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Staff Council Meeting Debriefing
Ombudspersons Cynthia Joyce and Dr. Susan Johnson visited Staff Council to provide a summary of the Office of the Ombudsperson Annual Report. The report provides information on the 25th year of operation and activities of the Office on the UI campus. Included in the report are a brief history of the Office, a list of all the personnel who have served in the Office and a historical perspective.
The annual report addresses certain issues that cause conflict on campus. Among those issues are disrespectful behavior, discomfort and/or lack of experience with conflict management, and consequent avoidance of conflict, problems with accurate performance evaluations, mental health issues on campus and vulnerable populations.
The number of visitors to the Office of the Ombudsperson for 2010-2011 was:
|
Number |
Percentage |
% of Campus |
Faculty |
89 |
17.8% |
4.0% |
Staff |
225 |
44.9% |
1.7% |
Students |
159 |
31.7% |
0.5% |
Other |
28 |
5.6% |
|
Total |
501 |
|
|
The primary visitor concerns for P&S staff were:
• Evaluative relationships (57%),
• Career/Academic Progression (15%),
• Peer Relationships
Questions from staff councilors included:
• Does the increase in disrespectful behavior have anything to do with cultural differences?
- It’s more about the different types of communication styles that may be represented by cultural differences.
• In 2008, the Division of Student Life launched a Respect—Give It, Get It campaign. Did that campaign have any impact?
- It’s difficult to assess the impact of that campaign; however it’s fair to say that the instances of disrespectful behavior did not decline, according to the cases seen in the Office of the Ombudsperson.
• Is there anything Staff Council can do to help decrease the number of cases of disrespectful behavior?
o Be aware of behaviors in your area that could be considered disrespectful and intervene when appropriate. Raise awareness regarding the type of behaviors that may be considered disrespectful.
o The Office of the Ombudsperson Report will be shared and discussed at the Vice President’s meeting next week. Bystander training may be discussed as a possible action.
The full report of the Office of the Ombudsperson 25th Annual Report may be found at: http://www.uiowa.edu/~ombud/documents/OmbudsYear25AnnualReport.pdf
Nancy Davin, Co-Chair of the Funded Retirement Insurance Committee (FRIC) provided a brief update on the activities of the Funded Retirement Insurance Committee. The major discussion items for the academic year of 2011-2012 thus far are:
• Iowa Rive Landing (IRL) Project--learn more about the IRL project and the benefits and challenges.
• Vitamin & Supplement Coverage—studying the potential for vitamins and supplements to be a covered expense.
• Length of Time to Appointment for UIHC appointments
o With the implementation of the $5 co-pay for services provided by UIHC providers, an effort to reduce the length of time to obtain an appointment was initiated. Was this accomplished?
o The $5 co-pay did accomplish one of the intended goals of increasing business. The number of visits increased by 5-8%.
• Alternative Medicine (Acupuncture & Massage Therapy) Coverage—studying the potential for alternative medicine therapies to be a covered expense.
• Dental Delta I & II—researching the potential for combining Delta Dental plans I and II.
• Long Term Care Coverage—The current long-term provider, John Hancock will not be enrolling any new subscribers. A new vendor will be selected to replace John Hancock.
Compensation and Classification Redesign Update(Karen Shemanski, Compensation and Classification Project Manager)
Karen Shemanski provided a brief update on the activities that occurred since the October Staff Council Meeting. At the October meeting, the Documentation of Career Development process and form was presented by Diana Leventry.
• October 20 and 26—The Unit Human Resources Representatives received training and guidance on the Documentation of Career Development process and form.
• October 27—The Compensation and Classification Project website was updated with the final version of the documents and details of the process.
• October 28—Supervisors of non-organized P&S staff were notified by email of the October 31st implementation date of the Compensation Plan and information about the new Documentation of Career Development process and form.
• October 31—Non-organized P&S employees were notified by email announcing the implementation of the Compensation Plan and the new Documentation of Career Development process and form.
In addition, Karen shared that the Compensation and Classification project leadership will be meeting soon to fully debrief the entire life cycle of the more than 3.5 year project. The intent is to document what went well, what didn’t go well, and what we can learn from and do differently for future Human Resources initiatives. Feedback from the councilors was received and will be included in the debrief exercise.
Vice President Buckley had three updates:
1. The Board of Regents meeting is December 8th and it will be a telephonic meeting.
2. Benefits Open Enrollment is currently in process and closes on November 18th. There are not significant changes this year; however, it’s always important to review your selections, especially any contributions to the health or dependent care spending accounts.
3. The University of Iowa Health Fair that is supported monetarily by Staff Council was held November 2 at the Field House. It was a successful event as evidenced by the following:
• 416 cholesterol checks
• 450 blood pressure checks
• 151 bone density scans
• 250 body composition inquires
• 100 blood glucose checks
• 400 chair massages
• 29 units of blood collected
• 616 flu vaccines administered
A reminder to get your free flu shot; there are still lots of opportunities to receive a flu vaccine.