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A: Yes, as of September 2014, the Blanton has a new benefit for staff – free admission for you and a guest when you show your UT ID. Go to http://blantonmuseum.org/ to learn more about the museum.
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A: This is something a UTSC committee could look into, particularly staff demand vs. revenue needs of services/venues. They would have to find solutions to meet the needs of both sides.
Professional Development
Q: I'm interested in professional development. What are my options?
A: There are several options available to you at no charge:
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Q: Can staff use the Staff Education Benefit (SEB) for family members?
A: No. The SEB only for active university employees that are appointed full-time (40 hours a week). The SEB isn't available to faculty or to students employed in positions that require student status as a condition of employment. However, If you're in a regular position that doesn't continue for 12 months you may be eligible on an exception basis (e.g. elementary teacher, University Health Services). If you're in such a position you can contact the Human Resource Service Center at 471-HRSC (4772) to request an exception. For more information about SEB, go to http://www.utexas.edu/hr/current/career/seb.html
Q: Can staff use SEB for other courses – extension courses, PDC, etc.?
A: No. Staff Educational Benefit Doesn't Cover:
- Courses through the Division of Continuing Education (including Extension Credit Courses)
- Courses through Executive Education
- Courses offered through Option III programs
- Online courses
- Courses at any other college or university
Q: Can I use the SEB for dissertation hours?
A: SEB cannot be used for dissertation courses with numbers ending in 99
Q: How do we address lack of computer skills with staff?*
A: UT Compliance is working on a computer literacy course, open to all staff. Talk to Jaime Davis (jaime.davis@austin.utexas.edu) for more info.
Shared Services
Q: Where can I find more information about Shared Services?
A: The best place for the most up-to-date information on Shared Services is at http://www.utexas.edu/transforming-ut/shared-services.
- You can also sign up for updates via email at https://utlists.utexas.edu/sympa/subscribe/transformingutupdate
- Per CFO Darrel Bazzell’s email on 8/17/2016, ATS is continuing as-is, while CBO is being phased out beginning this month. CBO members will be moved into business units where possible. Up to 30 positions may be phased out.
Staff Issues
Q: Who are my HR Reps (at department level in particular)?
A: You can find this via the HR website: http://hr.utexas.edu/hrpro/lookup/
Q: How do I get management to listen?
A: There are classes on communication and conflict resolution via UTLearn, Center for Professional Education, and Lynda.com. This is also something a committee could look into: guest speakers on modern management practices.
Q: How to navigate complaints/issues/compliance reporting? What resources are available?
A: See the following:
If you are concerned with the immediate safety of yourself or others, please dial 911.
Compliance and Ethics:
- Hotline: 1-877-507-7321
- Online reporting tool:www.reportlineweb.com/utaustin
- E-mail: hotline@compliance.utexas.edu
Behavior Concerns Advice Line (BCAL): (512) 232-5050
Environmental Health & Safety: (512) 471-3511
Fraud Hotline: (512) 471-7117
University Police (UTPD): (512) 471-4441
State Auditor’s Hotline: 1-800-TX-AUDIT (1-800-892-8348)
SME directory
- Designated Officials for UT Austin: https://compliance.utexas.edu/designated-officials
- Other University Officials: https://compliance.utexas.edu/other-university-officials
Grievance process
Dispute Resolution Office - https://hr.utexas.edu/current/services/dispute/
Staff Ombuds - https://ombuds.utexas.edu/staff
UTSC Issues Process - http://staffcouncil.utexas.edu/resources-2/utsc-issues-process/
UT Austin
Q: What’s going on around campus?
A: See http://calendar.utexas.edu/ for current events and http://police.utexas.edu/campuswatch/current/ for the daily crime watch.
Q: What relationship does UT Austin have with other UT campuses?*
A: Ad-hoc, depending on the department.
Q: What is leadership’s take on culture/what’s their vision?
A: UTSC Officers will be discussing this with President Fenves soon.
Q: What are systemic/cross-campus issues?
A: Per the Campus Employee Engagement Surveys, the biggest ones are:
- Pay & Benefits
- Internal Communication
- External Communication
See the survey reports for more info.
Q: What are the water conservation policies/plans for campus?
A: In an upcoming meeting, we’re going to have Matt Stevens from the Energy & Water Conservation Program (https://facilitiesservices.utexas.edu/EWC/) give a talk on this.
Q: What’s the space plan for campus?
A: This is being handled by Technology Resources (TRECS), and is a topic we can have a guest speaker cover in an upcoming monthly meeting.
Q: How to handle confidential info, what is and isn’t confidential
A: This spans a few areas:
- All Title IX violations (sexual harassment) must be reported to the Title IX office (http://titleix.utexas.edu/).
- For campus security issues and crimes, see https://compliance.utexas.edu/clery
- For electronic confidential info, see http://security.utexas.edu/policies/data_classification
Q: Is there an explanation of UT merit policies and practices?
A: We'll schedule in a guest speaker from HR in an upcoming UTSC General Meeting
Q: How to budget decisions get made?
A: We'll have a guest speaker from the Budget Office at an upcoming UTSC General Meeting.
Q: Is there a way to see Departmental budget reports?
A: Yes. The Budget Office is responsible for budget operations, strategic planning, reporting, financial tables, comparisons, and impact studies on proposed and actual legislation affecting the University's budget. You can find the reports at: http://www.utexas.edu/business/budget/
Q: Could we get a big-picture perspective on campus and how it all works?
A: We'll get a guest speaker to address that in one or more upcoming UTSC General Meetings.
Q: Where can I find information about alternative transportation?
A: Parking and Transportation manages alternative transportation for the campus, including:
- BikeUT, your source for bike registration, "The Kickstand" bike hub, and maps for on-campus bike racks and pumps, as well as routes to campus.
- A car-sharing initiative with ZipCar
- UT-Austin’s relationship with Capital Metro to provide campus shuttles.
Q: Campus Carry?
A: Please see https://campuscarry.utexas.edu/ for info on, but not limited to:
- How to request specifics listed in policy (ie appropriate signage)
- Leeway at local level (office, department level)
- Boundaries and compliance
- How to answer common questions or get questions answered
...
Staff Educational Benefit (SEB)
Q: Can staff use the Staff Educational Benefit (SEB) for family members?
A: No. The Staff Educational Benefit (SEB) is for active university employees that are appointed full-time (40 hours a week). The SEB isn't available to faculty or to students employed in positions that require student status as a condition of employment. However, If you're in a regular position that doesn't continue for 12 months you may be eligible on an exception basis (e.g. elementary teacher, University Health Services). If you're in such a position you can contact the Human Resource Service Center at 471-HRSC (4772) to request an exception.
Q: Can staff use SEB for other courses – extension courses, PDC, etc.?
A: No. Staff Educational Benefit does not cover:
- Dissertation courses with numbers ending in 99
- Courses through the Division of Continuing Education (including Extension Credit Courses)
- Courses through Executive Education
- Courses offered through Option III programs
- Your admissions application fee. (You must pay the application fee when you apply for admission. Fee waivers are available in certain circumstances. If an employee applies for admission and is not accepted, the fee will be refunded. For information call the Office of Admissions at 512-475-7325.)
- Online courses
- Optional fees such as Longhorn Sports and Cactus yearbook
- Auditing courses
- Reimbursement for previous semester's courses
- Courses at any other college or university
- Student services, such as the Counseling and Mental Health Center and University Health Services, excluding the Forty Acres Pharmacy
- Costs associated with required vaccines for entering students are not covered by the SEB. Please see Required Vaccinations for more information.
- Recreational Sports membership - You must purchase a RecSports membership to access classes that meet at a RecSports facility (Gregory Gym and Aquatic Complex, Caven Lacrosse and Sports Center at Clark Field, Whitaker Fields and Tennis Complex and the Recreational Sports Center).
Q: What statute allows us to provide the SEB?
A: The State Employees Training Act in the Texas Government Code allows the university to provide a benefit such as the Staff Educational Benefit. Subsections C and D specifically talk about the requirements and restrictions of the benefit.
Q: Does the course have to be related to my job?
A: As of February 2019, the coursework does not have to be related to your job, but that will change soon. The State Employees Training Act section 656.044 specifically says "The training or education must be related to the duties or prospective duties of the administrator or employee." HR is currently working on creating an HOP that will address some of the discrepancies between the way we administer the program and the way the State says it must be administered.
Professional Development
Q: I'm interested in professional development. What are my options?
A: There are several options available to you at no charge:
- HRS's CareerSmart program offers the Management Essentials and Managing Beyond the Basics certifications. For those not interested in management, it offers the Essentials for Developmental Excellence certification.
- University Operations offers Professional Development for its employees including a Reading Group, a Breakthrough Workshop, and an extensive Leadership Growth Program for those who have completed the Breakthrough Workshop and met other criteria.
- UT Austin has a campus-wide subscription to Lynda.com, the #1 online training site. If you can think of it, Lynda probably has a course for it. You can log in here.
- There's also the Staff Education Benefit (SEB), which covers the cost of in-state tuition for staff.
Q: How do we address lack of computer skills with staff?*
A: UT Compliance is working on a computer literacy course, open to all staff. Talk to Jaime Davis (jaime.davis@austin.utexas.edu) for more info.
Shared Services
Q: Where can I find more information about Shared Services?
A: The best place for the most up-to-date information on Shared Services is at http://www.utexas.edu/transforming-ut/shared-services.
- You can also sign up for updates via email at https://utlists.utexas.edu/sympa/subscribe/transformingutupdate
- Per CFO Darrel Bazzell’s email on 8/17/2016, ATS is continuing as-is, while CBO is being phased out beginning this month. CBO members will be moved into business units where possible. Up to 30 positions may be phased out.
Staff Issues
Q: Who are my HR Reps (at department level in particular)?
A: You can find this via the HR website: http://hr.utexas.edu/hrpro/lookup/
Q: How do I get management to listen?
A: There are classes on communication and conflict resolution via UTLearn, Center for Professional Education, and Lynda.com. This is also something a committee could look into: guest speakers on modern management practices.
Q: How to navigate complaints/issues/compliance reporting? What resources are available?
A: See the following:
If you are concerned with the immediate safety of yourself or others, please dial 911.
Compliance and Ethics:
- Hotline: 1-877-507-7321
- Online reporting tool:www.reportlineweb.com/utaustin
- E-mail: hotline@compliance.utexas.edu
Behavior Concerns Advice Line (BCAL): (512) 232-5050
Environmental Health & Safety: (512) 471-3511
Fraud Hotline: (512) 471-7117
University Police (UTPD): (512) 471-4441
State Auditor’s Hotline: 1-800-TX-AUDIT (1-800-892-8348)
SME directory
- Designated Officials for UT Austin: https://compliance.utexas.edu/designated-officials
- Other University Officials: https://compliance.utexas.edu/other-university-officials
Grievance process
Dispute Resolution Office - https://hr.utexas.edu/current/services/dispute/
Staff Ombuds - https://ombuds.utexas.edu/staff
UTSC Issues Process - http://staffcouncil.utexas.edu/resources-2/utsc-issues-process/
UT Austin
Q: What’s going on around campus?
A: See http://calendar.utexas.edu/ for current events and http://police.utexas.edu/campuswatch/current/ for the daily crime watch.
Q: What relationship does UT Austin have with other UT campuses?*
A: Ad-hoc, depending on the department.
Q: What is leadership’s take on culture/what’s their vision?
A: UTSC Officers will be discussing this with President Fenves soon.
Q: What are systemic/cross-campus issues?
A: Per the Campus Employee Engagement Surveys, the biggest ones are:
- Pay & Benefits
- Internal Communication
- External Communication
See the survey reports for more info.
Q: What are the water conservation policies/plans for campus?
A: In an upcoming meeting, we’re going to have Matt Stevens from the Energy & Water Conservation Program (https://facilitiesservices.utexas.edu/EWC/) give a talk on this.
Q: What’s the space plan for campus?
A: This is being handled by Technology Resources (TRECS), and is a topic we can have a guest speaker cover in an upcoming monthly meeting.
Q: How to handle confidential info, what is and isn’t confidential
A: This spans a few areas:
- All Title IX violations (sexual harassment) must be reported to the Title IX office (http://titleix.utexas.edu/).
- For campus security issues and crimes, see https://compliance.utexas.edu/clery
- For electronic confidential info, see http://security.utexas.edu/policies/data_classification
Q: Is there an explanation of UT merit policies and practices?
A: We'll schedule in a guest speaker from HR in an upcoming UTSC General Meeting
Q: How to budget decisions get made?
A: We'll have a guest speaker from the Budget Office at an upcoming UTSC General Meeting.
Q: Is there a way to see Departmental budget reports?
A: Yes. The Budget Office is responsible for budget operations, strategic planning, reporting, financial tables, comparisons, and impact studies on proposed and actual legislation affecting the University's budget. You can find the reports at: http://www.utexas.edu/business/budget/
Q: Could we get a big-picture perspective on campus and how it all works?
A: We'll get a guest speaker to address that in one or more upcoming UTSC General Meetings.
Q: Where can I find information about alternative transportation?
A: Parking and Transportation manages alternative transportation for the campus, including:
- BikeUT, your source for bike registration, "The Kickstand" bike hub, and maps for on-campus bike racks and pumps, as well as routes to campus.
- A car-sharing initiative with ZipCar
- UT-Austin’s relationship with Capital Metro to provide campus shuttles.
Q: Campus Carry?
A: Please see https://campuscarry.utexas.edu/ for info on, but not limited to:
- How to request specifics listed in policy (ie appropriate signage)
- Leeway at local level (office, department level)
- Boundaries and compliance
- How to answer common questions or get questions answered
UTSC
Q: How is the leadership of Staff Council organized and elected?
A: Each person on Staff Council is a Representative for their district. Some people are also elected or appointed to leadership positions. There are 4 "officer" positions that are elected each year: Chair, Vice Chair, Parliamentarian, and Secretary. There are 7 "standing committees", per our bylaws, which means there are 7 people who serve as chairs of those committees who are either appointed or elected by the membership of the committee. Each year there may be additional committees formed. If an issue can't fit into one of the standing committees, "annual committees" may be created and a chair appointed or elected by the membership of the committee. There may also be short-term committees formed ("Ad-Hoc committees"). They are usually disbanded after the issue has been handled.
Each Officer and each chair of the standing or annual committees sits on the Staff Council Executive Committee. The photo below shows the make-up of the Executive Committee in 2018-2019.
Q: How do I describe the mission of UTSC? What it is, how is helps, what it has done, and what it can do.
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- Provide a forum to present interests, concerns, and issues affecting staff;
- Pose advisory recommendations to UT leaders as a representative advocate;
- Create a sense of community by forging effective partnerships with campus stakeholders, including selecting nominees for University standing committees;
- Maintain honest and transparent communications and processes.
Also see UTSC accomplishments and our orientation for new reps.
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- Metrics for specific projects
- Staff awareness of UTSC and its accomplishments
- Access to/influence on Campus leadership
- Continuing funding for projects from the President’s Office
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A: Your manager must support at least 4 hours per month, per our Bylaws, HR, and the President’s Office. Beyond that, it will be up to your manager. Showing them UTSC accomplishments (https://wikis.utexas.eduutexas.atlassian.net/wiki/display/utsc/UTSC+Accomplishments) may help, as these accomplishments have benefited all staff and oftentimes all of campus.
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A: UTSC reps can raise their constituents’ awareness of available campus resources for handling staff issues and professional development.
Q: Why is the UTSC general meeting structured the way it is?
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- The How to Succeed as a Rep handout.
- Regroup email system: https://utexas.regroup.com/
- Regroup documentation: https://wikisutexas.utexasatlassian.edunet/wiki/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=11233071771696411
- Also flyers, posters, talking to constituents, and/or hosting a brown bag lunch to talk about issues.
...
A: Based on current events and constituent interest. The more your constituents tell us what they want to hear about, the better we can serve them. Generally speaking, the Executive Committee tries to choose speakers who are of interest to the staff as a whole. They try to avoid bringing in speakers whose message can easily be sent in an email or posted on our website.
Q: UTSC budget—how is it allocated/funded?
A: UTSC gets budget from HR for running UTSC itself (badges, annual retreat, etc.) and from the President’s office for funding yearly projects, such as the Professional Development Grant. The Staff Council Executive Committee decides how to spend this money each year. Approximately half of our budget is used for the professional development grant.
Q: Why does UTSC use Regroup instead of UTLists?
...