Faculty Staff
Appreciation Event – Save the Date
President Genshaft
has announced that the next Faculty Staff Appreciation Football
Event will be held Saturday November 17th in conjunction
with the USF Bulls-Louisville Cardinals football game. Ticket
information and additional details will be released in September, so
keep watching for more information on this unBULLievable event to
celebrate the USF employees!
Fall 2007 Benefits Open Enrollment Period
Open Enrollment is
that time each year when employees can make changes to their
benefits selections. The 2007 Open Enrollment for State Group
Insurance Program Plan Year 2008 will take place from 8:30 AM,
October 1, 2007 through 5:30 PM, Eastern Time, October 26, 2007.
Employee Benefit Statements will be mailed to employee home
addresses beginning September 17, 2007. The People First Service
Center will be available to respond to inquiries regarding Open
Enrollment on September 24, 2007. The Service Center staff will be
able to provide information and assistance in preparation for Open
Enrollment at that time. They will not be available to accept Open
Enrollment elections or changes until October 1, 2007.
Beginning October
1, 2007 employees will have three ways to enroll in, change, or
cancel their benefit elections through People First Service. The
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system will not be used to
process elections this year. The IVR will be available only for
inquiry.
·
Online enrollment – You can access the online system at https://peoplefirst.myflorida.com
any time.
·
People First Service Center – You can speak with a Service Center
Specialist by calling 1-866-ONEHRFL (1-866-663-4735), Monday through
Friday, 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM, Eastern Time.
·
Paper
Enrollment Forms – You can request forms from a Service Center
Specialist by calling 1-866-ONEHRFL (1-866-663-4735) or access
enrollment forms online.
As in years past,
Benefit Confirmation Statements will be mailed to all who made
election changes. Individuals will have until 5:30 PM, Eastern
Time, Friday, November 9, 2007, to make corrections to those
Confirmation Statements. For questions, please contact USF HR
Benefits at 974-2970.
Easy on-line access to Benefits Information
Looking
for information on benefits? HR now has available all USF
benefit vendors'
brochures on-line
here, where you can view a slide show overview and download
brochures and enrollment forms.
“We’re
delighted to offer our customers a new way to get important
information that offers an improvement in quality and ease of use,
provides cost savings to the University and reduces unnecessary
trash in landfills,” said Sandy Lovins, Associate Vice President,
Division of Human Resources.
For
more information, contact HR Benefits at 974-2970.
Benefits Fair September 18th
The
annual USF Benefits Fair will be held Tuesday September 18th
at the Alumni Center, with educational sessions on Monday September
17th. State and other benefits providers will be
available to talk individually with employees about their benefits.
Watch for this space for more information.
New Advocacy Program Director Appointed
Nanci Newton has been appointed the new Director of the
Advocacy Program,
Division of Student Affairs. A Tampa native, she has most recently
been Program Coordinator for Stop Violence Against Elders and served
as a member of the Rape Recovery Team for the Women’s Center of
Jacksonville, FL. She wrote and produced a nationally recognized
award winning CD-ROM to train law enforcement and legal
professionals on violence against elders.
“I have spent most
of my adult life working in the fields of sexual assault and
domestic violence and advocacy and am passionate about working to
end violence against women and children” said Ms. Newton.
A nationally
Credentialed Advocate (Advanced Level) and certified Victim Services
Practitioner and Batterer’s Intervention Facilitator, Nanci has been
a victims advocate in Georgia and Wisconsin, working with students
at both state universities. She holds a BA in Psychology and
Women’s Studies and an MFA from Vermont College, has served on a
number of victims’ advocacy-related civic boards and committees, and
written extensively on the subject of domestic violence and abuse.
The Advocacy
Program is located in SVC 1138, telephone (813) 974-5756.
New Assistant Director of HR/Organization Development and Training
Tim Miller has been
appointed HR Assistant Director, Organization Development & Training
(ODT). In addition to providing day-to-day management and
leadership to the ODT team, Tim joins the Human Resources Division
leadership team and will help with the overall development,
planning, and implementation of various HR initiatives.
Tim brings more
than 25 years of training and development experience to USF. His
expertise includes improving performance and effectiveness,
strategic planning, operational improvement, succession planning and
staff training. Tim has a Masters of Divinity and B.A. in
Philosophy from Athenaeum of Ohio and Northwestern University. Tim
may be reached at (813) 974-5294.
“We are delighted
to welcome someone of Tim’s background and experience as we continue
to strengthen HR’s ability to deliver outstanding service to the USF
community,” said Sandy Lovins, Associate VP, Division of Human
Resources. “A large public research and doctoral university like
USF is really a number of smaller organizations linked together, and
part of ODT’s mission is to help these organizations work together
to support USF’s strategic vision and goals.”
ODT consultants focus on the human systems that are necessary to
achieve organizational goals. These include people, relationships,
policies, procedures, processes, culture, and organizational
structure. ODT offers an expansive suite of services including
training and facilitation in team effectiveness, leadership
development, meeting and retreat facilitation, strategic planning,
goal setting, process analysis and redesign, personal and
professional development, customer service, communication skills,
diversity, new employee orientation, USF systems, policies and
procedures. For more information, visit the
ODT website.
New Faculty RightStart & Benefits Orientation
All new USF faculty
members should plan to attend one of the upcoming RightStart/Benefits
orientation sessions in early August. At each session new faculty
members will be able to complete the paperwork required to get on
the payroll (RightStart@USF) and get information about USF employee
benefits, options, how to enroll and, if they wish, to enroll for
benefits on the spot.
Sessions will be
held:
·
Wednesday
August 8 8:30 AM – 12:00 noon. USF Athletics – IAF Big East Room
·
Friday
August 10 8:30 AM – 12:00 noon. USF Athletics – IAF Big
East Room
RightStart
orientation will begin at 8:30 AM. Benefits orientation at 10 AM.
For more information click
here
or contact Lionel Leonard, HR Benefits Representative at 974-5490 or
lleonard@admin.usf.edu.
Update Your Mailing Address
for Benefits Open Enrollment
USF employees
with benefits may make changes to their benefits for 2008 during
this year’s Open Enrollment period from October 1 through October
26, 2007. People First will be sending open enrollment packets to
the mailing address of each eligible employee. To ensure that you
receive your open enrollment packet, please review and update
your mailing address on file with USF by Friday August 10, 2007.
Your mailing address maybe accessed through GEMS Self Service (click
here for
instructions). For questions, contact Human Resources at 974-2970.
Budget
Reduction for Personnel Actions Guidelines
Effective July 13, 2007
Statement of
Purpose
In order to meet
budgetary cutbacks required by statewide revenue shortfalls,
effective immediately (July 13, 2007) the University will begin
implementation of a university-wide budget reduction plan. As a
result, all personnel actions that have a cost associated with their
implementation will be suspended, delayed, or frozen until further
notice.
Guidelines
Specifically, this
initiative will apply to personnel in ALL pay plans (faculty,
staff, administration, and non-student OPS) with the exception of
the following:
1.
those who are
funded 100% from contracts or grants (C&G);
2.
student OPS;
3.
FWSP
appointments.
Personnel actions
that are suspended, delayed, or frozen include:
-
Posting and
advertising of vacant positions (including OPS);
-
Appointments of
new or current employees to vacant positions (including OPS)
-
Increases in
FTE to existing employees;
-
Changing
appointments of temporary (OPS) employees to regular;
-
Extensions of
temporary appointments, including emergency visiting, acting,
and OPS;
-
Pay for
performance, bonus and/or meritorious service salary increases;
-
Classification
actions that do not result directly from workforce reductions or
consolidation of areas, responsibilities and/or duties.
Any exceptions
must be submitted in writing to the appropriate VP/CEO who will
submit a request for final approval to the President. Only those
that have received official approval will be processed.
Any requests for
exception must include the following:
-
Specific reason
for the exception, including the direct impact on core and
essential business operations;
-
Show how
suspending, delaying, or freezing requested action would
negatively impact on essential or critical business operations;
-
Show that other
methodologies and/or options have been explored and exhausted.
All other salary
actions (promotions, additional/higher level duties, special pay
increases, including stipends) for all personnel including C&G
employees, must be approved by the respective Vice President.
All personnel
actions currently in process (defined as any personnel action
currently in the Human Resources Office that is date stamped as
received on or before July 12, 2007) will be handled as follows:
1. All
employment offers will be honored;
2. All
positions currently in the recruitment process (posting,
advertising, interviewing) will require VP review and
signature prior to submittal to HR for processing.
3. All
approved salary actions will be implemented as submitted.
This process will
be in place until further notice.
Issued by the Division of Human Resources, July 12, 2007
Budget
Reduction Personnel Action Guidelines
Frequently Asked Questions
July
13, 2007
When will the
hiring freeze be effective?
The
Budget Reduction guidelines indicate that a hiring freeze is
effective immediately.
Does that include
searches that are currently underway?
All
current vacancies are affected. All searches which have not yet
resulted in an accepted offer will require VP approval to continue
the search and process. If an offer has been extended, that
commitment should be honored.
What positions are
affected?
All
faculty, staff, administration, and non-student OPS positions are
affected. Positions funded completely or partially from auxiliary
funds are also affected by the freeze, and will require an exemption
in order to recruit.
Does this apply to
grants?
The
hiring freeze does not apply to positions that are 100% funded by
grants or contracts. If, however, a portion of the position is
funded by other funds (E&G, auxiliary, RO), it MUST be approved
through the exception process.
Will any exceptions
to the suspension, delay, or freeze on personnel actions be
considered?Yes.
Requests for exceptions should be submitted to the area Vice
President with budgetary responsibility for the personnel action.
Upon VP review and approval, requested actions will be forwarded to
the President for final determination.
How will I know if
my exception has been approved?
Your
area VP or regional CEO will notify you of the disposition of your
request.
What types of
requests might warrant consideration for exception?
Positions that would be deemed mission critical to our overall
operations will be considered.
How long will this
budget reduction plan be in effect?
The
plan will be in effect indefinitely and until further notice.
Will there be any
layoffs as part of the plan?
There are no layoffs planned at this time. Current programs and
services will continue to be closely evaluated in the weeks to come.
Who do I contact if
I have questions?
Contact your VP or the Division of Human Resources.
Updated
07/17/2008
