2004-05 chair Dorit Hafner and 2005-06 chair Matt Bowers.
Year-end CSC report
Civil Service Committee update, July 2005
By Dorit Hafner
From Brief, July 13, 2005
The Civil Service Committee thanks our constituency for supporting our work and sending comments and suggestions to improve communication with each other and the University administration. We had a very busy year.
Civil service employees support the overall goal of strengthening the University and making it one of the top three public research institutions in the world. We are excited to be part of this transition and to take an active role in this process. We presented our concerns at the public hearing of the Board of Regents in April. The presentation can be viewed at the CSC Web site.
CSC appointments
The Civil Service Committee welcomes new members Sharon
Beckford and Katy Olson. Congratulations
to Cathy Marquardt and Peg Wolff
on their reappointment to the committee. Ken Angwenyi,
Susan Cable, Rick Densmore, and Sue
Gustafson will serve as alternates.
Annual retreat
The CSC annual retreat will be July 27 at the
Continuing Education Center, Twin Cities campus, St. Paul. We will
lay out plans for the coming year, including goals for the overall
committee and subcommittee assignments. An afternoon session will
welcome new civil service senators and discuss plans for CSC and
senate interaction.
Staff Day gift pickup
If you missed CSBU Staff Day, you can pick up your free gift.
Minneapolis: July 14, 15, 18, 19 and 20, 11 a.m.-1
p.m., Burton Hall, first floor. St. Paul: July 12,
13 and 14, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., 290 Peters Hall. Bring your
invitation card or University staff ID. Questions? Call Mary at
626-9462.
Merit Task Force (MTF)
The next meeting is scheduled for July 13, 1-3
p.m., Donhowe Building. The two groups are now in the process of
finalizing a questionnaire for internal and external users. The
plan is to include three private and three public institutions, two
or three Big Ten universities, and the four to six units at the U
that are currently providing merit pay. The questionnaire and the
list of participants will be presented at the next meeting. The
groups also invited speakers who will present information on the
issues and educate members. We hope to have results of the
questionnaire by the end of August.
We welcome participation of any civil service employee who is able
to commit their time and bring their experience to the table. Or,
send your comments to Merit Plan page.
Rules subcommittee
The next meeting will be July 20, 3-4:30 p.m., 240
Donhowe Building. All civil service employees are welcome to come
and participate.
As of July 1, civil service is now part of the University Senate with 25 representatives, two being the chair and vice chair of the CSC. One-third of the terms will expire each year and new applications will be invited each spring. Representatives will receive administrative support from the senate office. The CSC will no longer hold a secretary's office. I would like to thank Bonnie Marten, who has served the committee since 2000 as our secretary and has done an outstanding job.
I thank each of the committee members for the time they volunteered and their dedication to making this university a better place for all civil service employees--Brenda Boever, Rick Densmore, Joe Jameson, Cathy Marquardt, Lori Nicol, Diane Parker, Heather Powell, Karen Tschida, and Peg Wolff.
Just a few highlights of the committees' work include completing a revision of the Civil Service Rules and negotiating a different increase in salary ranges that will help employees near or at their salary range maximums. We played a strong role in advocating for the University at the state legislature. Merit pay and performance management have been discussed throughout the year, and with the Office of Human Resources, the CSC formed a Merit Task Force to address issues and provide the University with guiding instructions and information. Goals are to (1) develop University-wide guidelines and templates to help units manage performance and merit pay and (2) develop communication materials that educate employees and managers on the advantages and purpose of performance management and merit pay programs. The task force has an ambitious schedule to complete its work by December. See the sidebar, left, for more information.
The CSC has a new brochure and magnets with contact information. If you missed Staff Day on July 11 and wish to receive either item, please contact a member of the Communications and Public Relations committee. Thanks also to Linda Olcott for preparing e-InTouch and Sue Gustafson for submitting articles to Brief each month.
Finally, we welcome the new incoming chair, Matt Bowers from University Libraries, and the vice chair, Peg Wolff from University Relations. Both are highly motivated and focused employees. There is no doubt that the CSC will thrive under their leadership.
The full annual report can be accessed through the CSC Web site.