Vol. 38, No. 18

2-18-2005
By: Susan Wittstock

SCBC presents annual report

Holbrook, administrators hear recommendations

Salaries and health care are the two biggest priorities for staff, according to the 2004-05 Staff Compensation and Benefits Report presented to President Karen Holbrook and university leadership Feb. 10 in Pfahl Hall. SCBC, a sub-group of the University Staff Advisory Committee, prepares the report annually to provide the president and her administration with an overview of benefits and policies recommendations important to staff.

In addition to salaries and health care, recommendations were made on performance management, sponsored dependents, security, alternative work schedules and vacation, among other topics. Lori Martensen and Gerhard Raimann, SCBC co-chairs, made the presentation, outlining highlights of the report. Holbrook was joined by Executive Vice President and Provost Barbara Snyder, Senior Vice President for Business and Finance Bill Shkurti, Associate Vice President for Human Resources Larry Lewellen and Chief Information Officer Ilee Rhimes to offer responses.

USAC leaders said they gathered input for the report by conducting an online survey of nearly 600 randomly selected classified civil service, administrative and professional and senior administrative and professional staff. They also received input from local staff councils, suggestions sent via e-mail to the USAC listserve and at USAC’s town meetings, pep rally and hidden benefits fair.

Lewellen thanked SCBC for their efforts. “I really appreciate how data based SCBC is with its recommendations,” he said. “There is a lot here but it is your responsibility to bring forward what you gather from staff.”

Holbrook agreed. “This is an excellent report with thoughtful recommendations that help us understand your priorities,” she said.

Salary
USAC urged the university to continue moving forward with the Competitive Compensation Initiative to bring staff salaries up to market median levels. “We appreciate the progress made over the last several years, but there is obviously far to go,” Raimann said.
For the second year, USAC also recommended that all staff be paid at least a living wage, which according to the Universal Living Wage Organization’s calculations, is currently $9.60 an hour.

A new recommendation requested that raises be given by dollar amount, rather than the standard practice of a percentage of one’s salary. “USAC believes it is unfair that two employees in the same job category can receive the same performance evaluation and the same salary percentage increase, when that translates into one employee receiving hundreds of dollars more than the other because of the difference in their base salaries,” Raimann said.

Health care and wellness
USAC recommended Ohio State maintain its “high quality and affordable” health care benefit options but asked that the university expand wellness opportunities both on and off campus. USAC suggested steps such as offering financial incentives to participate in wellness programs, expanding partnerships with community fitness facilities, keeping the Jesse Owens facility free, and considering a sliding fee schedule for the Recreation and Physical Activity Center to accommodate low-income employees.

Martensen acknowledged that the university is currently in the process of designing new health care plans that will go into effect in January 2006. “We’re choosing to take a wait and see attitude until the new health care plans are rolled out next year,” she said.

“There is a small group from the Medical Center, human resources and outside consultants that will hopefully have a draft plan to share with us by June,” Lewellen said. “We’ll see if it matches the recommendations made by the Health Care Investment and Redesign Committee. Wellness is an important element to the new concept.”

Lewellen also addressed the question of fees for RPAC, saying that fees are a difficult topic to tackle. “The students are required to pay for the facility, and to make it free for faculty and staff would create a cultural disconnect, and we’re not sure what to do with that,” he said. “We need to continue to discuss that.”

Performance management
USAC recommended the creation of a USAC/Office of Human Resources workgroup to look into ways to improve the current performance management process at Ohio State, and to find ways to increase opportunities for professional development.

USAC also recommended that the university make it clear that employees have the right to receive a written performance review and to have a discussion about it with their supervisors at least once a year.

“Performance management is an ongoing process and not just a once-a-year event,” Raimann said.
The group also recommended that management responsibilities emphasize that performance reviews are a part of the job, and that training be made available.

Sponsored dependent benefits
The committee recommended employees have the flexibility to build benefits packages around the nature of their self-defined families.

“We are recommending that the university provide employees the opportunity to purchase medical, dental and vision benefits for one financially-independent adult member of their household at a subsidized cost,” Martensen said.

The committee also recommended that employees be able to purchase medical coverage for unlimited numbers of minors, but at a set subsidized cost per individual dependent. “This would mean that employees who have more dependents would pay more than those employees who only have one dependent,” Martensen said.

Security
USAC recommended that Ohio State move away from the use of Social Security numbers in the data that it holds about individuals and more efforts be devoted to building security for academic and administrative/service buildings.

Rhimes assured the committee that the university is taking steps to address the situation and to establish a policy to identify how Social Security numbers are used. “I know you recognize that in some instances we have to use Social Security numbers, but it should not be the key,” he said.

Additional recommendations
• Stem the rising cost of parking permits by making this an issue of paramount importance in campus planning decisions and expand intracampus circulation programs, such as CABS bus service, as well as bike and pedestrian pathways.

• Explore alternative child care opportunities for employees who do not or cannot use the OSU Child Care Center.

• Implement a gradual reduction of the waiting period for dependent tuition reimbursement for newly hired staff; extend fee waiver eligibility for dependents of retirees with 10 or more years of service from 5 to 10 years; and extend the dependent tuition benefit for parents who are both employed at OSU to a total of 100 percent.

• Do more to develop staff careers, especially in leadership and management positions, through internal promotions rather than external hires, and require every unit’s budget to include professional development money for each employee.

• Provide staff with four weeks of vacation and accrue five weeks earlier than the current timeline, with equity provided among CCS, A&P and SAP staff, and close the university from Christmas through New Year’s Day.
To view the entire report, visit http://usac.osu.edu.

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