You Can be the Difference
in Making your College or
University a Great Place to Work
CUPA-HR Southern Region Conference
April 28-30, 2013
Sam Connally
Vice President
for Human Resources
Tracy Eells
Vice Provost
Faculty Personnel
Mordean Taylor-Archer
Vice Provost
Diversity & Int’l Affairs
Vision of a Great Place to Work
The University’s vision reflects a mandate that
the University of Louisville become a
“preeminent metropolitan research university”
by the year 2020.
Faculty and staff give life to our vision and are
the means by which we fulfill our teaching,
research, and public service mission.
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Vision of a Great Place to Work
Faculty contribute to student success in the
classroom, generate knowledge through
research and creative endeavor, and translate
knowledge into practical solutions that improve
the lives of the citizens of our city and state.
Staff employees help make this work possible,
both in providing direct support to our academic
and research activities, as well as through the
myriad ways their work supports University
operations.
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Vision of a Great Place to Work
Making faculty and staff concerns a priority is
what our Great Places to Work Initiative is all
about.
The University is committed to a continuing and
systematic evaluation of work life issues to
improve the quality of work life at UofL.
The Question is “How do you know if you are
making progress.” Well, now you can find out.
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Chronicle of Higher Education
Great Colleges to Work For Survey
Chronicle of Higher Education Great Colleges to
Work For Survey Introduced in 2008
 Administered by Modern Think at No Cost
 Survey includes 10% of faculty and exempt
staff. Option to sample non-exempt staff.
 Honor Role Recognition in Special Chronicle
Edition for thematic rankings above 75%.
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Great Colleges to Work For Survey
Thematic Areas & Overall Satisfaction
 Job Satisfaction/ Support
 Teaching Environment
 Professional Development
 Compensation, Benefits, & Work-Life Balance
 Facilities
 Policy, Resources, & Efficiency
 Shared Governance / Pride
 Confidence in Supervisors & Department Chairs
 Confidence in Senior Leadership
 Faculty, Administration, and Staff Relations
 Communication & Collaboration
 Fairness, Respect, & Appreciation
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UofL’s Survey Experience
We had Great Expectations
…
 Scored 66% Overall Employee Satisfaction Rating
 President adds Chronicle Survey to Scorecard
 President sets 2020 Goal: 75% (Honor Role)
 But we experienced Declining Ratings. Oops!
2008 = 66%  2009 = 64%  2010 = 62%
 Today’s presentation is how we have tried to turn that
trend around – and how you can help your college or
university become a great place to work, as well.
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We Moved from a Project Model
to Shared Responsibility Model
To ensure continuity in our GPTW Initiative, the
Provost has assigned responsibility for cochairing the GPTW Initiative to the institutional
officers with operational responsibility for
policies and practices that most directly impact
the work life of faculty and staff.
Sam Connally
Vice President
for Human Resources
Tracy Eells
Vice Provost
Faculty Personnel
Mordean Taylor-Archer
Vice Provost
Diversity & Int’l Affairs
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We Moved from an Advisory Committee
Approach to Working Committee Approach
2008 - 2010 GPTW Committees and Steering
Committee were “advisory committees.”
Constituency Groups (Advisory Committees)
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Faculty Senate
Staff Senate
Commission on Status of Women
Commission on Diversity & Racial Equality
We just didn’t need a 5th advisory committee.
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GPTW Working Committees
Campus Climate
Health & Wellness
Family-Friendly Policy (Work Family Balance)
Professional Development
Total Rewards (Recognition & Rewards)
GPTW Steering Committee
 Co-chairs of GPTW Initiative
 Chairs or Co-chairs of GPTW Committees
 Chairs or Co-chairs of Constituency Groups
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We Took a Timeout from the Survey
Then Re-Launched our GPTW Initiative
 Our pitfall was surveying employees three
years in a row, without showing that we were
listening. It was kind of like, “What did you not
understand about what I told you last year.”
 Did Not Survey in 2011, which meant no
Presidential report to Board of Trustees. !?!
 Re-Launched GPTW Initiative in Jan 2012 with
GPTW Symposium hosted by Provost.
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We Took the Time to Celebrate
Cumulative Progress
 Celebrated GPTW-related Outcomes from
2010 – 2012 with campus-wide presentations.
 Published GPTW Newsletter “Great Places /
Great Strides” sent to home addresses.
 Marketed GPTW Survey in 2012.
 Goal to increase participation rate by five points.
 Goal to increase overall satisfaction by three
points (62 to 65).
 Paid supplemental fee to survey non-exempt staff.
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Campus Climate Initiatives
Developed UofL Campus Climate Survey to
supplement GPTW Survey.
Promoted Opportunities for Social Interaction
 Spring Ice Cream Socials
 Summer Outdoor Film Series
 Fall Campus PicNic
President, Provost, & EVP’s hosted open forums
to enhance internal communications with
feedback to individual employees and web posts.
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Campus Climate Initiatives
Office of Ombuds established & funded.
Reached out to Employee Resource Groups
 Black Faculty/Staff Association
 Faculty & Staff for Human Rights (LGBT Group)
 Hispanic Faculty/Staff Association
Created Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT)
Strengthened Network of Diversity Committee
Chairs in Colleges, Schools, & Divisions
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Health & Wellness Initiatives
Level health plan premiums for four years!
Expanded health plan subsidy for part-time
employees from $108/mo to 50% of FT subsidy.
Early adoption of Age 26 for children to remain
on employee’s health plan.
Early adoption of women’s reproductive health
care as preventive care (no co-pays, deductibles,
or co-insurance).
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Health & Wellness Initiatives
Increased health plan subsidy for Get Health
Now Participants from $240 to $480/yr.
Waived premium for on-campus health initiatives.
Renovated Humana Gym for faculty/staff use.
Expanded health & disease management
programs.
Adopted 2 ½ month extension on Flexible
Spending Accounts (thru March 15).
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Work Family Balance Initiatives
(No-Cost to Low-Cost Strategies)
Added domestic partners and their children to
Family Medical Leave eligibility.
Modified FML policy to permit two employees to
each take 12 weeks FML on birth or adoption. .
Added Red Book language to expressly permit
suspension of tenure clock for birth or adoption.
Increased maximum point-in-time leave accrual
from 44 days to 66 days for staff employees to
promote leave use & avoid loss of leave.
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Work Family Balance Initiatives
(Moderate Cost Strategies)
Expansion of Shared Leave Program for Staff
Employees (320  480 hours = FMLA).
Expansion of Parental Leave Program from three
to six weeks (funded by health plan).
Recognized child birth as qualifying event for six
weeks Short Term Disability (for all employees).
Added three months health insurance to Short
Term Disability program (6 months total).
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Professional Development Initiatives
Supported HR commitment to create Staff
Development Program (with two FTE).
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Introduction to Supervision
Customer Service Excellence
Performance Management Training
Disciplinary, Grievance, & Appeal Training
Supported initiative by Office of Faculty
Personnel to provide leadership training to
academic department chairs & other academic
leaders.
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Professional Development Initiatives
Faculty Grievance Policy revised.
Staff Disciplinary, Grievance, & Appeal policies
revised.
Staff Performance Evaluation form revised with
campus wide training provided to all supervisors.
Unit Business Manager training developed &
implemented campus-wide.
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Rewards & Recognition Initiatives
Supported President’s scorecard goal for all
salaries to average 100% of market by 2020.
 Faculty increased from 90% to 91.0% since 2009
 Staff increased from 90% to 93.7% since 2009
Faculty Salary Equity Study conducted 2012-13.
Received Provost’s commitment to conduct Staff
Salary Equity Study in 2013-14.
Received Provost’s commitment to implement
“living wage” for staff employees at $10.00/hr.
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Total Rewards Initiatives
Restoration of merit funding in 2011-12.
 3.0% for Board appointed administrators; faculty with
regular appointments; and contract faculty.
 3.0% for Staff earning $40,000 or more.
 $1200 (4.0%) for Staff earning less than $40,000.
Sustained merit funding in 2013-14.
 4.0% for Board appointed administrators; faculty with
regular appointments; and contract faculty.
 4.0% for Staff earning $30,000 or more.
 $1200 (6.0%) for Staff earning less than $30,000.
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Asking for Help / So How Did we Do?
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We Asked Employees to Share their
Stories why They Think UofL is a Great
Place to Work.
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GPTW Newsletter
Please complete 2012 Survey
Please submit program suggestions.
We will listen and respond.
2012 Chronicle Survey
 Participation increased: 38% to 43%
 Satisfaction increased: 62% to 67%
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Future Strategies
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Align GPTW to 2020 Strategic Plan
Prepare Annual Report on Outcomes
Prepare Annual Goals & Objectives
Continue Newsletters
 We’d be Glad to Hear from You:
 Sam.connally@louisville.edu
 Tracy.eells@louisville.edu
 Mordean.taylor-archer@louisville.edu
You’re welcome to track our
progress at
www.louisville.edu/hr/gptw.
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