“Connection Through Communication”
Addressing the Issues
Town Meeting, March 21 and 22, 2000
The Ad Hoc Academic Staff Committee on Workplace Issues reported its findings
to the Academic Staff Assembly on November 8, 1999. The document “Connection
Through Communications” made a number of recommendations based on
input received from approximately 200 academic staff members.
The Academic Staff Executive Committee (ASEC) then considered the recommendations
in light of the Assembly discussion. They were glad to report that many
of the issues under control of ASEC and the Secretary have already been
addressed, and changes made.
The following examines the recommendations with a status report as to
what has been done or what is planned by the appropriate entity.
Communication
ASEC should work with campus communication professionals to assess academic
staff communication needs and determine best how to disseminate information.
1. ASEC met recently with Patrick
Strickler, the new Director of Communications for the campus. In response
to ASEC’s inquiry, Strickler said that his staff is willing to do
consulting on communication techniques as time permits. ASEC has a good
relationship with reporters from Wisconsin Week who are committed
to devoting more newsletter space to academic staff achievements and issues.
2. The Secretary of the Academic
Staff (Colleen McCabe) is a member of the Campus Communicators group.
These are people in public relations offices across campus in various
schools and colleges. The group has been dormant for a couple years, but
is starting up again. At monthly gatherings, they discuss ways to get
information out in a timely manner..
The Office of the Secretary of the Academic Staff should serve as the
visible, centralized resource, which is responsible for distributing information
to academic staff. It should facilitate communication, serve as the institutional
memory, create a logo, and develop universal email and mailing lists.
1. ASEC agrees that these are fundamental
functions of the Secretary’s office. These functions are currently
performed by the Office of the Secretary, except for the creation of a
logo. Separate logos are discouraged by the campus publications office,
but the academic staff web site (www.wisc.edu/acstaff)
retains a unique look and identity.
2. The Secretary’s office retains
records on file in the office for at least two years. Older records of
importance are sent to the state archives. In cooperation with the Districting
and Representation Committee (DRC), the Secretary’s office has prepared
email lists for each district. Using the academic staff database information
provided, email and mailing addresses can be produced by UDDS, title,
etc. upon request. This information may be particularly useful to the
newly-formed Committee on Academic Staff Issues (CASIs).
3. The Secretary’s office provides
documents in several ways: hard copy, email attachments, and on the web
in an effort to reach all interested academic staff. Agendas, minutes,
reports, and other relevant material are distributed routinely. Other
information may be available upon request. Generally, the campus administration
sends a copy of announcements and bulletins of various types to the Secretary’s
office.
4. Because of the increasing cost
of printing and mailing, the Secretary consistently takes advantage of
technology to reach academic staff faster and more efficiently. For maximum
effectiveness email messages filter through the Assembly representatives.
This system works very well. The Secretary receives lots of positive feedback
about how well this system works. It cannot, however reach non-represented
districts. Finding representatives for all districts is key to improved
communication for all academic staff members. In addition, any academic
staff member whose email is out of date or unavailable is essentially
out of the communication loop.
5. The Secretary’s office will
work with the Districting and Representation Committee members to maintain
up-to-date lists. These lists come originally through DoIT reflecting
information that has been supplied by payroll. The information is only
as good as the records it receives from individuals.
6. ASEC believes the administration
would not support an ombuds for all academic staff. With Academic Staff
Policies and Procedures in place, academic staff have established rules
for dealing with specific grievances. There are also a number of offices
on campus to help with individual issues. If a significant problem arises
in a particular unit, that unit may choose to hire an ombuds as the solution.
(The Medical School has an ombuds at 80% time assisting faculty, staff,
and students with various workplace issues.).
7. Committees on Academic Staff Issues
once established in all the schools and colleges will provide a forum
for academic staff to discuss issues of importance with the attention
of the deans.
Clarity of Academic Staff Roles, Rights, and Responsibilities and Reward
Systems
There is a critical need to identify a responsive mechanism through which
academic staff can ask questions about workplace issues and receive timely
and accurate responses. Policies and procedures that affect academic staff
must be readily available to all employees.
1. The academic staff web site (www.wisc.edu/acstaff)is
new and improved thanks to help from Al Friedman at UW Publications. One
of Al’s student employees has been assigned to work with the Secretary
to design the site and have it be useful. District lists are there, committee
membership, with links to the Faculty Senate site, Academic Personnel
Office, Budget, Planning, and Analysis, and others. Hard copy versions
of most documents are available upon request.
2. Other suggestions for an Employee
section on the UW web, a new employee orientation program, and academic
staff appointment packets are more under the preview of the Academic Personnel
Office, which may wish to consider them.
3. The Personnel Policies and Procedures
Committee provides a periodic salary and promotion information sheet and
an annual job security flyer (which you received recently). They are also
preparing a Q&A brochure for the latest revision of ASP&P once
it is approved by System. These documents are also available on
the web.
4. Brown bag sessions have been held
and will continue to be sponsored by standing committees, primarily by
the Professional Development and Recognition Committee.
Narrowing the Gap between Contributions and Recognition
Concern falls into two areascompensation and acknowledgment of individual
contributions. These are exacerbated by the increase in academic staff
workloads, without commensurate adjustments in title and base pay.
1. The University was able to achieve
pay plan increases for academic staff in the 1999-01 biennium that
are well above increases in inflation. Combined with the availability
of competitive compensation increases for academic staff, this will bring
academic staff closer to market rates. In addition, the salary ranges
are being raised by the full amount of the pay plan – 5.2% - for
each year of the biennium. The category A title structure allows the use
of Extraordinary Salary Ranges (ESRs) whenever there is sufficient market
data and evidence of recruitment/retention difficulties to justify a higher
salary range than assigned. UW-Madison makes ready use of ESRs.
2. The University finally has
been able to get first-day pick-up of health insurance premiums for academic
staff and faculty and continues to work for full domestic partner benefits.
A new title series that recognizes the contributions of long-term,
highly qualified staff who teach and do research on a par with faculty,
may gain more participatory privileges in department decisions for academic
staff.
In addition to the discussion of new titles for Category B academic staff,
there is a strong need for a climate of respect for all University employees.
While many academic staff feel like second-class citizens, many classified
staff feel like third-class citizens. The Office of Human Resources (Academic
Personnel, Classified Personnel, Human Resource Development), the Equity
and Diversity Resource Center, Employee Assistance Office, and other University
offices are exploring ways to create a climate of respect for all
employees in all units of the University.
Support for Continuous Learning and Professional Development
To be effective in their jobs, staff must be lifelong learners, and the
university must make learning and development a campus priority.
The Office of Human Resource Development (HRD) works to increase support
for professional development in three critical ways.
1. HRD works within the organization
to shift the idea of professional development from that of a reward system
to that of a system of continuous preparation for a changing workplace.
This has occurred through integration of these concepts into manager/supervisor
professional development, and through collaborative educational initiatives
with university departments and other agencies.
2. HRD works with individuals to
shift the responsibility for professional development and planning from
the organization to the individual. This is achieved by providing workshops
on planning for professional development, and working with departments
to identify the intersection of staff member professional goals and the
organizational (whether department, college, or unit) goals.
3. Most importantly, HRD has worked
to expand the number of offerings and to increase the accessibility to
workshops and ease of registering for professional development opportunities.
More specifically, the web site (www.ohrd.wisc.edu)
has served to increase the awareness of opportunities and promote on-line
registrations. The New Employee Orientation is also an example of a new,
collaborative initiative that is intended to begin the journey of continuous
learning and professional development within the first six months at the
university.
The Office of Quality Improvement (OQI) also works to enhance professional
development by:
· Providing services to help staff use
planning and improvement methods to improve the effectiveness of their
unit’s work. New approaches and principles are learned while being
applied to real situations. This results not only in more effective work
units, but also in staff gaining skills they can apply in many other situations.
· Providing learning opportunities through
networks, workshops, web, and newsletter venues. Many opportunities are
developed in collaboration with the Office of Human Resource Development.
Networks include other universities and organizations with which we can
benchmark best practices.
· Developing models, examples, and guides
that enable people to learn from each other. Providing materials and venues
to share that learning.
· Encouraging professional development
planning to be done as an integral part of strategic planning.
Workplace Turnover and the Graying of the Academic Staff
The question of academic staff turnover and age distribution should be
addressed at the university and system levels.
The “graying” of academic is not a salient issue for current
employees. More problematic is the length of time needed to fill some
positions, and the lack of overlap among positions or shared organizational
knowledge. The administration should continue to monitor the demographics.