Academic Affairs & Research
Employee Relations Committee
Wednesday, May 10, 2017, 1:30-3:00 pm
Fred Brown Hall Room 146 A&B
MEETING MINUTES
Present
Shannon Bruce, Jason Brummett, Beverly Davenport, Dorothy Dyer, Taylor Eighmy, Mary Ellen Hunsberger, Donna Hurst, Glenda Hurst, Renee Johnson, Marcia Lane, Teddi Keefer, Mary Lucal, Bonnie Maples,David Ownby,Alissa Reeves, Pamela Roach, Julie Roe, Carol Shaffer, Sandy Thomas, Lisa Vandergriff, and John Zomchick
Absent
LaChetis Brown,Beth Cole, Melissa Cox, Elizabeth Ferguson, Melanie Finnegan, Jeff French, Cheryl Hodge, Bethany Offshack, and Cheryl Smith
Welcome
Julie Roe, Sr. Employee Relations Counselor, welcomed everyone to the meeting.
New Business
- Guest Speaker – Dr. Beverly Davenport, Chancellor of UTK
- Question: What is your perception of staff and their value?
Dr. Davenport: Thank you for making this place an amazing institution. Thank you all for what you do every day. We couldn’t have this institution work without you. I also want to know from employees whether we offer people enough opportunities, whether alternative work schedules can be an option, and what will make the quality of your life better and healthier.
- Question: What is your new pay philosophy?
Dr. Davenport: Pay competitively. We have been asked to look at pay comparison. I welcome that study. But here are my questions:Who are our peers? What criteria shouldwe use to determine our peers? I am planning to search for a Vice Chancellor of Human Resources for the Knoxville campus to help me with this salary comparison study.
Bonnie Maples: What is your opinion about gender equity when it comes to pay?
Dr. Davenport: I don’t have data currently. I will not find it excusable if salary is solely determined by gender. We need to get the right comparison when we look into the issue.
Dr. Lucal: The Provost Office, Human Resources, and Office and Equity & Diversity work together to monitor gender equity when it comes to compensation on the Knoxville campus.
- Question: What is your wish list for projects or initiatives?
Dr. Davenport: I have a lot of initiatives. One of them is building up our leadership team that works closest with me. They are the keys to help me manage the campus as it is a $140 million enterprise. I just hired John Currie as the Athletics Director. I also filled the position for Vice Chancellor for Communications withRyan Robinson. Communication is important as it is our reputation and the way in which we create the reality that we exist in. We need to let people know who we are and what we do. I am in the search of Vice Chancellor for Development. The State of TN only provides about 23% of our budget. I needsomeone to touch our donors, friends, and alumni for donation. That’s a big part of our budget. I need a Vice Chancellor for Human Resources to help me with searches and to focus only on this campus, working on our faculty and staff benefits, employee development, compensation, wellness, and promotion potentials. There are two academic officer positions to be filled as well. I need these people around me to have the expertise to help make decisions to manage this enterprise. Examples include raising money, managing a budget, raising our academic profile, and building an international agenda.
- Question: What are your feelings about outsourcing?
Dr. Davenport: I have met with so many groups about this topic. I learned that weoutsourced several years ago and the quality of work was not as good. There are many factors we need to consider in making this decision, such as the quality of work, the culture, what the trade-offs are, and what we lose. We are analyzing the data right now. Chris Cimino, Senior Vice Chancellor of Finance & Administration, and his team are reviewing the data in detail.
Donna Hurst: How much push does Governor Bill Haslam have in your decision of outsourcing?
Dr. Davenport: He has not discussed the issue with me. I trust that this will be our decision.
Pamela Roach: Where will the savings go?
Dr. Davenport: First of all, I am asking the same question. What are the savings?That is the reason we are doingour own analysis. It is unclear what the savings are and I don’t know where the savings go at this point.
- What are your plans for funding the Office of Diversity and Inclusion?
Dr. Davenport: I have bi-weekly meetings with the Diversity Matters coalition. My charge to them is could we take a more integrative approach? There are so many different groups that I think have the same agenda. The Diversity Matters coalition represents twenty-one different groups. I start my meetings with all the groups with an apology. No one should feel unsafe. It’s just inexcusable. I went to the Lavender Graduation this year. They later tweetedthat I am the first chancellor to attend the Lavender Graduation, and I am proud of that. Diversity is more than gender identity and race.
- Human Resource Website – Dr. Mary Lucal, Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources
Dr. Lucal sharedthat theHuman Resources website redesign has taken place. Please check the new website at If you have any suggestions, please contact Shannon Bruce at .
Old Business
None
Announcements & Other Comments
SLB Open Enrollment
Beginning from April 1, 2017, and continuing through June 30, 2017, Sick Leave Bank will be accepting applications for new enrollees. All enrollment applications will be processed in July. To learn more about the sick leave bank, visit
ERC Elections, Fall 2017 – Julie Roe
ERC Elections will be this fall, and orientation will be held in January, 2018.
Distributions
Agenda