UAF Staff Council — May 2, 2016 — Summary

Announcements:

• New Chief Human Resources Officer, Keli Hite McGee
• Faye Gallant and Nate Bauer re-elected as president and vice president of staff council for FY17. Congrats!
• UAF has moved over to city water! It will take a little time for the old water to be flushed out of the holding tank.
• Unit representative changes: Moved Computer Science from unit 10 to unit 3. Also passed a motion to move all USA departments under unit 7. Unit 8 in need of a representative.

Chancellor said:

• Parking Kiosks will have an app for payment. The agreement was finalized last week and we hope to have the app up and running in two to four weeks.
• Alumni association membership is up by 23%
• A third of private funding to the university comes from alumni
• So far, 36 layoff notices have been issued and 15 term-funded employees have been non-renewed. Some of those may be recalled. There may be more issued.

Request for Your Feedback:

• Nominations needed: The UAF Meritorious Service Award is a high and rare honor, given to individuals for outstanding service that is typically locale-oriented. http://uaf.edu/chancellor/service-award/
• Vice Chancellor Burrell is asking for feedback on places on campus that are run down and in need of care. She is compiling a list of top 5. Email SC President, Faye Gallant with your suggestions: fsgallant@alaska.edu
• Proposed revision to sick leave. Public comment needed by May 25

Might want to join or be involved with:

• Unit 8 is in need of a representative!
• Staff Recognition Day: sign up! https://lynx.admin.uaf.edu/SRDDR/

• Staff Council Meetings: Everyone is welcome to listen to the discussions. 8:45 a.m. start, public comment 9 a.m. Come or call. Dates on Staff Council Calendars and here:  http://www.uaf.edu/uafgov/staff-council/
• Slay Rumors: Post your questions and read answers provided to others on Grapevine. http://www.uaf.edu/grapevine/

Being Talked About:

Sick leave is not available for cash-out when an employee leaves the university; however, annual leave is available for staff to cash out— see grapevine for an explanation: http://news.uaf.edu/staff-employees-who-receive-a-layoff-notice-will-not-be-paid-out-of-their-sick-leave-balance/

Staff input is important — please share with us (Post from Monique Musick, UA Staff Alliance Chair)

Earlier today university staff and faculty received a message from President Gamble that the Senate Finance Committee removed from the budget all funding associated with salary increases. Impacted are all union and non-represented employees in the State including the University of Alaska. While this is not final it is not the first or last bad news announcement we are hearing as the State struggles to overcome a huge budget deficit. In the message he states: “The chancellors and I have had ongoing discussions about how best to make the cuts we know will be necessary, looking at all options available to minimize the impact to the people and programs that are so important to the University’s ongoing success and ability to help the state out of the current fiscal situation. Furloughs, reduced schedules and reduced pay increases have all been a part of this discussion, in addition to the prioritization and review work that will guide decisions on program and service cuts.” As governance leaders we too are part of this discussion. Last month we sent out a survey asking staff to indicate if they would be willing to voluntarily take a reduced contract or work reduced hours. More than one thousand staff answered the survey. And while a little more than half indicated they could not afford to take a voluntary reduction, the other 49 percent indicated willingness and interest in a reduced schedule. In addition to the raw survey data there were hundreds of written comments and suggestions. Thank you so much to everyone who responded and shared this valuable feedback. It will be read, it will be used, and it is valuable information. Next week I will again be speaking to the Board of Regents about staff concerns and successes. The concerns we have are many: the budget, cost cutting, potential furloughs, elimination of positions, increases in health care costs, decreases in workforce and rapid changes in policy. I could sure use some good news stories and successes to share as well! As I prepare to address UA leadership I turn to staff for your suggestions, concerns, successes and fears. The better I know what is happening to individual staff the better I can address our concerns as a body. You can leave a comment here, email mmusick@alaska.edu, use the staff submission form https://www.alaska.edu/governance/staff-alliance/submissions/ or send comments back through your local governance representatives. I also encourage all of you to pay careful attention to the news from Juneau during these final weeks of the legislative session. One of the best ways to keep up with how the university is faring throughout the session is the Capital Report: https://www.alaska.edu/state/report/. In addition 360 North Gavel to Gavel has full coverage of committee meetings and House and Senate sessions: http://www.360north.org/gavel-guide-2015/ One way or another your voice is very important right now, and shared governance is important channel to have it heard through. Thank you for your dedication to the university through these difficult times. Keep up the good work. Monique Musick Chair Staff Alliance

Feedback Response from Staff on Layoff Regulation Changes

Dear UAF Staff, Ten days ago we shared the proposed changes to the layoff regulations we received from President Gamble. In that message, there were a few ways to provide feedback to us regarding the proposed changes. We want to thank you for your feedback, as many of you took the time to respond, and participate in discussions. The Staff Alliance group compiled the most important and recurring topics into a formal response to the administration, and also put this on the blog. Monique Musick, chair of Staff Alliance, also mentioned the layoff regulations in her testimony at the Board of Regents. She posted her testimony at the Staff Alliance blog as well. She voiced staff concerns regarding other issues as well. Anytime you have concerns or want to make UAF Staff Council aware of an issue, please let us know. Thank you again, Chris Beks UAF Staff Council President 2014-2015 ------------------------------

Staff Council - Smoking and Tobacco Use Survey Results, Resolution, and Implementation Suggestions

The documents linked below include UAF Staff Council's official position on the possible smoking ban, the 2014 Staff Council - Smoking and Tobacco Use Survey results from this past Oct., and Staff Council's smoking ban implementation suggestions, which were based on comments submitted by Staff in the 2013 Staff Council - Smoking and Tobacco Use survey.    These were submitted to the Chancellor's Office on Oct. 27, 2014.

• Staff Council's Official Position on Smoking and Tobacco Use on Campus - Resolution 2014-254-1 (PDF)
• 2014 Staff Council Smoking / Tobacco Use Survey - Final Results (PDF)
• UAF Staff Council's Smoking / Tobacco Use Implementation Recommendations (PDF)

Impressive Testimony by Staff Alliance Chair at Sept. 18 Board of Regents Meeting

On Thurs. September 18, Monique Musick, Chair of Staff Alliance testified on behalf of all staff at the Board of Regents (BoR) meeting in Juneau. This was her first testimony as Staff Alliance chair for the BoR. She did a really good job, covering several issues affecting staff, and I believe she was very good at describing the feeling many of us have about the current state of the University.

The response from BoR was mostly positive as well, which is a good start to a more collaborative environment with leadership and staff at UA.

Her written testimony and note are posted on the Staff Alliance Blog at:

uastaffalliance.wordpress.com/2014/09/18/presentation-to-the-board-of-regents-sept-18-2014/

Budget Options Group and Request for Ideas

Dear Staff Members,

In December, Chancellor Rogers assigned a small group of faculty and administrators to generate a list of budget reduction options for the Planning & Budget Committee’s consideration. For the past two months the Budget Options Group (BOG) has worked to compiled a list of options that are now in a summary and analysis report. The report has a list of options that includes ideas submitted to the OMB website that was setup specifically for this purpose. You can find the report here:

https://www.uaf.edu/files/finserv/BOG-DYNAMIC-DOCUMENT---Options-Summary-and-Analysis---26Feb14-v1.pdf

The Planning and Budget Committee is looking at all the options in the BOG report, and is exploring their own revenue generating and cost cutting ideas. Over the next few months, these ideas will be research and worked out to see which ones are feasible.

We're also continuing to ask for additional ideas from staff, faculty and students. Please submit your ideas via the OMB web site before March 14th, 2014. The form can be found here:

https://www.uaf.edu/finserv/omb/budget-planning/suggestions/

Thank you,

Chris Beks

Staff Council Representative

Planning & Budget Committee