Civil Service Committee

The following summarizes the discussion and action items of the Civil Service Committee at its meeting held at 9 a.m. on Thursday, June 10, 1999 at the Minneapolis campus.

Welcome and Announcements

The meeting was called to order by Stephanie Dilworth, Vice Chair, since Mary Jane Towle, Chair, was unable to attend this meeting. The minutes from the May 20 meeting were approved with the following changes: 1) change the word "elected" to "selected" under the category of Vice Chair's Report; and 2) revise sentence 2 in paragraph 2 under Compensation/Classification Subcommittee to read, "Mary Berg reported that she requested an increase to the top of salary ranges to reflect the average of increases given for merit or given as across the board by those units not ready to give merit increases, but Mr. Erickson did not feel that an adjustment to the top of the ranges would be appropriate in this instance."

OFFICER'S REPORTS

Vice Chair's Report

Stephanie Dilworth, Vice Chair, provided committee members with the following announcements for the upcoming year: 1) there will be no July, 1999 meeting; 2) a strategic planning committee meeting will be scheduled in July, 1999; 3) the annual retreat will be held on August 5, 1999; 4) the September, 1999 meeting will be held in Duluth; and 5) next year's meetings will continue to be 9am-12noon, but on the 4th week of the month. Vice Chair Dilworth thanked members rotating off the committee next year for their outstanding service, including Pat Rouse, George Hoh, Lynn Schulz, Lorraine Haley, and Debra Melander. A Certificate of Appreciation was presented to Ms. Haley for her contributions to University Staff Day. Wendy Williamson thanked all members for their help with UStaff Day by presenting them with mouse pads with the UStaff Day logo.

Treasurer's Report

Debra Melander, Treasurer, distributed a budget sheet and noted that $953 was moved from professional development to U Staff Day and that there is currently a $9,654 balance in the committee budget. Paulette Jackson volunteered to be treasurer for the 1999-00 Civil Service Committee.

Human Resources Update

John Erickson, Office of Human Resources, reported that AFSCME approached the Office of Human Resources (HR) a year ago with concerns about positions in particular classifications in the technical units, particularly the lowest level professional jobs. The first professional job class out of the bargaining unit in that series is Student Support Services Assistant (SSSA). Although AFSCME has no problem with the reclassification of these individuals, they are concerned that the position is considered professional, and not clerical. As a result, HR has met with Duluth representatives and have spent a considerable amount of time looking at the SSSA positions as objectively as possible; they have determined that they are indeed bargaining unit positions. This has affected employees on both the Duluth and Twin Cities campuses, but more so on the Duluth Campus and the staff are very upset. HR representatives from the Twin Cities campus visited with the Duluth employees after reevaluating the jobs and came to the same conclusions. The individual can seek mediation, but Mr. Erickson is not hopeful that the outcome will be any different and could in fact open up other positions for questioning or audit. If the individuals in Duluth disagree with HR's solution, both parties agreed to allow the Bureau of Mediation to decide the outcome. At this point, however, HR is waiting for more information from Duluth.

Nancy Lamers, Office of Human Resources, stated that 80 Universities across the country comparable to the U of M were asked to complete a salary survey. The data collection process is currently underway, but only 12 responses have been received to date; HR will continue to request a response from the Universities. The Office of Human Resources is also now reviewing information gathered from the job analyses in the University Libraries, and working on a questionnaire for employees to administrators in the fall.

SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS

Compensation/Classification Subcommittee

The Compensation Committee met on May 25 with John Erickson, HR, and informed him that the CSC had recommended implementation of a 3% across the board increase. On May 27, the subcommittee was informed that the proposed partial pay plan was only going to include a 2% increase (we suspect to avoid compromising the University's negotiating position with the bargaining units). The next day, a partial pay plan was proposed to the full committee calling for 2% across the board with a clause calling for "the remainder of the CS salary plan to be finalized in consultation with the CSC and communicated after collective bargaining agreements are concluded and with appropriate considerations of equity for all civil service and union represented staff"; the plan was approved by the CSC on June 2. Recommended action by the subcommittee is that the remainder of the pay plan be developed, and that further across the board increases should also result in increases to the top of the ranges by a like percentage.

The Classification Committee met on June 9 and informed the CSC that the proposed change to V-class for the TV Production Manager classification has been reviewed, but that the issue of class title change and possible change in pay grade will be brought to the subcommittee's meeting August.

Communications/Public Relations Subcommittee

George Hoh was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation for all of his hard work and vision for the University Staff Day. He distributed an article from the Minnesota Daily about the event, commented that it was a big success, and thanked the CSC for helping him make University Staff Day a reality.

Employee Benefits Subcommittee

A draft report, which was distributed at the May meeting for review, was discussed. It will be placed on the committee web page once the figures on the differences between pension plans for civil service and P&A employees have been confirmed. A discussion was held about the differences in pay between civil service and P&A employees when vacation benefits are considered in dollars. It was agreed that this will be an appropriate agenda item for the August retreat. Gavin Watt asked everyone to review the report, particularly the recommendations, and provide feedback to the subcommittee.

Professional Development Subcommittee

Since the remainder of the professional development funds this year went toward U Staff Day, there were no professional development awards this month. Wendy Williamson asked committee members to think about other ways that professional development funds can be distributed, such as travel grants for conferences.

Senate/Assembly Vacancies

Dick Haney forwarded the following names to the President for approval: Catherine Forseide and Jean Niemiec for the Social Concerns Committee; David Lenander for the Student Affairs Committee; Kent Rees for the Facilities Management Committee; Duane Nelson for the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee; Nancy Carriar and Barb Weiler for the University Grievance Hearing Officers Panel; and Rich Straumann for the Student Union Board of Governors.

Search Committee to Fill CSC Vacancies

John Felipe confirmed that his report was submitted to the President on April 23, but that he has received no response at this point; he will call the President's Office for an update. The search committee will resume its search next year for a candidate from Morris.