Answers are coming soon for employees who haven't received a response after expressing interest in joining one of the service teams that will take on much of the university's finance and human resources work beginning July 1.
In a presentation and question-and-answer session at the March 7 Professional and Scientific Council meeting, the co-chairs of the improved service delivery (ISD) transition team process told councilors that interested staff shouldn't assume they aren't being considered if they haven't been contacted yet. Though an ambitious initial timeline called for filling the estimated 186 ISD positions by March 1, hiring was only two-thirds complete by the morning of the presentation. The current goal is to fill all service team jobs by April 1.
"It's a work in progress," said Leslie Ginder, an employee and labor relations consultant for university human resources and co-chair of the transition team process. "I know that is very challenging. I 100 percent get it."
Several council members said they are hearing from P&S staff who are concerned that they are not getting detailed information yet about how ISD will affect them.
"We're past the point where 'I don't know' is cutting it. I don't think you understand the angst out there," said Barry McCroskey, an accountant for ISU Extension and Outreach and the council's vice president for university planning and budget.
Faculty forum
Identical sessions on Workday and improved service delivery specifically targeted at faculty begin today. All are in the MU Sun Room except April 3.
- March 14 (11 a.m.-1 p.m.)
- March 26 (10 a.m.-noon)
- March 26 (1-3 p.m.)
- April 2 (10 a.m.-noon)
- April 3 (9:30-11:30 a.m., MU Great Hall)
Many of the anxious staff are among the 562 employees who indicated in the ISD job interest survey that they might want a position on one of the 10 new service teams, councilors said. Though all survey participants received an automated response Jan. 25, council president Stacy Renfro said interested employees who haven't been offered a job often are in the dark on where the hiring process sits.
"For us to have not called the 'yeses' is unacceptable, in my opinion," she said.
Transition team co-chair Stephen Simpson, director of emergency management and outreach for environmental health and safety, said all employees who expressed interest in the staffing survey in January will be contacted eventually, but completing the hiring for the service teams is a linchpin for formulating transition plans and communicating details to impacted staff.
Transition work progresses
Even as the hiring process continues, 17 local transition teams are meeting with staff in their departments to collect information about how the shift to service teams will impact their workloads, Simpson said. Transition teams will make recommendations to unit leaders about how to address those impacts. The information gathered by transition teams also will help inform the budget model for funding the service teams, he said.
"This is an iterative process. It's not going to all happen today, tomorrow and the next day. It's going to take the next few months to really solve this," Simpson said.
Ginder and Simpson urged employees with questions to contact them or email ISD_Transition@iastate.edu.
"We want to do everything we can to help make sure that we're getting the right information timely to people the best we can. That is very important to us," Ginder said.
Officer elections
The council also selected its officers for 2019-20, electing Sara Parris, current chair of the policies and procedures committee, as president-elect. Parris is Thielen Student Health Center's assistant director of administrative services. The president-elect for this year, Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching program coordinator Amy Ward, will serve as president in 2019-20.
Under current bylaws, new officers take on their positions after the final meeting of the fiscal year in May or June. A revision considered in a first reading last week, up for approval at the council's April 3 meeting, would have officers' tenures begin at the start of the fiscal year July 1. Renfro said delaying the start of officers' terms would make year-to-year transitions smoother.
All other officers were re-elected to their posts, including:
- Vice president for university community relations Kelly Friesleben
- Vice president for university planning and budget Barry McCroskey
- Vice president for equity and inclusion Lindsay Moeller
- Secretary/treasurer Joy Stroud
