EVPECC Council Minutes for
Attendees:
Jon Rice, Procurement Services
Brevy Cannon, News Services (for Anna Van Clief)
Sebrina Ivey, Audit
Nykki Critzer, Housing
Melanie Prince, Business Operations
Darlene Kratz, Police
Jeanie Sampson-Giles, Student Financial Services
James Watts, Heating Plant
Beth Reinhard, HR
Alan Cohn, HR
Linda Way-Smith, Benefits
Ann Broccoli, Benefits
Gina Corell, OSP
Kathleen Jump, EVP.COO
Nate Rushfinn, ITC
The council talked about various options for Christmas volunteerism. There was discussion on doing a stocking stuffer project for the Salvation Army. This is a project that supports teens in the local area. Beth will find out more details once available and forward to council members.
The council approved the diversity statement written by Jon to be posted on the main employee council web page.
Tom Gausvik and Linda Way-Smith have both resigned from their positions to accept appointments elsewhere. Yoke San Reynolds has appointed Nathaniel Scurry (Nat) as
Associate Vice President and Interim Chief Human
Resources Officer effective
Nov. 10th is the Faculty/Staff fair. We need to update the information in our brochures. It would be great to get a bulletin board with council chairs listed. There is a new video coming out for the fair.
Linda Way-Smith: Director of Faculty and Staff Benefits
Anne Broccoli: Assistant Director of University Benefits
Topic of
presentation: Open enrollment and benefits
Click here for presentation on open enrollment
Q&A Session on
open enrollment & benefits:
1. I would like to know if the
University will offer a Roth 401k which will be allowable beginning
A. There is a raw 403b option, which is instead of having pre-tax contributions, you have post-tax contributions. To answer the question, we are not looking at it at this time.
2. The benefit from the high premium option does not entirely cover the entire balance charged by the doctors at UVa and the insured has to pay the balance out of pocket. Why doesn’t our health plan cover the full charges for services provided by UVa doctors?
A. The plan includes a
10% co-insurance, which was effective
3. Are we keeping the flexible spending program with Flex-America?
A. Yes. We are keeping their services and the contract is still in force.
4. There were employees on the waiting list for the VRS Retirement meeting held at Newcomb Hall that were not allowed to attend due to the limited space. Will there be any other rescheduled sessions to accommodate those people?
A. The VRS system plans to continue the sessions quarterly until we run out of interest. The next one is scheduled for February. The emails sent to classified staff worked well, so we will continue this process.
5. I am still concerned with the University requiring the use of social security numbers in order to receive the prescription drug benefits. Last year the governor signed a bill into law, HB2482 that closed the loop hole, allowing state agencies to get this bill past. I should not have to use my social security number at Kroger to get my prescription filled.
A. Unfortunately, the answer is that systems do not allow anything else in the short-term. The social security number is not printed on your card, but all benefits use your social security number because all benefits are about taxes. We were able to get Southern Health to move away from Social Security Numbers, but when they moved away, the downs-term effect was that the other vendors who work with Southern Health were forced to revert back to using the numbers. We are working with Pharmacare right now to implement another number, but the success of this will be contingent on whether Pharmacare and the University can manage that. We did the best we could short-term by removing the social security numbers from the cards.
6. Regarding Fidelity Freedom Income Funds. If a person is nearing retirement, is there any advantage to moving existing funds to the Fidelity Freedom Funds?
A. I am not allowed to give investment advice. I would recommend the person call Fidelity and discuss with a representative.
7. The Wall Street Journal has reported that TIAA-CREF has tried repeatedly to raise its fees. Some institutional investors have opposed it. Has UVa voiced an opinion to the TIAA-CREF management and board of directors? If they have, what was it? If they’ve been silent, please voice on record an opinion in opposition to the increases. TIAA-CREF is a chartered non-profit.
A. We haven’t expressed any opinion on this matter. My personal opinion is that the cheaper it is, the better it is for you. On the other hand, sometimes you get what you pay for. So, we haven’t taken any position on that and I don’t perceive that we will.
8. Regarding the $50 per year of
continuous state service awards. A long-time ITC employee who has worked
for 12 continuous years full-time, except for the past year when she reduced
her hours to 32 a week, which is part-time. The current policy is to pay
her 80% of the $50 for all 12 years of service, instead of 100% for the 11
full-time years and 80% for the last year. This is incredibly unfair when
a person having the exact opposite situation would get 100% for all years if
that person was working full-time as of
A. That is a correct interpretation of the policy in both accounts. The Department of Human Resource Management sets the rules and that’s what the rules are. The rules are set centrally by the legislature and we have no control over it.
9. Another issue on the $50 per year service award. How did the state come to such an unfair decision? Example: a person has been employed for 20 years and had only a couple of months break in service. I think the state should have an equation to calculate the distribution for people having fewer than 8x months and the total service time should count in the $50 per year award. Is there a chance that the state can amend the way they determine the number of years that will be used in the calculation of the classified service award?
A. The answer is the same as above. The rules are set and we must follow them. Only the years after the employee’s break in service will be counted in the calculation, regardless of the length of the break. The calculations are based solely on the continuous years of service, so if an employee has even a one day break, the calculations are based on the continuous years of service after the break. The state may have the original start date assigned to an employee for accrual purposes, but the break in service is documented on the employee’s record and used for the $50 per year of continuous service award calculations.
The nominees for council officer elections are (updated
Chair:
Vice Chair:
Co-Secretaries (2 positions):
There was discussion about the timeliness of posting the minutes. We don’t want to send out incorrect minutes, so they must be routed to the appropriate parties prior to posting on the web. It is expected that the minutes will be turned around in a ten day period.
The web is maintained and the meeting reminders have proven helpful to representatives when collecting questions from constituents.
Nykki suggested that the council consider the needs of the local area food bank also for donations around the holidays. She will send out an email with details.
The bulletin board for the Employee Council was also discussed. Ideas and suggestions are needed in order to complete the project before the Employee Resource Fair on November 10th. Thoughts included adding the mission statement for all councils, photographs from Day of Caring, and the revised organizational chart.
Our next meeting will be held on November 17th @