Last spring, members of the Administrative Management Group issued a plea to top UC Davis administrators: The staff is stretched thin and needs help.
More than seven months later, administrators and staff members say the campus has made real strides dealing with the issue. They say the concerns not only led to an increase in staff and customer services in some areas, but helped to spark a change in attitude among UC Davis officials and staff members. But, they say, the campus must remain focused on the issue or the momentum will stop.
"The staff looked at all the attention that was given academic planning and campus growth during the past year," said Jerry Hallee, assistant executive vice chancellor, "and they really reacted to that. They said, ‘Hey, how about us?’
"We’ve been working to address the very legitimate staff workload and compensation concerns by identifying solutions and implementing them wherever possible," he said. "We’re committed to it."
It was last March that members of AdMan, the management group, brought their concerns about staff workload to Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Robert Grey and Vice Chancellor Janet Hamilton. Since that meeting, which was attended by about 70 midlevel managers, top campus administrators have looked for immediate and long-term solutions.
In June, they adopted the "Staff Workload and Compensation Action Plan," promising to spur changes and create an ongoing dialogue with campus employees about staff workload and compensation. Last month, the first of the quarterly updates promised in the plan was issued.
Among other things, the report’s highlights include:
• In May, an additional $1 million was given to deans and vice chancellors to apply to reclassification of employees.
• Deans and vice chancellors were given the authority to approve equity salary increases.
• A Senior Advisors Group, appointed by the deans and vice chancellors, was charged with monitoring staff workload and compensation issues. The group meets twice a month.
• Additional funds were earmarked for central campus services. New positions were added in several areas, including private- and public-sector contracts and grants, and data management. Funding was also increased to expand staff training.
• New funding allowed the Benefits Unit, which had been hit hard by staffing shortages, to increase its hours for phone and walk-in customers. It is now open from
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Also, a third benefits analyst was added to help with one-on-one counseling appointments.
• Additional resources have reduced the projected turnaround for classifications and reclassifications from 90 days to 30 days, and more market studies will be done to assess employee compensation levels.
• Funding was added to help the police department increase patrols, creating a more visible presence on campus.
Beyond those changes, "dialogue groups" are reviewing two important central campus services: gift processing and the staff employee recruitment process. The groups’ mission is to identify and implement changes that will reduce workload and increase efficiency.
The reviews are expected to be completed within the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, another group is developing guidelines for managers interested in using "floater" staff to provide short-term assistance to departments during times of special needs, such as vacations, illnesses, and training and professional development.
"Additional staff have been needed in central administration service units , to answer phones, to improve transaction processing and generally improve services," Hallee said.
"More efficient service units will reduce staff workload across the entire campus. With the growth already seen on campus during the last several years, and the growth that’s ahead of us, we have to keep the matters of staff workload and compensation a very high priority. Recognizing that staff are a priority will help us come together across campus on this issue."
Working together is something that Pam Torrey, chair of the UC Davis Staff Assembly and management services officer for the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, believes is key to dealing with the concerns expressed by AdMan last March.
"I think we’re definitely heading in the right direction," she said. "The administration has made some remarkable steps so far."
Torrey said campus administrators "should be commended" for immediately addressing reclassification and salary issues. But, she said, it’s important for the work to continue.
"We have to keep open the lines of communication," she said. "We have to keep working together. We’ve seen documented improvements. We have a ways to go still, but we’re on the right track."
Hallee said the state’s strong financial situation gives the university "more flexibility than we had a few years ago."
"A key consideration is making certain that our campus planning efforts always take into account staff resource needs," he said. "The Davis campus must have adequate staff and faculty to deal with the increasing number of students that will be coming here."
It will take a committed workforce to handle that growth, said Dennis Shimek, associate vice chancellor for human resources, and that’s where the changes that began last spring come squarely into play this fall.
"Work is more than just coming in for eight hours a day and doing your job," he said. "You have to enjoy it, you have to want to be here to make a difference. This sends a major, major signal to the staff and campus community that from the highest levels of the administration these issues are in fact going to be taken seriously.
"… This is a new kind of partnership. We need to encourage and welcome questioning. We need people saying to us, ‘Yes, in fact you’ve done what you said you would.’ Or, ‘No, wait a minute, you haven’t done anything.’ We need everyone involved to make this work."
That’s exactly what Linda Bentley, vice chair of AdMan and a management services officer in the Department of Population Health and Reproduction in the School of Veterinary Medicine, wants to hear.
"I think it’s wonderful," she said of the renewed focus on staff workload and compensation concerns. "It’s stirred so much interest on the campus. We’re developing an awareness of the issue that didn’t really exist before, except among staff. My impression is that good things are happening.
"We need to keep watching it," she said, "to make sure the momentum doesn’t slow down.
"But I’m jazzed."
You can find the Staff Workload and Compensation Issues Quarterly Status Report on the Web at: http://provost.ucdavis.edu/issues.cfm