0 Petitioners Receive Response from HR

At 3:51 pm, I received the following letter from UW-Madison Human Resources Director Bob Lavigna in response to the Change.Org petition. The full text follows.  I have underlined key sentences since it is rather long and inserted with ** some comments of my own.

I am very pleased with this display of engagement on the part of the administration and shared governance units, and hope you will agree with me that this is a significant step forward.  On Wisconsin!



November 2, 2012

 Dear UW-Madison colleagues:

I am writing in response to the October 30 petition asking me to, “… issue a list of written assurances regarding all planned significant changes to the Human Resources Design Strategic Plan on which the Faculty Senate will vote on Monday, November 5, 2012.”

 First, I want to outline where we are in the process of finalizing the HR Design Strategic Plan, and what will occur as we move forward.

On September 21, we posted the plan for campus-wide review and comment. Since then, we have engaged in another aggressive round of soliciting campus feedback, including in-person and online forums and presentations to groups that include the Faculty Senate. We have also continued to meet regularly with the University Committee and other governance and stakeholder groups to discuss the plan.

This wide-scale engagement is a continuation of the campus engagement strategy we have used from the time the 11 HR design work teams issued their draft recommendations last spring. To date, our outreach has resulted in nearly 10,000 contacts with members of our campus community.

Later this month, our executive sponsors – the Interim Chancellor, Provost, and Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration – will consider feedback on the plan from across the campus, as well as resolutions and other feedback from governance groups, and then make final decisions on the plan. It’s also important to remember that once the framework goes forward there will also be continued consultations as specific implementation details are developed. 

Then, on December 7, the Board of Regents will consider both the UW System and UW-Madison approaches. At this stage, we do not know what level of detail the Board will request that this discussion cover. We expect to issue a final version of the HR Design Strategic Plan after the Board meeting.

I have outlined this process to make it clear that the executive sponsors will make final decisions on the HR Design Strategic Plan based on the input we are receiving from the campus community.  

******

Over the past two weeks, we have had a series of communications with Associate Professor Sara Goldrick-Rab, the originator of the petition. These communications have included an in-person meeting which we initiated, as well as a series of follow-up email communications. These exchanges have been positive and constructive.  

Professor Goldrick-Rab identified several issues that she believes need to be clarified or modified. On October 29, I responded to her, agreeing in most cases with her suggestions (**these suggestion are listed as each "Issue" below**), and committing to recommend changes to the plan to the executive sponsors. What follows is a summary of my understanding of these issues, and my responses. 

Issue: Pay a living wage to contractor employees who work on campus premises, on contracts that exceed $5,000 in value. 

Response: We understand the importance of this issue and have asked for information on how many contracts UW-Madison has (as opposed to any contracts the Wisconsin Department of Administration manages, which we can’t control). After we receive this information, we will be in a better position to understand the scope of this issue and work with the appropriate campus units, particularly UW-Madison Business Services, to conduct an analysis. We understand the legitimate concerns about paying the living wage to contractor employees, including the potential impact on UW employees if contractor employees do not receive a living wage. We do not yet have a timetable for completing this analysis.  

Issue:  Address tensions between equity and market in the current plan. 

Response: We plan to 1) recommend language further clarifying that UW-Madison places a strong value on internal equity as a campus climate and retention strategy; 2) recommend editorial changes to the plan to make sure the terms “market” and “equity” are given equal consideration in the text; 3) clarify, after speaking again with our classified staff representatives, what is meant by market with regard to unskilled and semi-skilled classified employees; and 4) add a discussion of the importance of collaborative, interdisciplinary work on our campus and that this factor needs to be considered in compensation decisions.(**This is exactly what I had asked for**)

Issue: Revise the language in the plan regarding shared governance to be consistent with FP&P.

Response: We completely agree that the plan should accurately convey the precise nature of faculty governance and its role in implementing the new HR system. It’s also important to emphasize that the plan does not call for any changes to the nature of faculty or academic staff governance. Moreover, the plan calls for extending formal governance rights to university (currently classified) staff.  (**Again, exactly what I had asked for**)

Issue:  State more clearly the strong need to train faculty, chairs, and deans to appropriately determine compensation packages and to retain employees and help them be productive. Call for a campus-wide discussion about how best to create incentives for faculty to learn how to perform effectively in management roles. 

Response:  We agree there needs to be thoughtful and widespread discussion about how to create incentives and accountability for managers, including faculty, to be consistently effective. We believe that this point is already made in the plan but will review the plan to make sure it is clearly stated. (**Again, request fully met**)

Issue:  Assure that accountability metrics and measures are included in the plan. 

Response:  We agree that accountability measures and clear assignment of responsibilities are important. According to the HR Design Strategic Plan (page 54), “OHR will develop a dashboard of key measures to help track the effectiveness of university HR practices.” These metrics will provide a set of reference points to assess progress. Developing these measures must be a thoughtful and collaborative process. The plan includes a list of possible metrics. We will build on this list to develop a more robust set of measures.

Issue:  Modify the portions of the plan that eliminate the right of classified employees who transfer to other jobs on campus and fail probation to return to their original jobs. The determination of transfer itself may involve multiple factors but seniority should be used as the determinative factor in the case of ties. Create a roster of laid-off employees. Employees on the roster would have the right (provided that they are physically and mentally capable of performing the job) to an open position of the same job classification held by the employee or a classification in which the employee previously served. 

Response: We believe the appropriate forum for discussing these important issues right now is the Labor-Management Advisory Committee (LMAC). This committee, composed of labor and management representatives, has been in place for many years to discuss work-related issues that affect classified employees. We have been discussing these and other issues with our classified employee/labor partners and are willing to continue these discussions.

Issue:  Publish a list of written assurances regarding all planned significant changes to the Human Resources Design Plan on which the Faculty Senate will vote on Monday November 5, 2012. 
 
Response:  We are still gathering and analyzing feedback on the plan, including by engaging in conversations with governance and stakeholder groups. We will use this feedback to recommend changes to the executive sponsors. Therefore, it would be premature at this time to finalize any lists or draft specific language about possible changes. However, we plan to make the recommendations described above (and perhaps others as we continue to receive feedback and speak with stakeholder groups) to the executive sponsors. Specific modifications to the plan will be driven by the decisions of our executive sponsors. 

*******

I believe the above discussion responds, as best as I can at this stage in the process, to the request for a list of written assurances. At this point, it is not possible to identify each potential change that the plan might include, or the specific language of changes. However, we will continue to 
meet regularly, as we have been doing, with governance and other stakeholder groups to discuss possible changes and provide updates. 

I hope that our colleagues across the campus appreciate where we are in the process and how this affects our ability to provide detailed information on possible changes. I also ask that our colleagues recognize the transparency and candor that have characterized our conversations and campus engagement activities about the HR Design Strategic Plan.

Sincerely,


Robert J. Lavigna
Director

0 Information? Intimidation? It's Hard to Tell

This morning the Dean of Letters and Sciences at UW-Madison sent the following email to all faculty and staff in his college.  Since that time, my email inbox has flooded with concern expressed by staff, students, and faculty who are not sure why he sent it and what it's meant to accomplish.


Subject: [xtmp] Human Resource Design Strategic Plan
Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2012 09:37:26 -0500
From: Gary Sandefur
To: xtmp@lists.wisc.edu

Dear L&S Staff and Faculty,

 There have been many documents and statements floating around about aspects of the Human Resources Design Strategic Plan.  Some of this information is not factually correct.

To address these misconceptions, campus has developed the attached fact sheet.  You can also find the document at the following website: http://hrdesign.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/120921HR_Facts.pdf

 I encourage all employees to read the Fact Sheet to ensure you are accurately informed.  If you have any questions at all about the information in the Fact Sheet or the HR Design Strategic Plan, please feel free to contact the following L&S Human Resource Staff:  [deleted]

You may also want to refer to the general HR Design Website at http://hrdesign.wisc.edu/  for additional information about the HR Design Strategic Plan.

Cheers,
Gary

-- 
Dean, College of Letters and Sciences
105 South Hall
1055 Bascom Mall
University of Wisconsin – Madison
Madison, WI  53706

As I wrote to Gary in response, there are at least two problems with this email. 

First, the information distributed is titled "facts" but is in fact hardly objective or "factual." At best, it's one point of view, and at worse, it is administrative propaganda.

For example, point 15 is misleading. The stated "misconception" is that HR Design work teams were dominated by HR staff. The statement that the teams had "representatives" from stakeholder groups does not contradict the claim. The fact is that 1/3 of the reps were HR staff and another 1/3 were managers above the HR staff level--only 1/3 were from lower-status stakeholder groups or faculty.  Clearly, the work teams were predominantly HR staff and managers!

Second, the timing of this email is worrisome since right now there is a petition being circulated asking that HR simply provide clear details on planned modifications to the Plan so that the Faculty Senate knows what it's being asked to vote on on Monday.  That petition includes large numbers of L&S faculty and staff who were brave enough to make their request for transparency public. 

It is 11:40 am right now, the petition asks for these details by 12:00 pm today. Nothing has arrived.

Instead, I am now hearing from people who signed the petition and who feel this email was intended to intimidate them.  

Since I'm sure that was not Gary's intention, I urge him to take immediate action to correct that impression and ensure that everyone on campus feels they are allowed to sift and winnow their way through this absolutely crucial process.

0 New Research: Shared Governance Promotes Cost-Effectiveness

Good news for UW-Madison faculty, staff, and students:  a new study suggests that shared governance lowers institutional costs per student.  The disintegration of shared governance across the nation's universities has contributed substantially to rising costs, according to these economists.  But not at UW-Madison, right folks? We are keeping shared governance alive.

There is more good news.  The study also says that the optimal ratio for cost containment is 3 tenure-track faculty for every 1 full-time administrator.  At many places there are now twice as many administrators as faculty.  But not at Madison. This year, Madison has 1,986 tenure-track FTE faculty compared 406 FTE administrators, a ratio of 4.86 to 1.

However there may be some need for closer attention to what lies ahead.  The study also suggests that we need to take into account students (imagine that!) and think about our staffing relative to students, not merely one another. And there, the evidence suggests potential problems.  Between 1987-2008, the study reports that nationally at public research universities the number of administrators per 100 students increased 9%, while at Madison the data digests show that growth was 34% -- with another 5% growth occurring since 2008.  In comparison, nationally the number of tenure-track faculty per 100 students grew by 3%, while at Madison it declined by 3%, then rebounded for a total net gain of 2% in the last five years. Admittedly, Madison started with a higher baseline for faculty-- almost 0.5 more tenure-track professors per 100 students than the national average-- and a lower baseline for administrators--about 0.6 fewer administrators per 100 students than the national average.  But even so, this change over time is not necessarily about striking a better balance, and  given the trends we in shared governance need to ensure that's the sole motivation.

Punchline? At the moment, we seem to be in a good spot.  This study contradicts the "popular hypothesis [that] intransigent tenure track faculty prevent costs from being minimized by cost conscious administrators."  The shared governance metric (the ratio of tenure track faculty to full time professional administrators)  is not correlated with cost. Instead, "costs are convex in the ratio of tenure track faculty to full time administrators and the models suggest costs are lowest when the ratio is approximately three tenure track faculty for every one administrator."

The problem is that "the ratio goes higher or lower costs per student are higher." If anything, this study suggests that we may have too many faculty at Madison given the numbers of students we are serving-- a great case for increasing enrollment, and maybe, growing the size of the administration a bit too (whew, never thought I'd say that).

0 UPDATED! UW-Madison's Community Speaks Out on HR Design

Tuesday morning at 11 am, my colleagues and I initiated an online petition requesting that the Director of Human Resources at UW-Madison, Bob Lavigna, put his good intentions for revising the HR plan in writing before shared governance groups are asked to vote on the plan next week.

Just one day later, we had 223 signatures and counting!  Two days later we crossed the 300 mark.  This includes dozens of faculty, including many prominent, senior members who know and love the place.  Clearly, in this town people care about having information at hand and in writing before they're asked to vote.  As Marcia Schiffman of the Department of Opthamology and Visual Science put it, "How can you make an informed decision either way without the actual proposal, changes and all, in front of you?"

One of the best things about an online petition is that signers can leave comments, and as a sociologist I'm finding their words full of insights into how we struggle to make public higher education a better place.  Consider what this effort means to them.

********

"The HR redesign plan will have deep, long-run implications for the climate and values at the University of Wisconsin. Often such institutional redesigns have significant 'unintended consequences.' Only if the details are clear and explicit is it possible to assess these implications."

Erik Olin Wright, Professor, Department of Sociology

"There are reasons why people work for corporations or work for the University. I've worked at the UW for 20 years and I always felt the employee had a voice. This has not been the feeling in the last few years. We need to bring that back and now is the time to start."

 Mark Mears, Graduate Coordinator, Department of German

"As an Assistant Professor at UW-Madison, it is imperative to me that the process and outcomes of the HR Design plan reflect our campus values and commitments, and that this process be as transparent and open as possible."

Edward Hubbard, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology

"I sign this petition because I love this university and am so proud to work at a university that values faculty governance and values every one of its employees. The HR design can strengthen or weaken this incredible institution."

                          Nancy Kendall, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Policy Studies

"We don't need to move backward, we need to move forward. This effects all employees of UW-Madison. Everyone has a voice and should be heard. We should be able to work coopertavely, together."

Marsha Abrams, Medical Associate, Department of Psychiatry

"Working for the UW used to come with shiny bells and whistles. The shininess has been replaced by rust in the matter of a few years. People are talking more about leaving the UW than staying. I don’t want to feel as if I am expendable, nor do I want my fellow co-workers to feel that way. It is only fair and just to be fully informed, not just be shown what are to be the benefits of the new OHR system, but what is hidden in the dark corners as well. A well informed community is what is needed in order to make a wise decision towards any investment, and this would be a huge investment for our University. Our place of work, our lives, our family’s lives, the student’s lives, and the city’s heart will all be impacted."

Kristina Kendall, Accounts Payable

"Effective faculty governance requires full access to information."

Jon McKenzie, Associate Professor, Department of English

"As encouraged by George McGovern, I wish to be a voice of conscience."

Teryl Dobbs, Assistant Professor, Department of Music Education

**********

Finally, as we look forward into our future-- and our new chancellor-- I leave you with these words of warning issued by Jay Stamper, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis: "It is best to go into the future with a well developed plan." 

Join us--sign now-- and tell us what you think.

0 Know What You've Voting For

On Monday the Faculty Senate at UW-Madison will vote on HR Design.  The University Committee has crafted a nice resolution supporting the plan, which is great, but the fact is that they do not know what they are supporting. They are acting on faith, a lovely sentiment, but not a realistic one in a Wisconsin where conditions for working families erode daily.

Join us in calling on the Director of Human Resources to reveal a written list of changes to the current plan that he intends to ask the executive committee (chancellor, provost, and vice chancellor for administration) to suport.

Know. Then Vote.

It's a good plan for Monday November 5-- and for Tuesday November 6 too.

SIGN NOW

0 My Whole-Time Husband

I'm taking a break from the topic of educational policy this morning to tell you a bit about the man who makes my active engagement with educational policy possible -- my husband, Liam.

You've probably noticed that Liam hasn't been contributing to our blog much lately.  Don't mistake this for an absence of commentary on current debates-- he always has plenty to say. Rather, Liam's been quiet on the blogging front in order to make my scholar-activism and motherhood jointly possible.

As I muddle through my 9th academic year at UW-Madison, and prepare to walk five doctoral students  and umpteen master's students across the stage in spring to earn their degrees, I'm increasingly asked by younger colleagues, how do you do it all?  I don't think they're necessarily remarking on the content of my work itself, but rather the volume of activities in which I engage, and the degree to which I bring energy to each of them.

The answer is really quite simple: Liam.

We have two children, ages 2 and 5, along with a dog and a cat, two cars, and a beautiful home. There are three meals a day for us all, always toilet paper when needed, clean laundry, and regular dental checkups and flu shots.  Bedtimes are regular, as are baths, and bills are paid on time.  But throughout it all, I travel 3-4 times a month giving talks, and juggle several consulting gigs on top of my full-time tenured position. This year I'm chairing my department's admissions committee and search committee, co-directing the annual conference and co-organizing our 10 year review, while also chairing a university-wide committee and overseeing a research team of more than 20 people.  Ah, and teaching.

How to make these things jibe?  Liam.  He works full-time as policy director for the New Teachers Center, but begins each day after taking the kids to their daytime activities and stopping in time to pick them up for their evening ones. He is always happy to see them, knows every detail of their likes and dislikes, never cross, never a bear, and consistently joyful in everything in they do.

When he's away, everything falls to pieces.  The kids and I try to scrape by, but we never survive.  We are miserable alone together, without our glue.  He returns, and we are all back in the swing.

The British writer Arnold Bennett once said that "being a husband is a whole-time job. That is why so many husbands fail. They cannot give their entire attention to it."  Well, incredibly my husband can.  He's a whole-time husband, and if women worldwide could achieve to their full capacities supported by men like him, the next generation would be in wonderful hands.

0 I Want YOU to Take My Class!

0 The Gatekeepers of Higher Education

A recent survey conducted by Inside Higher Ed may provide some insights into the sorting mechanism that today's version of higher education is known for.  How does higher education perpetuate inequality?  Let's take a look at the admissions practices of our most accessible, affordable, bachelor's-degree granting institutions-- America's public universities.

Admissions officers at public universities reported:

• Distributing at least some financial aid as a reward, rather than focusing their limited budgets on helping the neediest students afford college. Fully 31% (nearly as many as the private universities) said they are increasing their effort to distribute such "merit" aid, which studies have shown flows disproportionately to advantaged students whose propensities to graduate college are already very high.  There's very little return on investment for such spending and yet 44% of these folks said merit aid was a "good use" of institutional resources. Why? Largely because they help improve the "profile" of entering students-- an input, not an output, but one administrators continue to be obsessed with, since the American public continues to buy the myth that most colleges create great students rather than merely enroll great students.  After all, more than one-third of these admissions officers said that senior administrators, board members, or development officers got involved in trying to influence their decisions!
• Going whole hog after out-of-state students, transfer students, and minority students but doing far less to recruit first-generation students, adult students, or veterans-- those for whom college opportunities are most likely to be in-state and life transforming.
• Largely disagreeing with the notion that promising minority students with otherwise low test scores should be admitted to college. Compared to their peers, about half of whom felt this was a good idea, only 39% of admissions officers at public universities agreed.  But they were more likely than their peers to feel just fine about admitting athletes with sub-par test scores!
• Adhering to the mistaken belief that test scores predict college success, or are otherwise a good tool for admissions.  Only 9% of public university admissions officers feel their schools should go test-optional, compared to 18% of admissions officers overall. So 91% like the standardized tests, but just 84% find admissions essays helpful.  Hmmm...

All I can say is, let's hope this survey is bunk. It had a 15% response rate, which is pretty lousy.  But if it's right, we need to pay a lot more attention to the professionals who are putting our policies into practice. It seems they have some opinions of their own...

0 Making Income-Contingent Loans Cost Effective

Check out an op-ed that I co-authored with my doctoral student Robert Kelchen on income-contingent loans, over at the Chronicle.   Then, be sure to check out Robert's new blog!

0 The Next UW-Madison Chancellor... Tommy Thompson?

The search for a new chancellor of UW-Madison is now underway.  This is a critical search for our community, as changes on multiple fronts threaten to destroy the aspects of Madison that makes it such a wonderful place to teach and learn.

It's absolutely imperative that YOU get involved.  Start by attending one of the upcoming sessions on campus, hosted by the search and screen committee.  Think about nontraditional candidates-- consider those who've worked hard to take leadership roles as faculty in public higher education, for example, but not yet worked as a high-level administrator.  Think outside the typical research university model.  Think outside of the usual corporate models.

Sift and winnow.  Others already are.  Word reached me late last week that some people are thinking "nontraditional" indeed, and seeking to follow the lead of Indiana by bringing this guy into the mix.  Does Tommy meet your definition of a top-notch UW-Madison chancellor? If not, what do you plan to do about it?

Think. Act. Get involved. Don't sit still and wait for it to simply "happen" to us. Please.