Respect, Diversity, Inclusion and Caring Minute: 

Winter Wellness with Dr. Kathy Pena and Stacey Schmitt from UAF, Student Health and Counseling. 

• Tips for managing your time and getting ahead & 15 tips to manage stress
• Self-care wheel 

December 2022 Staff Council Action Items: 

• Motion to approve the 2023 Staff Council Meeting Schedule - passed 
• Resolution 2022-343-1: Resolution in Support of Establishing an Employee Recognition Policy Universal to the UA System - passed
• Resolution 2022-343-2: Resolution in Appreciation of Ashley Lindsoe - passed 

Meeting Highlights and Announcements

• Staff Council Resident Ronnie Houchin's written report 
• 2023 Staff Council Representaives
• LinkedIn Learning licenses available
• Education Attainment Incentive Program
• UAF NoLo Superhero news
• Results from 2022 Student Textbook affordability survey

Chancellor White 

Chancellor White would like to thank staff council representatives for their service and commitment to governance. In regards to the budget, the Governor has until December 15th, to determine what he will or will not support in the university budget. It is sounding like the Governor intends to be supportive, there may be items that will not be supported but in general we are looking at a stable budget. The legislature will start shaping the budget in January then it will go back to the Governor, who then has veto power.

The Governor will be announcing potential regents. There are 11 regents and 5 upcoming openings, this could really reshape the Board. By the end of the Governor's term, all the regents will have been appointed by Governor Dunleavy. That’ll be unprecedented in our history, because regents serve 8 year terms it’s unlikely that all Regents would cycle in and out but that is currently the case by the end of this term. Anyone can apply to be a Regent. The Governor has a review committee and the recommendations then go forward to the legislature. 

Recently in the Chancellor's Cabinet they reflected back on accomplishments of the year and it was really enlightening and a positive experience. They discussed the current workforce, the changes from the pandemic, there was a lot of optimism for fresh spaces and ideas with a stable budget outlook. 

Thank you to Kathy and Stacey for being here to talk about wellness. 

The Governor's cup had 3000 people attend to cheer on the nanooks hockey team. It was very positive and uplifting to see all that energy.

Vice Chancellor Julie Queen

The FY25 budget is soliciting proposals with the planning and budget committee, this is co-chaired by Provost Prakash and Julie Queen. The funding proposal submission is now open until the end of February. This is an opportunity to make your funding requests known. 

Bryan Hoppough with Human Resources

Chris Triplett with Talent Acquisition joins us to go over the student hiring process and the new policy that will allow departments to make offers to students at any dollar amount. If they exceed $18 an hour those departments could be audited and need to provide justification as to why they are paying more than $18 an hour. For more assistance or any questions regarding the compensation aspect of this please contact compensation at ua-compensation@alaska.edu. This will not impact the graduate students. The application process has been streamlined, no resume, references, or cover letter is required unless the department includes that in the job posting. Students can start working once they have initiated their background check and submitted their hiring paperwork to the HR coordinator. 

Heather Arana, the Director of Transition and Benefits joins us to discuss the updates to Kroger and their ongoing negotiations with Express Scripts. This prescription change is affecting the nation, not just UAF. You may still get your prescription from Fred Meyer but it would no longer be at a member discount. We should hear more in January on the negotiation process and whether or not Express Scripts and Kroger will come to an agreement. 

UNUM and UA are working with a leave specialist to advocate for us to UNUM to offer both parties objectivity. When you outsource for the first time the process is going to change a little bit, but because of the larger population affected by FML, we want to make sure that we're helping employees understand the process and navigate that process successfully, and then this benefit specialist is also helping support our changes that we're requesting from UNUM  for their process, where we feel that they're being unreasonable and revisiting issues. Heather will be meeting with their legal team to revisit language issues, and how they word their letters. We're really looking for a mutual win-win here where their processes can get more efficient, better and more transparent, and our employees can get the services that they need. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to UA-benefits@alaska.edu. 

Kendell Newman and the Faculty Accelerator

Kendell Newman joins us to discuss the Faculty Accelerator. Kendall does faculty development at Ecampus and participates in the faculty accelerator and on the Provost Faculty Development team. This is an umbrella that catches all the professional development available on campus. These opportunities may apply to faculty, staff or adjuncts. Note that it’s not only for faculty and staff are more than welcome to participate. Contact Kendell if you have any questions about any particular event  klnewman4@alaska.edu.