Vol. 38, No. 18

2-15-2006
By: Susan Wittstock Dalzell

USAC presents benefits report to president, administrative staff

At the conclusion of the Staff Compensation and Benefits Report presentation, President Karen Holbrook distributed - on behalf of the administration team in attendance - a handout highlighting the important accomplishments and influences the annual reports have made in recent years.

On the list were staff salary increases consistent with those for faculty; competitiveness in health care benefits, including same-sex and domestic partner coverage; a second child-care center; paid parental leave; and increased programming through the university's Work/Life office.

Although progress has been made on many fronts, keeping Ohio State on track to be an employer of choice is one of the main motivations behind the report, which is prepared by the University Staff Advisory Committee and was presented to members of the university's senior administration Feb. 9 in the Recreation and Physical Activity Center.

"I thank you for your hard work in preparing this report. I understand and appreciate the effort that goes into compiling such a comprehensive document," Holbrook said as the handout was making the rounds.

Joining Holbrook for the presentation were Executive Vice President and Provost Barbara Snyder, Senior Vice President for Business and Finance Bill Shkurti, and Associate Vice President for Human Resources Larry Lewellen.

Salary
"Salary continues to be a top concern for staff," SCBC co-chair Jay Young said, citing the statistic that staff salaries are an average of 11.1 percent below the market, when clerical and secretarial personnel are excluded from the sampling. "USAC recommends that the university continue moving forward to compete favorably with our peer institutions, as stated in the Academic Plan."

Lewellen first clarified information about staff relative to their position in the market. "When we say that staff are about 10 percent behind market, yet faculty are near the median, we need to understand that the comparisons are different," he said. "Faculty are compared to only public institutions, while staff are compared to both public and private. The data would be different if staff were compared only to public institutions, and I worry about the misunderstanding this difference might cause."

Health care
Recommendations concerning health care focused on recent changes to Ohio State's medical plans, particularly with the confidentiality of the Personal Health Assessments. "We recommend that the university and the Medical Center strengthen and widely publicize the confidentiality policy governing the Personal Health Assessment," Young said. "An additional statement that assures us that OSU will not share health information with private companies, other public employers or outside agencies would answer many concerns."

As the discussion continued, Lewellen agreed that communication is absolutely critical, especially about an individual's right to privacy. "A newsletter that will focus heavily on the privacy issue will go out shortly," he said, "but I would like to reiterate that individually identified health-care data will absolutely be protected. We're going to take your advice and look at your feedback on this issue."

USAC also recommended that communicating plan changes and ensuring staff understand the plans should be priorities.

Performance management
Staff feel that many improvements are needed in the performance management process. Malikeya Khantrece, speaking on behalf of SCBC co-chair Jackie Hartzell, said that "a more effective performance review tool and process should help supervisors collaborate with their staff to improve productivity and accountability."

USAC recommended reviews be mandatory and that there be a closer tie between job performance and annual pay raises. They also encouraged the Office of Human Resources to create a team to assist with tools and processes and designate an advocate who can help staff who either received an inaccurate review or none at all.

Responding to most of the recommendations, Lewellen announced that a Performance Culture Committee has been convened and is looking to close the gap on the number of faculty and staff who do not receive performance reviews.

"They're exploring a required performance management system, but one that can reflect a person's performance and contribution in more flexible and creative ways," he said. "For example, evaluating portfolios for people working on a project basis - rather than just completing an evaluation form - might be one way to make the evaluation process useful for everyone."

USAC also recommended additional training for supervisors to ensure they implement the university's policies effectively and that all staff receive communication in writing regarding all factors contributing to potential raises.

Campus safety and security
Workplace safety and security continue to be priorities for USAC. Although the university is making improvements in this area, the committee recommends that the university create a complete security plan for all campus buildings and update it annually.

Shkurti confirmed that such a plan is in progress, and that fire safety and preparedness for natural disaster have emerged as the two priorities. "Fire safety is the most immediate threat to the largest number of people," he said, "and that plan is almost complete. And although a major natural disaster has a low probability of occurring, it could have a high impact. Development of our Disaster Prevention and Recovery Plan has already begun. We will be sure to keep USAC and other stakeholders on campus informed and involved."

USAC also re-emphasized its support for the university to eliminate the use of the Social Security number in its data.

"Given the numerous and well-publicized risks of including SSNs in data sources or using them as personal identifiers, we strongly encourage Ohio State to declare a moratorium on the use of SSNs in any new applications and develop a timeline for creating strategies to deal with this issue, including security in those areas where it is determined that SSNs must be used," Young said.

"Our new Student Information System will remedy many situations where we now have to use a Social Security number as an identifier," Snyder said. "The system will be functional in fall 2009, and between now and then, the CIO's office is offering some remediation steps to bridge the gap while waiting on the new system."

Other recommendations
Many of the recommendations suggest improving the benefits offered to staff, including:

¥ tuition assistance (reducing waiting period for dependent tuition reimbursement and extending tuition assistance to include other schools);
¥ e-mail for retirees (creating a lifetime e-mail service for retired staff with at least 10 years of service);
¥ vacation and sick leave (accruing more vacation time quicker and increasing sick leave payout at retirement); and
¥ child care (that Ohio State open a facility for drop-in care).
Other recommendations included:
¥ university closure (creating three university holidays for the period between Christmas and New Year's Day); and
¥ university awards (increasing the number given and the monetary amount).

To view the entire report, visit http://usac.osu.edu

onCampus Home