Draft Minutes

Tuesday, March 7, 2006

10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Audio bridge # 800-519-1987, pin  *1622936*

Fairbanks site:  Room 212A Butrovich Building

 

1.                  Call to Order and Roll Call           

 

                  Lisa Sporleder, Statewide Administration Assembly, Chair

                  Jeri Cary, UAS Staff Council, Vice Chair

                  Lori Merdes, Statewide Administration Assembly

                  Bob Kizer, UAA APT Council

                  Maya Salganek, UAF Staff Council

                  Kimberly Stanford, UAA Classified Council

                  Jeff Stepp, UAF Staff Council                                          

 

                 Others Present:

                  Pat Ivey, Executive Officer, System Governance

                  Jodi Bailey, Administrative Coordinator, System Governance

                  Mike Humphrey, Director of Benefits

                  Jim Johnsen, Vice President for Faculty and Staff Relations

 

2.         Adopt Agenda

 

MOTION:     Moved by Kimberly Stanford, seconded by Jeff Stepp, passed without objection.

 

“The Staff Alliance moves to adopt the agenda for March 7, 2006 meeting.  This action is effective March 7, 2006.”

 

3.         Approve February 7, 2006 minutes                                                    

http://gov.alaska.edu/Staff/minutes/2006/02-07.htm

http://gov.alaska.edu/Staff/minutes/2006/02-07.pdf

 

MOTION:     Moved by Jeri Cary, seconded by Jeff Stepp, passed without objection.

 

“The Staff Alliance moves to adopt the minutes for February 7, 2006 meeting.  This action is effective March 7, 2006.”

 

 

 

4.         Chair’s report

 

 

It’s been a busy month, one of those months when I think back to things that happened just after our last meeting, and they seem much longer ago!  It must be some kind of time warp caused by traveling….

 

The middle of last month, I went to Juneau to voice staff opinions on the NORP plan to the Board of Regents.  I explained the importance of treating all university employees equally with respect to a University-offered retirement option.  I reminded them that national searches are no longer limited to faculty and executives.  We have difficulty hiring staff locally in the fields of IT and Finance, and we have difficulty hiring staff at any level in the city of Juneau.  As a public institution, we are at a loss to be able to offer salaries that can compete with the State or the private sector to counteract these difficulties in hiring.  Offering a retirement plan to staff that is a bit beefier than PERS 4 might help.  While I was voicing support for the NORP plan, the Faculty Alliance was cautioning the Board against acting too hastily.  They thought more study needed to be done with respect to the offerings of other public universities across the country.  The faculty made a good point that the data the Retirement Committee received from Mercer didn’t answer all their questions.  But the fact remained that the state HAS converted to defined contribution plans for all, whether staff or faculty.  There is no way the university can offer a defined benefit plan of its own, but it can offer its own defined contribution plan, which is NORP.  And if the university wanted to offer NORP to all new employees on July 1, 2006, Human Resources needed approval from the Regents at this meeting in order to have time to prepare for the new plan to be ready and available in the system by then.  I sympathize with the Faculty Alliance’s concerns, but for staff, the plan as it stands is already a better deal for us, and I don’t think waiting would offer us any further improvement, hence my support for the positive vote for NORP at the February meeting.

 

So the NORP plan as it is offered to new employees on July 1 will offer staff an employer contribution 2% higher than if they selected PERS 4.  But PERS 4 does offer a Retirement Health Account, even if accessing the State’s retiree health plan with that account is prohibitively restrictive.  The University hopes to add some kind of retirement benefit to the NORP plan within a year or so.  The speed that can happen depends upon the type of account chosen.  One type that could come up to speed fairly quickly because all management would take place external to the university would be the VEBA plan offered by a company called Emeriti.  Members of the Retirement Committee were invited to a day of meetings with Emeriti at their home office in New Windsor, New York.  I attended that meeting last month.  Emeriti offers a retirement health option called a VEBA, which stands for Voluntary Employee Benefit Association, and it has two parts.  The first part is a non-discriminatory employer-contribution to an account.  That means that everyone gets the same dollar amount, regardless of salary.  Other types of health accounts accrue contributions based as a percentage of employee salary, which work against most of the staff we are here to represent because staff usually doesn’t have salaries as high as faculty members, yet they will likely have similar health expenses after retirement.  There is also a second part to the VEBA, an option on the part of the University to put a discretionary sum into an account for an individual.  This method can be used as an enticement to accept a job or to retire, or as a bonus for whatever reason a bonus is required that normal steps might not be able to accommodate.

 

Okay, so we have these VEBA accounts that accumulate contributions bi-weekly.  Just how are they managed?  Emeriti has partnered with Fidelity and Aetna for different parts of the plan that it offers higher education institutions and non-profits.  All accounts are managed by Fidelity and are invested in Fidelity’s Freedom Funds.  The employee may choose which Freedom Fund to invest in, or the default age-related Freedom Fund will be selected if a choice is not made by the employee.  For example, if the employee is 35 years old and makes no fund selection, the money would be invested in a fund designed for 25-40 year olds.  As employees age, money would go into the age-appropriate fund for their current age.  The age-related funds are invested according to the risk advised for a person of that age, so as a person ages, the default fund would get progressively less risky.  With this system, even the default fund is a pretty good deal.  If an employee wishes to more actively manage their health account money, they may do so from within the Freedom Funds group.

 

Emeriti’s other partner, Aetna, offers post-65 health care plans (MediGap) to qualifying retirees with Emeriti VEBA accounts.  The university, within some limits set by Emeriti, sets the qualifying restrictions for its employees.  Currently, Aetna offers five different options.  Four incorporate two levels of health care and two levels of pharmacy benefits.  The fifth is a pharmacy-only plan.  All fulfill Medicare Part D requirements.  They were also open to the possibility of offering a pre-65 plan if investigation proved such a plan was worthwhile for them to offer.  The health plan options are offered on a group basis, using all of Emeriti’s customers as the base group, which is larger than the group of the State of Alaska, and therefore, more cost-effective plans might be offered by the VEBA than by PERS and TRS.  Further, PERS and TRS offer access only to one plan, and Aetna offers choice to Emeriti.  Another good surprise was the fact that Emeriti offers an open enrollment…the retiree may annually change the plan he or she is enrolled in to accommodate changing health care needs.  All in all, I was quite impressed by Emeriti and the VEBA plan it offers. 

 

At a near-future Retirement Committee meeting, we will receive a presentation on Health Retirement Accounts from Mercer.  I may be biased by what I saw and heard in New York, but I don’t think employees will be better served by HRAs.  The availability of health plans via Aetna is a huge concern for retirees, and the annual open enrollment is not common, from what I’ve seen of retiree health options.  I’ll keep my mind open, but what I’ve seen so far is good…very good.

 

5.         Public Comments

 

            No public comments.

 

6.         Staff Governance Reports - SW, UAS, UAA, UAF    

 

            SW

http://gov.alaska.edu/saa/

 

Lisa informed the group that SAA is currently soliciting nominations for membership elections and they are also collecting nominations for two awards.  She stated that the landscaping of Butrovich during the summer and arranging a shuttle to travel from Butrovich to SRC during lunch time were the main topics of discussion.

 

            UAS

http://www.uas.alaska.edu/staffcouncil/

 

Jeri stated that UAS Staff Council met on February 16 and they primarily discussed the Staff Make Students Count award and promoting it around campus.  They are also working on promoting wellness by creating activities and programs to incorporate the program.  Currently, the recreation center is offering classes during the week that are free to staff, students and faculty to educate them on nutrition and physical activity.

 

She also informed the group that the Chancellor is creating a committee to look at equality and recruitment issues, and he would like a member from their Staff Council on the committee.

 

            UAA

http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/governance/classified/

            http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/governance/apt/

           

Kim stated that Classified Council met last week.  They announced they raised $73,000 during the United Way campaign.

 

UAA is currently working on changing their parking plan to either increase the current permit fees or implement shuttle fees.  They are leaning towards raising the permit plan fees, but the issue is still being discussed.

 

She also stated that they are getting ready for their elections in May.  They are also working on the UAA Chancellor’s award, which is coming in April, and The Make Student Count award, which is currently being solicited.

 

Kim stated that the Assembly meets this Thursday, but at last month’s meeting, Erika Van Flein called in to give a report on the Wellness Plan.  She also stated that they are drafting an energy plan which discusses the use of lighting, computer equipment, etc., and offers recommendations on these issues.

 

Bob Kizer gave a brief discussion of the last APT Council meeting.  They also discussed the parking proposal and the increased costs that will occur. 

 

            UAF

http://www.uaf.edu/uafgov/staff/index.html

 

The benefit bills (SJR 20 and HJR 32) were discussed in great detail including, the issues that surround them and how they involve staff.  The Faculty Senate has proposed a resolution on the issue.

 

Maya also discussed the outcome of the questionnaires that were given to the new members, and they showed that employees cared most about the diversity of the University.  She also stated that the number one concern among the new members was the lack of communication between the administration and the campuses.

The Chancellor’s award has been modified to separate it into two awards one for staff and students and the other for an individual in a supervisory position.

 

7.         Employee Relations

 

            7.1       Jim Johnsen, Vice President, Faculty and Staff Relations

 

            7.2       Director of Faculty Staff Development Recruitment 

 

Jim Johnsen informed the group that the committee has selected two people to bring to Fairbanks for face-to-face interviews.  One recruit is from Sheldon Jackson College with a lot of human resource experience, more so in Faculty issues than Staff.  The second recruit is currently with the Juneau campus and works in Faculty training.  They will be here for their interviews during the week of the 20th. 

 

            7.3       Legislative Update, including SJR 20 and HJR 32                              

            http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/24/Bills/HJR032A.PDF

http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session=24&bill=sjr20&submit=Display+Bill+Root 

 

Jim stated the parts of the budget that the University has the main control to push are looking good.  Some parts of the budget that affect the University, but fall under the reviews of other agencies may not be quite as strong, but we need to let them play out without pressure from our side.

 

He also said that they are drafting a bill that will tie the unfunded liability of the PRS/TRS system to state assets (i.e., gas leases)

 

Jim will testify on the University’s behalf at a meeting this week in reference to SJR 20 and HJR 32, to state that the University wants the ability to continue the health coverage for staff and their partners. He said that only 1.6% of the cost of our benefit plan goes to people covered because of the FIP benefit.  He also stated that the University is going to take a pragmatic and economic stance, not a moral one, on the issue because it is believed to be more effective.

 

            7.4       ACAS 2                                                                                  

                        http://www.alaska.edu/acas/ 

 

                        One of the major decisions that has been decided by doing the new ACAS, is to allow a modest pool of funds to help create and push for new efforts.  Jim also informed the group that the University will begin to look more into outsourcing to see if it is cost efficient.

 

7.5              NORP – New Optional Retirement Plan

http://gov.alaska.edu/staff/2006-02.Retirement-System-Revision-BORreference-2.pdf 

 

Maya would like a FAQ sheet with the VEBA be information listed in detail.  Lisa suggested a comparison chart with VEBA and HRA’s might be more useful.  The health plan options that were offered by Aetna were a distinctive advantage over the PRS/TRS because they offered numerous choices and they offered open enrollment every year.  Another benefit with the VEBA plan is that the university can create their own plan to fit their needs, within certain limits set by Emeriti.  The suggested VEBA plan is tax advantaged and can be accessed at the age specified by the University. 

                       

8.         Business Council Meeting - March 1, 2006

 

            8.1       Capital Planning and Facilities Management Policy and Regulation Revisions

                        http://gov.alaska.edu/staff/2006-03-01.BC-Old-versus-New-Comparison.pdf

            http://gov.alaska.edu/staff/2006-03-01.BC-PolicyReWrite-Facil-Council-Ver3.pdf

                        http://gov.alaska.edu/staff/2006-03-01.Regulations-ChapterXII-Ver2-1.pdf

 

                        Attachments are information only

 

            8.2       Maintaining Existing UA Facilities                                         

                        http://gov.alaska.edu/staff/2006-03-01.BC-MaintainUAFacilities.pdf

 

                        Attachments are information only

 

            8.3       UA Committee Structure                                                        

                        http://gov.alaska.edu/staff/2006-03-01.BC-UA-Committee-Structure.pdf 

 

                        Attachments are information only

           

9.         Governance Regulation                                                                      

             http://gov.alaska.edu/staff/projects/2006-02-07.governancereg-3.pd

 

Kim stated the ad hoc committee has completed their work on the regulation and is ready for review from Jim Johnsen and Roger Brunner.  Jim will try to look over the regulation and give his suggestions and comments by Staff Alliance’s next meeting in April.

 

10.       Spring Retreat and Cookie Brigade-Juneau April 4-5, 2006

 

Itineraries need to be sent to Jodi within the next week to get the best airfare prices.  We will be staying at the Prospector Hotel where we will have breakfast catered both days and lunch the first day.  The members will be sharing rooms to help with costs, and they have agreed to have students from Anchorage join them on the hill if they would like.

 

11.       Agenda items for next meeting, April 4, 2006

 

Governance regulation, bills and their status, retirement issues and human resource issues

 

12.       Other items of interest

 

            Mike Humphrey stated that Human Resources put out to bid the University’s health care benefits.  Premera Blue Cross/Blue Shield will remain the health care provider, but the pharmacy portion will now be provided by PharmaCare.   It has been ranked #1 nationally for the past five years for the best customer satisfaction.  FBMC will still be the flexible spending account provider and long-term disability, and human resources is still waiting for the bids to be completed for life insurance. 

 

            He also stated that he is in discussions with Summex to see what other programs they can provide to help follow up with the Wellness Plan.

 

13.       Comments

           

            No comments.

 

14.       Adjourn

 

            Meeting adjourned at 11:48 AM.