Minutes of June 13, 2006

Present: J. Addison, E. H. Booker, K. Craddock, D. Fetko, C. Garges, K. Gillette-Mallard, M. Iseli, J. Gurley, L. Jean, C. Lohman, B. Marshall, P. Ehrenberg, K. Merritt, C. Vaught, P. Powell, R. Schuett, J. Varner, A. Cohn, A. Webb.

Announcements:

• The July meeting will be attended by current and new incoming members to the committee. At that time, elections for Chair and Vice-Chair will be held.
• Parking Subcommittee – needs members to join this committee from on-grounds employee areas.

Speakers:

Viola Baskerville, Secretary of Administration for the State of Virginia began her discussion with some information about the Restructuring Act. The goal is to improve the Human Resources system, reduce red tape, and provide flexibility. One of the main components is to ensure that the institutions solicit input from employees. Presently all employees are considered state and UVA employees, but if you were hired prior to July 1, 2006 you are considered classified staff whereas if you are hired after July 1, 2006 you are considered university staff. All employees hired after July 1, 2006 will automatically be put into the new Human Resources system once it is approved and put in place. Under the act, classified staff employees (those hired before 7/1/06) will be given a choice to change to university staff employee status every two years. Once you make the change, you can’t go back. The two things that WILL NOT change for either are the Virginia Retirement System and workers compensation. The details of the restructuring act is available at: www.virginia.edu/restructuring. Ms. Baskerville’s notes are attached.

Sara Wilson, Director of Human Resources for all State Classified Employees, participated by fielding questions related to the current HR system in place. The Restructuring Act takes effect July 1, 2006, however, there will be no change in the current HR system for at least 18-24 months while the University and various committees establish an alternative system. Two areas of HR that will not change is that we will continue to use VRS and workers compensation. Current employees will be given a choice to enroll in the new system every two years. New hires will be automatically enrolled in the new HR system. Ms. Wilson provided the website www.dhrm.virginia.gov for those interested in comparing data on different employee groups. She also welcomes any input from employees and can be reached at sara.wilson@dhrm.virginia.gov. Sara Wilson test questioned the Council on the topic of future required training for upper management, e.g. evaluation process, supervisor feedback, and the majority of the Council was in agreement that more frequent training is needed.

HR Report:

The three institutions involved in the Management Agreement, William & Mary, Va. Tech and UVa, started meeting in January to define the plan for restructuring. Alan Cohn reported that the next meeting of the Restructuring Committee will be June 27 th where they will start the design and timelines and organize focus groups to work on the Restructuring Plan. They are looking at July 2008 as the likely start date for the new HR system. They plan to begin this Fall with the focus groups.

The service awards ceremony will be held June 14 th at the Omni for those with 25 or more years of service. They have approximately 400 people attending.

Next Meeting: July 11 @9:30 a.m. – Zehmer Hall

Guest: William Harvey, VP & Chief Officer for Diversity & Equity