Draft Minutes
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
10:00
am - 12:00 Noon
via
audio conference
1. Call to order and roll call
The meeting was
called to order at 10:00am.
Members present:
Lisa Sporleder, Chair; President,
Statewide Administration Assembly
Mel Kalkowski, Vice Chair;
President, UAA APT Council
Jeri Cary, Vice President, UAS Staff
Council
Juli Gillispie, Vice President,
Statewide Administration Assembly
Maya Salganek, President-elect, UAF
Staff Council
Kimberly Stanford, President, UAA
Classified Council
Josh Steadman, President, UAF Staff
Council
Others present:
Mike Humphrey, Director, Benefits
Hans Gunderson, Admin. Coordinator,
System Governance
2. Adopt Agenda
MOTION: Moved by Kalkowski, seconded by
Stanford, passed without objection
“The University of Alaska Staff
Alliance moves to adopt the agenda for the
December 14, 2004 meeting. This action is effective December 14, 2004.”
3. Approve November 11, 2004 Minutes
http://gov.alaska.edu/staff/minutes/2004/11-09.html
MOTION: moved by Kalkowski,
seconded by Stanford, passed without objection
“The University of Alaska Staff Alliance moves to
approve the minutes of the November 9, 2004 meeting. This action is effective December 14, 2004.”
4 Chair’s Report - Lisa Sporleder
The
Board of Regents unanimously approved the necessary policy change for annual
cost of living increases. Sporleder received positive feed back from the
regents. The story was posted in both the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and the
Anchorage Daily News. This brings to a
close one of the major battles of Staff Alliance from the past five years.
5. Public Comments
Gunderson commented that
the System Governance Office phone numbers would change on December 19, 2004.
The office will send out an email with the new numbers as soon as they are
known.
6. Staff Governance Reports
UAS – Jeri Cary reported Rita Fuller was unable to attend the Staff
Alliance meeting. The previous UAS Staff Council meeting mainly consisted of a
discussion with Michael Ciri, Director of Information Technology at UAS.
UAA – Kim Stanford reported
on the UAA Classified Council
meeting. The group discussed the goal of improving staff training. Stanford
emailed her constituency requesting feedback on staff training needs. Pam
Jacobs of UAA Human Resources gave an update mainly in regards to the
administrative groups. Council members voiced concerns about the communication
conflicts at the MAU level in the local HR office. Evidently, the confusion
centered on conflicting information from SW and local HR offices. The Council
requested a clarification email and the HR office responded that they would
prefer to have staff call the office with questions instead. May 11 is Staff Development Day at UAA,
which will include a governance booth to further inform members of UAA
Classified Council’s programs. The participation for “Socks and Sandwiches” to
benefit the Anchorage Rescue Mission,
and the desert and coffee event for classified employees was very low. The
Council will be discussing how it can boost membership and participation. The
UAA Assembly met and discussed the operational review of the UAA Administration
Services. Mel Kalkowski reported on the
UAA APT Council discussed goals and objectives for 2005 at the last meeting.
The group is looking forward to UAA’s 51st birthday party, which
will include the first installation of a Chancellor in the history of the
institution.
UAF - Maya Salganek reported that UAF Staff Council discussed the
reclassification project, with UAF HR Director Carolyn Chapman. Other updates
included the MyUA Portal, the financial review, and the volunteer program.
Chancellor Jones invited Staff Council members to dinner at the chancellor's residence.
The evening included a useful and candid discussion of staff concerns including
the necessity of a career ladder in the face of the new classification program.
SW - Juli Gillispie
reported that the Statewide Administration Assembly held its first holiday
season potluck the week before Thanksgiving break. Participation was up from
last year. The group is preparing for the Christmas potluck which will be a
Hawaiian-themed luau. The potluck also brings to a close the annual canned food
drive for the Fairbanks Food Bank.
Action Items
7. Other
Action Items
There were no action
items.
Information/Discussion Items
8. Policy
and Regulation changes for Annual Cost of Living Increase
In
the Board of Regents Human Resources Committee meeting, Jim Johnsen reported
staff grid increases in current FY05 of 1% and FY04 saw a 0% grid increase. The
policy change of an annual grid adjustment based on the Anchorage Consumer
Price Index capped at 2% was intended so that staff will not see their income
eroded by inflation. The change also protects the University from large
inflation jumps via the 2% cap. Johnsen commended the members of the
Compensation Task Force and Staff Alliance for their efforts on the issue and
noted Lisa Spoleder’s work on the issue to the regents’ committee. Regulation
supporting the policy change will be forthcoming.
9. Mediation
Project Update
A
working group has been established, and while a staff member has not been
assigned from SW HR office to lead the effort, Sporleder hopes to set up a
meeting with Johnsen to move the project forward. Salganek stated that the
University should seek an outside individual to look at the establishment of a
mediation program and the role it should take. Stanford asked if this would
include represented employees. Mike Humphrey responded that union-represented
employees would not be able to participate in a mediation process. Salganek
pointed out that the grievance process has a set time deadline. Salganek continued that Staff Alliance needs
to make sure that staff do not trade a mediation process for the formal
grievance.
10. Supervisory
Training Update
Sporleder
commented that in Johnsen’s discussion with the Board of Regents on training
opportunities, he said that the university currently offers training to faculty
and staff but these opportunities are not listed in any specific place. Staff
raise frequent concerns that the university is not doing enough, so the
university is going to do an assessment of current training opportunities and
then assess training needs.
Jonathan
Anderson, a faculty member at UAS-Juneau has agreed to produce the staff
training assessment. Sporleder asked for input on the issue on what the members
concerns are on supervisor training. Salganek mentioned the lack of a staff
manual for new employees to the university. It is important to look at the
training structure at the university-wide level. Sporleder commented the
current institution new employee training is more on the benefit package
resource information on job training opportunities. Kalkowski said that a
printed handbook with all the various positions found at the university is not
realistic but an internet based reference index of all the recourses offered
would be a dynamic source that is greatly needed. Kalkowski said one could look
at MyUA portal and see how this could be produced.
Johnsen
also commented to the Board of Regents that the University is looking to
provide a UA Academy in February of 2005. Staff Alliance will not know if the
$500,000 Johnsen had earmarked for faculty and staff development is secure
until the legislature passes the upcoming budget.
11. Job
Reclassification Update
The
reclassification project is 80% complete with the completion of
the administrative group. The Department of Labor is auditing the University
for federal compliance of the overtime law. Johnsen said that University is
currently in the best possible position for such an audit because of the FLSA
review portion of the classification project.
12. Wellness Project Status Report
Johnsen
and Humphrey are currently vetting the draft document. The cost of the program,
estimated to be between $1.3 and $1.6 million per year for three years, is a
large hurdle. The university, in partnership with Blue Cross, implemented a
disease management program in June of 2003. The program performance has
recently become available. The numbers indicate that, for every $100,000
invested in disease management, the program averted $600,000 to $800,000 in
claim costs. This could help divert $6 to $9 million total to the University.
The wellness plan outlined by Larry Chapman of Summex could help the heath plan
avoid $5 to $9 million in three years. The next question is, will the
institution investment on the part of the University be funded by the
institution, by employees, or by a combination of both? The roll-out of the
wellness program may not be as soon as originally planned and perhaps will not
be as extensive as first envisioned because of the rollout costs.
The
consumption of the University healthcare plan is not slowing down, and the
demographics are getting older. A
healthcare plan in this day and age cannot be static. The plans of today have a
three to five year life. The flexible benefits structure is a good way for the
University to support staff. People need to have a financial stake in the
healthcare plan in order to get them to use some of these cost saving tools.
Kalkowski mentions that some tools like premera.com need to be reintroduced and
also streamlined for staff.
13. Agenda items for Next
Meeting January 11, 2005
Agenda items may include,
but may not be limited to:
Mediation and Training Programs
Wellness Program
Premera Audit Update
Reclassification Project
14. Comments
Sporleder commented that in the System Governance Council
meeting the Governance Policy was passed and is now ready to go forth to the
BOR and President Hamilton.
15. Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 11:40 am.