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Office
of News and Information
February 18, 2002 |
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Employee
Advisory Council Outlines Issues Those and other issues were outlined by council members during the group's annual meeting with the Board of Regents on Feb. 13. Lorraine Etkin, an employee of U.T. M. D. Anderson Cancer Center who chairs the council, said the 32-member group had established committees on benefits, compensation, communications and policy. The council has set up a Web site using the U.T. System server (www.utsystem.edu) and hopes to develop the site as a resource for employee councils at each of the 15 component institutions of the system. The council was established by the Board of Regents in late 2000 to give the System's 68,000 staff employees a new voice in discussions with the board and administrators. During the past year, members of the council were elected or appointed across the system, and organizational meetings were held. The council consists of two representatives and an alternate from each of the 15 components and the System administration. Similar councils of students and faculty have existed since the early 1990s. "This is one of the best organized presentations ever made to the board, and we look forward to working with the council on the issues that you have brought before us,'' Charles Miller, chairman of the Board of Regents, told the employees. "The board is deeply interested in the well-being of employees and in addressing issues that are of concern to them.'' R.D. Burck, chancellor of the U.T. System, commented: "These are very substantive issues, and I am pleased to see that the council has focused on these so quickly in the process. Working with the council promises to be productive and rewarding for employees across the system.'' Terri Reynolds of U.T. San Antonio, chair of the benefits committee, said her panel plans to research retirement issues such as the possibility of using sick leave credit toward one's retirement and issues of equity between the basic state retirement plan and an optional plan available to some employees. The committee also will study the possibility of providing uniform educational benefits to employees and dependents, as well as innovative ways of dealing with employee parking problems at crowded urban campuses. The compensation committee, chaired by Shirley Zwinggi of U.T. Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, will examine a variety of non-monetary compensation options such as telecommuting, flexible schedules, day care and elder care, and social functions. The communications committee, chaired by John Poindexter of U.T. San Antonio, has surveyed council members about their perceptions of the most effective methods of employee communication and will be focusing on improving communication among employees and between employees and administrators. Robert Vasquez of U.T. Permian Basin, chair of the policy committee, said the role of his panel is to be a resource for the other committees by analyzing and comparing rules and regulations at the system level and among the components. Also taking part in the presentation were Walter Tenery, vice chair, U.T. Arlington; Lee Arisano, secretary, U.T. El Paso; and Sherril Boline, historian, U.T. System administration.
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