By MARTY LEVINE
Mark Burdsall, deputy vice chancellor of Human Resources, reassured Staff Council at the June 16 meeting that the new, albeit interim, policy governing flextime work at Pitt, rolled out the previous day, was designed “to make a somewhat ambiguous situation ... sometimes a traumatic situation ... as easy as possible.”
“Supervisors need to have a conversation” with staff members about flextime, he said. Asked how the policy deals with individuals’ preferences, he said that the policy parameters are really based on “business need. It is not about accommodating somebody’s personal needs. Because that is where you’re going to be inequitable ...” if work schedules and settings are set based on mere preference. Thus, he said, “I can tell you not everybody is going to be happy about outcomes.”
A final policy is still being discussed by a University-wide committee, he added.
Staff Council member Jessica Lutz, academic advisor in the University-wide TRIO Student Support Services, reported that the organization received more than 1,000 responses to its recent staff survey on job and responsibility creep and would be assessing the answers and speaking with staff who said they were willing to talk about the issue.
“Our plan is to gather the information ... take it to the new administration (of Staff Council) and take it to the University at large.”
Said Staff Council President Andy Stephany: “I’m looking forward to seeing what Staff Council can do to put it in action.”
New officers
Stephany, who will be leaving office next month due to term limits, reported the election of several new officers for July 1:
President: Angie Coldren (Office of Research Protections)
Vice president of finance: Yvonne Brewster (Research Administration and Finance, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine)
Executive vice president: Kenny Doty (Swanson School of Engineering) was re-elected.
Still to be voted upon are the vice president of public relations and the parliamentarian. In July, Staff Council’s committee chairs will be up for election.
Marty Levine is a staff writer for the University Times. Reach him at martyl@pitt.edu or 412-758-4859.
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