Past HR Chat Rooms

December 6 , 2006. Pam Hayes, Manager, Campus HR Benefits outlined services offered by the Benefits Office and discussed strategies for ensuring the staff have all the information they need to make informed benefits decisions.  Also, Allen Terry of Benefits, a retirement counselor discussed the numerous features of the University Retirement Plan (UCRP), and outlined the steps to take if you are considering retirement in 2007 or in the next few years.

July 12, 2006. Crystal Morris, Acting Manager of the UCSF Human Resources Department’s Development and Training unit described her dedicated staff’s holistic approach to addressing specific client needs and partnering with clients to provide the most comprehensive training and organizational solutions. The attendees had the opportunity to hear about how the Training and Development unit can help them and their employees be more effective and move forward in their careers. The attendees also took advantage of the chance to provide input to continue improving Development and Training’s courses and services.

March 8, 2006. Michael Adams, Director of the UCSF Office of Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity and Diversity, led a discussion about diversity issues and concerns, including effective approaches to raising diversity awareness.  There was also a review of the internal discrimination complaint process, as well as the roles of local HR staff, supervisors and his office in the process.

December 7, 2005. Yvette Guerrero of Faculty Staff Assistance Programs discussed the FSAP services available to individuals, supervisors and works groups coping with difficult challenges in their professional and/or personal lives.  There was also a discussion about effective ways for supervisors to encourage staff to take advantage of these critical programs.

September 21, 2005. Jesse Drucker shared some background on the challenges of collective bargaining process at UC, such as the impact of the state budget and the fact of bargaining as a UC-wide process. He gave tips on how to effectively advise supervisors managing represented employees.

May 25 , 2005. Mark Gottas and Josh Samuels of HR Client Services presented their recent addition to T&OD's course catalog, Building Your Attendance Management Skills. They reviewed FMLA, CFRA and PDL regulatory requirements and answered questions focusing on issues of policy, practice and consistency.

Februay 16, 2005. Susan Wright and Ricardo Rodriguez-Vidal led a discussion on the job classification process. They talked about how jobs are defined and the elements that can take a job to the next level. They previewed new classification tools which will provide additional support for Human Resource professionals, as well as managers and supervisors.

November 17, 2004. Larry Hickey and Norma Fong of the Employee Support Services group of Campus HR led a discussion focused on Disability and Return to Work related issues. They shared their expertise and responded to concerns about how to work effectively with employees and supervisors around issues of reasonable accommodation, work restrictions and medical separation.

August 18, 2004. Jesse Drucker and Rene Jackson of Labor and Employee Relations, led a discussion about the various types of ER issues prevalent in departments and the role of the L & ER analysts. There was an opportunity for participants to seek support and guidance on issues specific to their department.

May 19, 2004. Mike Tyburski, UCSF HR Director, met with the group to provide an update on the status of HR at UCSF. Participants had the opportunity to hear directly about changes and provide input about areas and issues they would like to see addressed.

February 18, 2004. Susan Wright and Ricardo Rodriguez-Vidal discussed salary equity. They discussed factors that are considered when conducting salary equity reviews or setting salaries for new hires, as well as dispelling some commonly held misconceptions about equity. Russell Fitzgerald review upcoming enhancements to the salary equity web site.

November 19, 2003. Russell Fitzgerald gave a sneak preview of new Weblinks reports developed specifically for HR needs. Since Weblinks reports are only as accurate as the data in OLPPS, Russell highlighted some common input errors and their impact. See “Common OLPPS Errors and an Introduction to the New Weblinks Reports”.

August 20, 2003. Campus human resources experts identified and addressed issues related to the 1,000-Hour rule. Some of the areas they addressed were: When use of a limited appoint is appropriate; How to use the 1000-Hour report; How to re-hire retirees; How the Quick Hire Process will work with the soon-to-be- announced changes; and what problems Campus HR encountered with limited appointments and use of the 1,000 Hour rule.

May 21, 2003. Campus Labor Relations talked about ten of the new provisions in the CUE contract. The ten provisions addressed were: 1) Wages; 2) Duration of the Contract; 3) Parking; 4) Severance Pay; 5) Holidays; 6) Employees right to ergonomic review; 7) Access and Union Rights; 8) No Strike; 9) Arbitration and 10) Past Practice.

March 19, 2003. In a round table discussion, facilitated by Don Diettinger, Campus HR Development and Training manager, participants talked about Departmental development and training programs. issues departments face and how other departments address them.

November 26, 2002. Every holiday season, a multitude of questions arise regarding how to pay employees, especially employees on part-time or alternative work schedules. Some issues are very straight forward, while others are not. OHRS developed specific scenarios for part-time exempt and part-time non-exempt staff and campus HR provided answers to a variety of issues related to holiday pay for these employees. See “Holiday Pay Issues”.

October 3, 2002. At the last Chat Room, campus HR provided an overview of layoff procedures, including the layoff procedure timeline. In this follow-up session, Frank Tastevin, campus HR staffing and compensation, addressed questions related to job-search and re-employment services available for employees who have been laid off. Andrew Parker, of the UCSF Faculty and Staff Assistance Program addressed the stressors faced by employees who have been laid off, by the managers who conduct the layoff process and will provide suggestions and resources for dealing with these issues.

August 13, 2002. Campus Labor Relations reviewed layoff procedures and practices and facilitated a discussion on how supervisors and personnel managers can meet the required processes for laying off an employee.

March 29, 2002. Disability Management – Non Work-Related Leaves - Best Practices. At a roundtable discussion, SOM HR managers and supervisors talked about best practices for leave management, including recordkeeping, FMLA, communication, return to work, transitional work programs and training supervisors to effectively manage leaves. Campus Disability Management Services clarified ambiguities and provided expertise in developing best practices.

November 7, 2001. “My First 100 Days. - A conversation with Mike Tyburski, the new Human Resources Director. Mike spoke about the current State of Human Resources and the strategic plan he was developing. Specifically his plans were to focus on: His plans for organizing HR groups around clients; Renewed focus on partnership and collaboration; Renewed focus on customer service. Participants were provided with a unique opportunity to provide input about the areas and issues they would like to have Human Resources address.

August 3, 2001. On Line Merit Processing and HR Reports. Russell Fitzgerald and Jane Powers presented the plans for a different approach to processing merit actions starting in October. They also discussed WebLinks HR reporting capabilities and invited participants to share experiences and information about what’s working and what’s not.

March 1, 2001. Assessing and meeting staff training and development needs. Jaime Woolf, a training and development consultant, provided information about: 1) How to assess training and development needs; 2) How to write a training and development plan; 3) How and/or if training and development should be tied into the evaluation process and 4) How to mentor and/or career coach.

November 28, 2000. Recruiting - what’s working and what’s not. Campus Human Resources representatives facilitated the meeting and addressed the current Bay Area employment situation, introduced the new “employee referral program,” and talked about other recruiting vehicles (web sites, print ads, job fairs, etc.) They also addressed how to write job ads and how to market UCSF.