April 8, 2012 - April 14, 2012 Archives

Below is a copy of the CLA NOW Agenda for tomorrow's meeting, which will take place in the Willey Hall Seminar Room from 9:00am to 10:30am.

Download the agenda here

The ReUse Routes will not operate on Tuesday, April 17th as our focus will be on Beautiful U Day. Departments and individuals are encouraged to participate in the campus clean-out on Tuesday, April 17th. Visit the Beautiful U Day site for more information on the campus clean-out event: http://www.buday.umn.edu/
Please share/distribute to your building occupants.

As many of you know, OHR has started a job family classification redesign initiative.  This project will upgrade the University classification system for Civil Service and P&A employees. The goal of this initiative is to attract and retain highly talented and performing employees. To date, they have completed the communications job family study, and have started the Info Tech study.  The objectives of this initiative are:

• Ease of administration - with job promotion criteria clearly defined and established pay parameters
• Clearly defined and understandable classification structure and career paths
• Consistency of classification application across the University
• Transparent compensation and classification systems understood by managers and employees

More information can be found at:   http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/toolkit/compensation/jobfamily/index.html

OHR needs your help to identify employees who might fit into the next study.  We need your help to identify the names of P/A and Civil Service employees whose work focuses on community programs. Staff in professional, supervisory, and managerial (including director) roles are included in the study.  Staff may be currently classified as coordinators, assistant to, program manager, director; as well as administrative professional and community programs specialist/associate. 

Work in this job family involves engaging community/industry/business groups on issues of common interest, and working with partner organizations to address those issues in ways that advance the University's research, teaching, and service mission.  The primary function is the establishment and/or management of a partnership with an external organization.  Typical functions also include planning and/or directing a community partnership program, networking with, and serving as a liaison with the external partner(s).

Please send us the names of the employees whose work effort of 50% or more is related to community program work, as defined above and in the attachment.  If someone's job is a good fit and you are not sure about the 50% - please note that. Click here for a one page summary of typical responsibilities performed by individuals in this job family.  (Not every position will perform every responsibility listed.)

By Friday, April 13, please send the employee name, job title, and name of his/her supervisor to the CLA HR email account (clahr@umn.edu).  Once the information is compiled, OHR will communicate with the employees and supervisors regarding the next steps on the study.  If you have any questions, please contact Margaret Yzaguirre (mmy@umn.edu; 6-9352).  Thank you, CLA Human Resources

The memo to University Senior Leadership, regarding the FY13 compensation plan, has been posted (http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/pay/salaries/index.html).  The University has also posted compensation information regarding undergraduate students working in non-academic positions.  We are awaiting the compensation plan for graduate assistants and undergraduate students working in academic positions.  As has been the practice in CLA, the dean will spend the next few weeks meeting and consulting with appropriate representative groups within the college.   We are also working with OHR to clarify a few detailed questions, such as positions eligible for or excluded from the compensation plan.  Therefore, please do not implement salary adjustments based on the University's compensation plan memo.  Towards the end of April, the dean will issue the CLA compensation memo which will include time lines for submission of materials for faculty and P/A merit.  If you have any questions, please contact Margaret Yzaguirre (6-9352; mmy@umn.edu).  Thank you, CLA Human Resources

The following email below went out to all graduate assistants Tuesday (4/10) afternoon.  Also, the Charge of Unfair Election Practices and the Stay of Certification of Results of Tabulation Order and the Maintenance of Status Quo Order must be posted in areas where graduate assistants work. Please print and post these documents ASAP.

Patti Dion, Director
Employee Relations and Compensation

University of Minnesota Graduate Assistants,

On April 5, 2012, United Auto Workers/GSWU filed a Charge of Unfair Election Practices against the University of Minnesota. The union claims that the University's activities prior to the March election affected the election outcome, where graduate assistants voted to remain in a non-union status.

As a result of this filing, the Bureau of Mediation Services has stayed the election results pending an investigation of and ruling on the charges. The Bureau has also reinstated the Maintenance of Status Quo Order. This means that the University cannot make changes to terms and conditions of employment, including pay increases, until the Maintenance of Status Quo order is lifted.

We will continue to communicate with you and update our online FAQ as we have more information and a timeline for a ruling on these charges. If you have questions or concerns at any time during the process, please email ohr@umn.edu.

Patti Dion, Director
Employee Relations and Compensation

While Google continues to tweak the interfaces of Apps and Gmail not everyone agrees all changes are improvements. For some reason, I've been unable to retrain my brain to understand the Gmail toolbar buttons, which now have icons instead of descriptive text. If you want the old text buttons back, you have the option to switch them in Gmail's settings.

To toggle the buttons back to text, head to Gmail's settings and, under the General tab, scroll down to "Button Labels". Click on the radio button next to "Text", save your changes, and head back to the inbox to see the new (old) buttons. Enjoy!