must make those in the State House understand the importance of higher education. Make the benefit of UA tangible to everyone and let them know education overcomes ignorance.

Can we expect promotions or increases in salary? A: I’m not in a position to know. Rob can speak to that. I do not have expertise.

What do you do? A: I’m devoted to UA. I have professional career I intend to maintain on a part time basis. We (Robert and I) both care. We meet with donors, alumni, students, and employees to foster a sense of community.

There is a perception that voices are not heard at a certain level in UA hierarchy. How do we get heard on budget issues, human resource issues, committees?

For example there was a newspaper article saying the president consulted with staff but (SAC) was not consulted. We would like an opportunity for input.

There was a millennium project action committee survey sent to all staff. Supervisory training was cited as the biggest issue but nothing was ever done to make supervisory training mandatory.

A: I was a mediator in labor relation sin a previous job. Communication is critical in employee relationships. A supervisor really needs to know what’s going on. If a supervisor is not approachable, dysfunction makes for poor relationships. Being heard is not the same as not getting what you wanted. It is important that your perspective is heard and factored into decisions. With Robert what you see is what you get. He is not different at home. He is a very straightforward person. He’s not a miracle worker but he really does care and he works really hard.

SAC members introduced themselves to Mrs. Shelton.

Yearly job reviews and not getting them is a problem. A memo from the President that all employees should get them would support this issue. There is a disconnect between what should be and what actually happens. A: Is there a form? This is an important issue. The history of this would be interesting. It should happen annually in order to discuss issues needing to be addressed.

Some UA staff are not being paid enough to afford housing. Habitat for Humanity comes in – can UA play a role in this manner? A: I’m not aware of all the programs at UA. Perhaps this is a HR question or maybe Work & Life Connections source for this topic.

What’s the difference between a President and a Provost? A: The provost is the chief academic officer and the president is more like a chief operating officer. Provost/academic and president/business.

Which one did you like being married to better? A: They are both the same guy.

Eva thanked Mrs. Shelton for her time.

Guests

Gail – From the library. Here to learn more about how SAC is run.

Closing Business and Reports

Tri-Univ (see hand out)

Eva – Maybe we should have a town hall classified staff meeting to discuss issues important to all of us.

On Our Own Time – please pass flyers around to staff in your offices and spread the word.

Should we add a "Did you know?" question to our newsletter? Maybe put a question to President Shelton in each newsletter?

Lauren Bivona: All University staff are being asked to assess their HR departments.

Minutes submitted by: Cori Cashen