2021 University Staff Council Spring Forum

Follow-Up Questions

The following questions and answers are remaining topics that were not addressed directly in the forum held on March 4, 2021. The University Staff Council worked with the offices of Drs. Junkins, Weichold and McGowan to answer the questions. These answers are current as of March 12, 2021. The COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, so any up-to-date information pertaining to that can be found at tamu.edu/coronavirus.

Questions answered by Dr. John Junkins, interim president:

COVID-19

How will Texas A&M's protocols adapt to the mask-wearing mandate being lifted?

We will continue the same protocols as before through the spring semester.

Will there be any COVID-19 related pay increases? What will you do, if anything, to show appreciation to staff's commitment and work ethic during COVID-19?

No, there will not be any COVID-related pay increases. We will do the same as we have done for faculty, which is to tell you how very much we appreciate it. The staff that worked alongside me for 48 hrs. with only a few hours rest, during the worst two nights, to find and repair over 150 major water leaks performed heroically, and I told them so. I have asked administration at all levels to express their appreciation for the exceptional effort.

How do you feel the university's response to COVID-19, specifically with staff, fared?

Collectively, we have done a stellar job.

How do you feel COVID-19 affected staff morale over the last year?

I think it has hurt morale and increased feelings of loneliness.

How do you plan to help staff moral increase?

I encourage staff to participate frequently in Flourish activities as one very useful step. Additionally, to get outside and take walks frequently when weather permits.

Has there been any discussion on having all staff back on campus, when, under what conditions, etc.?

Likely during the summer, but that is just my guess at this time. Everything is driven by the COVID-19 data we collect.

What is the outlook for the state legislative session and are there any foreseen budget cuts for the biennium?

I am optimistic we may receive a modest increase. We will know in mid-May, I believe.

Can there be consideration for alleviating parking bills for staff that are on campus one or two days a week?

Parking charges are under study. I do not have more information at this point.

In response to the COVID vaccine are there any plans to offer availability to get the vaccine on campus?

As soon as possible, but we are at the mercy of supplies which cannot be predicted at present. My best guess, at least one month.

How will the additional COVID relief be used in the upcoming bill? Will this affect staff/faculty, students or more technical/IT campus upgrades?

I doubt it. It will mostly reimburse part of the $125 million red ink due to COVID to date that the university has experienced.

Is A&M planning to still incorporate some WFH (work from home) flexibility even after COVID-19?

For now, continue present policies. For more information, click here.

Climate

How will you use your current positions to employ new tactics, or those previously used, but on a larger scale to improve the general climate between groups containing large educational disparity?

I discussed this briefly during the forum — the Provost will work through deans and department heads to better address climate at the department level.

Even though y'all are interim, are you going to continue to support/fund employee wellness programs like Flourish since y'all are trying to steer the ship as-is?

Yes.

Their goals seem to focus on faculty and students to make everything easier and remain appealing from the outside looking in, but what about staff who work diligently behing the scenes to make that work?

You are very deeply appreciated, and yes, I know you feel your work from behind the scenes may be underappreciated. Expressions of appreciation are most sincerely felt when immediate supervision recognize contributions in a specific way. These interactions are most easily addressed at the department level or with immediate supervisors or one level up the chain of command. The provost and I will reflect on how we can stimulate more/better staff recognition based on the quality and impact of their work.

Can we work towards acknowledging staff more publicly (outside of staff only forums) and encouraging faculty outside of administrator roles to do the same? I have experienced too many examples of being made to feel less than or like a second-class employee due to my role as a staff member, and know individuals who have left positions because of the way they were treated by faculty.

Very sorry to hear of this experience. I am hopeful that these instances where faculty disrespect staff are relatively unusual local issues. The chain of command likely needs to be reminded to establish or refresh feedback mechanisms for staff to register complaints when the particular individuals are not treating staff with respect. These suggestions will be shared with the Provost, we will discuss this and decide how we might better mitigate these challenges going forward.

Tenure track faculty are not "accountable" in the same way as staff or non-tenure track are as it relates to human resources actions. What is the University doing to change this culture? Is it possible for the University to start holding all employees accountable in the same way regardless of their employee type or rank (implement consequences that impact promotions, raises, rewards, etc.)?

See response to question above.

Pay

Thank you for guiding us through the COVID-19 pandemic with as much success as possible under the circumstances. The challenges for staff financially may be exacerbated in the near future. We anticipate a larger portion of our salaries being allocated to TRS retirement without seeing a greater return. This contrasts those on state ORP plans. We are observing a drop in sales tax collections in Texas, while simultaneously looking forward to rapidly rising inflation. With much gratefulness for all that the university (family) has done in the past, how do we navigate this process?

One piece of good news, the outlook for the Texas economy has brightened quickly over the past nine months. Last May, we were discussing the possibility of over a $3B tax revenue shortfall, however, it is now estimated at about $900 million for next fiscal year. If the Governor is proven correct that opening up the state per his recent executive order drastically accelerates the already robust recovery, then the outlook could change drastically in the next 6 months. Obviously, the funds supplied by the legislature can't be magically created by the University, we are dependent on a healthy state economy and I am optimistic that we will be in much better shape a year from now. I will keep thinking about your worries and make them my worries as well.

What is the possibility of raises as we did not receive one last year?

The merit raises approved for September just went into effect on March 1.

Parking is definitely too expensive, especially for the other campuses.

Parking is being studied.

Will the one-time payments still be paid out to individuals who have left their positions at the time that the award was made?

I am not sure. If they are no longer a University employee, then I am certain the answer is no.

What raises will be on April paycheck if we weren't offered any last year due to the cuts.

Any increase on the April 1 pay check (effective March 1, 2021) will be the merit increase approved for September 1 2020.

The past university leadership and current interim leadership have not addressed this adequately. "We can't do it without you" should be less of a slogan and more action item.

My expression of appreciation may not have been received as genuine, but I can assure you that it was. As one who grew up in a 5 child household with grammar-school educated parents whose income never reached $10,000/year, and having worked my way through school from grammar school through my Ph.D., I can assure you I know about dealing with difficult times including very serious financial challenges. I therefore have deep empathy for individuals who are facing financial challenges and feeling that they are underpaid and overworked. However, I sincerely thank you for your comment–those are your true feelings–I am sure your frustration is genuine. I do honestly feel your pain. The 5% overall budget cut last year was extremely painful. We are delighted that President Young and his team managed this sufficiently well, that we did not have to give furloughs, layoffs or reduce anyone's compensation. We are even more delighted that we are now finally able to give the recommended September merit raises, albeit delayed until March. As I have said in response to other questions above, I am hopeful that we will see a robust Texas economy by next year and going forward. I am further hopeful that we can then show our appreciation through more than words.

Questions answered by Dr. Mark Weichold, interim provost:

How will you use your current positions to employ new tactics, or those previously used, but on a larger scale to improve the general climate between groups containing large educational disparity?

I will reach out to the Deans and, through them, to the department heads, to address the climate at the department level. I will also explore new ways in which to address this matter.

I have a large student worker team and the feedback I have received from them is that they don't enjoy the virtual learning environment—it's not as engaging, they miss the interactions, and don't feel they get as much from the class. I want to make sure we don't lose the focus of why we are all here and that is to take these children (17, 18 years old) and help grow them into competent, strong, talented and engaging young adults who are prepared to take on the world and make a difference in everything they do. I don't think that we can do that with all virtual learning…it may be easier for some faculty and staff but is it what's best for our Aggies?

I would like nothing better than to return to the traditional mode of instruction. However, I also want to do so only when we have evidence that it is safe. I am optimistic that with the continued observation of protocols on campus this spring, including the required use of masks, and with the expansion of vaccinations, we may be in a position to have a greater number of courses taught in the traditional modes by the fall semester. We are monitoring the conditions closely and will be prepared to make adjustments as required by the conditions.

In order to provide a better education experience, effectively collaborate, have better and increase interprofessional education activities and give all health science entities/departments a level playing field, are there any future plans/talks about moving the pharmacy program into the HSC building on Rellis Parkway?

There are no discussions about doing so at this point in time.

What if a department head isn't given the resources they need because they run a service-oriented department? The head of our division has stated that staffing is not based on workload. So, it leads to many staff members in the service-oriented offices overworked, underpaid and under titled. Does leadership realize how much more intricate and interconnected processes have become? The university needs to do better.

The University has a budgeting process where all Deans and VPs provide requests. While each Dean/VP likely uses a different process to gather information within their unit, I assume that any pressing needs would be addressed in that budget request. Recently, we have made significant investments in several areas where additional staff were hired based on enrollment growth. This was done through the budgeting process and included Scholarships & Financial Aid, Career Center, ISS, TAP, Academic Success Center, counseling, student business services, and University Police. Concerns about workload and staffing need to be raised with the appropriate department/unit head.

Questions answered by Dr. Annie McGowan, interim vice president and associate provost for diversity:

Do you work with the Supplier Diversity/HUB department?

Not personally.

What are your top three priorities over the next 6 months? What is the biggest impact you hope to make during your time as interim?

To a large extent, the focus of my work has been laid out for me by the commission on diversity, equity and inclusion:

  • Expansion of Aces
  • Plan to improve retention of faculty and staff
  • A communications plan for outreach and engagement of students of color and their families
  • Meaningful and sustainable change in the campus experience

What is A&M doing right now to support our students and employees who are people of color?

First, the Office for Diversity at Texas A&M is staffed by just 4 full-time employees, one part-time employee, and 4 student employees. Achieving our DEI goals will require the commitment and engagement of all faculty, staff and students. Inclusion is embedded in all of our jobs.

  • Office for Student Success, as well as initiatives within each college, to decrease achievement disparities across ethnicity, generational and socio-economic status.
  • Programs to bring more people of color to campus like (ACES)
  • Diversity Seed Grants and Enhancing Diversity Seminar
  • Teams responding to themes in commission report (communication, faculty staff recruitment and retention, and campus experience)

What is your vision for the timelines and outcomes of the Communications Outreach and Engagement group you are co-leading with Amy Smith?

To develop a communications platform to more effectively reach students from URM groups at various stages of the recruiting/admissions process. To expand the representation of images concerning former students leading by example. This can be an effective part of the recruitment plan.

Are there any plans for collaboration between the Office for Diversity and HR on advanced diversity, climate, inclusion, and equity trainings? It would be nice to have trainings for staff that are focused on diversity related topics that are more academic in nature.

We have identified a vendor for DEI training. Now that the Presidential order banning such activities has been lifted, we plan to move forward with the plans. At this stage, we are investigating where and how. Train Traq has been selected that provides a comprehensive suite of online, self-paced DEI training. Anti-Discrimination Bystander Intervention Training is available on LinkedIn Learning. We offer subscriptions to the National Council on Faculty Development & Diversity which provides webinars on various topics to promote equity and inclusion. LinkedIn Learning also offers courses in Inclusive leadership, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.

In this push for greater Diversity, Equity and Inclusion on our campus, what is the benchmark or goal in order to declare that we are diverse, equitable and inclusive enough? In the case of diversity, are we comparing our campus population to the state or national percentage for each ethnic population? Is reaching a truly diverse, equitable and inclusive campus an attainable goal?

The University's goals for compositional diversity include:

  • Becoming a Hispanic serving institution- 25% Hispanic enrollment.
  • To have representation of African American Students mirror that of the state of TX — 12%

Clearly, we are on the cusp of becoming a Hispanic serving institution, so the compositional diversity targets are achievable. However, we must create climate of equity and inclusion to sustain the progress that we make through enhanced communication and recruiting.

National reports determined that TAMU pays the people of color, e.g. Black and Hispanic, workers and staff less than others on campus. How is A&M addressing these inequities? how can A&M level the playing field when wages start out less than.

I don't believe that I can address this question without a careful evaluation of the results of an equity study. However, I do take note of the question and will take some time to explore the feasibility of a scorecard metric to continuously track equity rather than waiting until a complaint is received.

Dr. McGowan, thank you for your responses on the diversity of staff. Could you expand on how these programs have improved the diversity of staff given that certain careers seem to dominated by certain genders. So how have these programs improved the diversity in this area?

This is an issue that is currently being evaluated by one of the teams that I mentioned earlier. We hope to have a more concrete response in a few months.

Texas A&M prides itself on traditions and the legacy that the university has. The traditions such as Pennies on Sully, the Corps of Cadets, etc. Will the university be working to restore these traditions and enhance them into the 21st Century, and what would that look like?

The campus experience team was given a fairy narrow window in which to develop a plan to respond to the commission's report (approximately 2 months). Therefore, we were careful to prioritize the work with this constraint and others in mind. In other words, we are choosing to focus on how we can realistically make a lasting impact. As such, we are looking to add more culturally inclusive practices as the first step. There is a great deal of work to be done in the accountability, equity and climate space. Rome was not built in a day, but we have to strategically start some place. Any traditions related to the Sul Ross statute will be informed by the plan produced by the Campus Historical Displays Task Force.

Questions answered by the Division of Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness:

AWL/Flex Schedules

How can we work to accommodate staff with small children (under the age of 1) who need to continue working from home due to the cost of/lack of childcare available?

The University has and will continue to encourage the use of AWL and flexible schedule when and where appropriate. The University has a daycare facility on campus, the childcare facility does offer discounts and scholarships. The University could explore expanding those programs for families in need.

What resources can you provide to staff with small children that might not be able to afford childcare when coming back to campus? Will there be a mandate to allow staff flexible/AWL schedules going forward?

The University will highly encourage Departments/Colleges/Divisions where appropriate to continue and/or expand the use of AWL and flex scheduling.

With the way that the world has changed within the last year, and the new availability of working from home, will there be any adjustments to University policies to allow employees to choose to work from home on a more permanent basis?

According to University's and System's rules and regulations all approved AWL must be renewed each year. However, the University is currently working to incorporate the AWL approval and renewal process into WorkDay.

Employee Relations

What advice can you give to staff/faculty who may not feel comfortable in their workplace because of their views?

The University strongly encourages any employee who feels that they are being targeted and/or discriminated against in way to report it. There are multiple ways of reporting the abuse/discrimination/mistreatment:

Unfortunately, we are told that it will not affect us, however retribution does take place. Seen it first-hand. That is why employees hesitate to express their issues.

The University takes retribution and retaliations very seriously. Employees under both the University and Systems Rules are protected from retribution and/or retaliations for filing a complaint/grievance. See the System Regulation 08.01.01 and SAP 08.01.01.M1.01.

Compensation/Benefits

Can you talk about the future of compensation for staff? We are getting left behind due to increases in cost of living and a lack of raises.

The pandemic has had a definite impact on employers and overall wages across the country, with many sectors reporting wage decline. Texas A&M has been fortunate to implement a merit program in FY21, even though it was delayed. Most staff positions follow the Texas A&M System-wide Pay Plan, which has pay bands with flexibility for hiring rates to allow for fluctuations in the market and demand for positions. Other mechanisms for existing employee pay increases with appropriate justification are provided for in University Rules and Standard Administrative Procedures. The System Pay Plan Administrator conducts a periodic market review to determine external competitiveness of the pay plan and whether the current pay structure meets the needs of all A&M System Members. In addition, Texas A&M is monitoring minimum wage increase proposals at the state and federal level. If the minimum wage is increased, this could have a corresponding impact on the pay plan and minimum rates for all pay grades. More information about the pay plan can be found here.

Thank you for guiding us through the COVID pandemic with as much success as possible under the circumstances. The challenges for staff financially may be exacerbated in the near future. We anticipate a larger portion of our salaries being allocated to TRS retirement without seeing a greater return. This contrasts those on state ORP plans. We are observing a drop in sales tax collections in Texas, while simultaneously looking forward to rapidly rising inflation. With much gratefulness for all that the university (family) has done in the past, how do we navigate this process?

Texas A&M leadership shares the concern of uncertain financial times and the impact on our workforce. Some benefit cost changes happen at the state level. For example, the employee and employer contribution rates to the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) are changed through the state legislative process, with increases related to assuring that TRS remains financially and actuarially sound to meet current and future annuity obligations to retirees. The current planned change of the employee contribution rate from 7.7% to 8.0%, effective 9/1/21, was passed in 2019. For a TRS participant making a $50,000 annual salary, this change has a net effect of approximately $12.50 more per month in deductions to TRS. The employer contribution is increasing as well on 9/1/21, from 7.5% to 7.75%, so Texas A&M is also experiencing increased costs in support of the pension fund. It is difficult to recognize the benefit as an active employee, but the intent is in support of all future TRS retirees as well. The Optional Retirement Program (ORP) has not had similar changes in contribution rates. However, as a defined contribution program, ORP benefits are based on the how the participant's contributions fare in their chosen investments, rather than a formula like TRS. Many current ORP participants have likely seen the impact of fluctuating markets on their retirement account balances, with hopes that future economic growth will help restore some of the losses before their planned retirement. The economic impacts of the last year on the State of Texas and Texas A&M University are still being navigated at all levels, and future impacts are still unknown. Texas A&M leadership is being a careful steward of the university's financial health and the potential impact on employees.

Why did the university stop paying the co-pay for visits with mental healthcare professionals? This helped some people see and talk to someone to help with coping with the current world climate. Both concerning COVID, racial injustice, gender inequality, and politics.

This answer is based on information provided by the Texas A&M System Benefits Administration office, which administers the health plans covering employees and retirees. The Texas A&M System followed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which was effective March 18, 2020. The FFCRA impacted requirements and recommendations as set out by BlueCross and BlueShield of Texas (BCBSTX) for their book of business including both fully insured and self-funded plans. The copay waiver applied to dates of service on or after March 10, through Dec. 31, 2020. The expiration of the copay waiver was for the entire book of BCBSTX business including ERS, UT System, TRS, and the A&M System. Therefore, on January 1, 2021, A&M System health plans returned to the normal co-pay structure regarding telehealth visits. This includes MDLive and any other network provider willing to continue telehealth visits.

While the copay waiver is no longer in effect, employees can access behavioral health through MDLive at a low $10 copay. Also, the EAP, ComPsych Guidance Resources, is completely covered by the A&M System and offers emotional support telephonic visits. More information about how to access services can be found here.

A recent survey on mental health of US workers during quarantine showed that over 41% of people feel drained, or exhausted as well as struggling with negative emotions + moods, concentration, and motivation. Nearly 23% of employees report feeling down, depressed, or hopeless—a term being coined for this experience is "pandemic burnout". Of the numbers of people experiencing these symptoms, which are natural progressions of social isolation and healthy boundaries between work + home life becoming blurred as a result of working remotely, only 7% have reached out to a mental health professional for assistance. How do you plan to open the conversation more surrounding mental health and the effects COVID has had on the University's workforce? How does the University plan to support its Staff and Faculty through these struggles?

The University provides a wide variety of confidential resources to assist faculty, staff, and their supervisors with the mental health challenges brought about by the pandemic. Mental health resources for faculty and staff are provided through the Work/Life Solutions Program by Guidance Resources® (TAMU's Employee Assistance Program or EAP), at no cost to employees. In addition to counseling services, Guidance Resources® offers free webinars on topics such as pandemic anxiety, returning to work, navigating life at home, working remotely and resiliency/coping with emotional stress. For additional information, visit the Guidance Resources® dedicated website. Additional resources available include the Texas A&M Counseling and Psychological Services webpage: Mental Health and Coping During COVID-19, as well as COVID-19 Resources for Mental Wellbeing by GuidanceResources®.

HROE will look into additional presentations that could be offered to campus employees with opportunity for dialogue and sharing. Because such services are confidential, it can be sensitive to encourage open conversation among employees or between supervisors and employees regarding personal challenges. Supervisors can best support their employees by offering flexibility and accommodating their needs, when and where appropriate, as well as keeping the lines of communications open. Supervisors can consult with Employee Relations if they need assistance on what is appropriate to discuss.

Communications

Staff members on remote campuses often feel forgotten as messaging coming from the main campus does not often take our individual campus needs into account. This becomes very confusing for our staff (faculty and students, too!) Do you have any plans in place to create a system of messaging specific to each campus?

With respect to communications from HROE, we typically evaluate the target audience prior to distributing an employee message to determine if the communication should include remote campus recipients. Sometimes there are parts of a communication that apply to remote campuses while the entire message content may not. We commit to being more intentional in the evaluation process and welcome feedback for how to be more mindful and inclusive of the needs of our remote campus staff members. Contact our HROE communications staff at hrnews@tamu.edu with your ideas.

Note: Messaging from the College Station campus is distributed from a variety of University entities. We will pass along this communication feedback to the network of University communicators.

Employee Performance Evaluations

What are your thoughts on 360 Evaluation for TAMU employees?

360-degree (also called multi-rater) feedback can be powerful in gaining self-awareness and one's development. Organization Development in HROE developed and use a 360 in the new leadership development programs. The survey, process, and report were customized to enable development of Texas A&M's values and competencies at each respective leadership development level. Check out Lead.tamu.edu to learn more about these new and forthcoming leadership development programs.

Some supervisors reach out to an employee's co-workers, project team members, direct reports, etc. during the performance review time to receive feedback and insight on their performance and behaviors, including and uploading attachment of such in their performance review. While supervisors and employees may want to do this, it is recommended to separate the two, ensuring the 360-feedback is used for development purposes as opposed to ratings one's performance. More information here.

Tenure for staff, USC action items, employee well-being, future of Flourish

Would the university be interested in developing a program for staff that is akin to the tenure-track position for faculty? We are similarly vested in the university's mission as well.

From a recognition standpoint, we can probably explore recognizing long-serving employees in various ways. From the perspective of the employment relationship, State law dictates the nature of the employment relationship and that law would have to change in order to have any flexibility in this area.

With all due respect, some issues that the USC attempts to address through HROE go unaddressed. We keep hearing that the USC is working with Dr. Risinger on issues, but there is no movement. The University's leadership needs to tackle these issues together and not leave it up to HROE.

HROE works very closely with USC to address all issues that arise. Many times, the issues in question are in the area of benefits or other System-wide policies. It takes a great deal of coordination and time to work through these issues with others that would be affected by the changes requested. We don't lose sight of these things but they do take time.

Recently, I have had several conversations with faculty and staff who have mentioned their frustration with leadership who push them to go above and beyond for student wellbeing. However, they do not feel that same sense of urgency when it comes to their own wellbeing.

Flourish was designed to take our success with traditional wellness programs and expand them to include the overall wellbeing of our staff. There is much to do in this area and we look forward to doing more and more for our staff.

Will Texas A&M continue to fund the Flourish program to support employee wellbeing needs?

Yes, Flourish will continue to be funded and adapted to meet the needs of our employees.

What will it take for leadership to shift toward prioritizing employee wellbeing and encourage their faculty and staff to engage in the many offerings available to them?

We are currently working on a number of leadership development initiatives that stress the importance of caring for employees. These initiatives will pay off as we continue to work on them. Making progress in this area is very important.

Will the importance of employee wellness programs like Flourish continue to help us feel cared for like we care for students?

Yes.

What are the plans for Staff Appreciation Week?

At this point, we will have our Presidential Meritorious Service Awards and department level programs. Last year as we rolled out Flourish, we decided not to limit employee recognition to one week of the year but to have activities all year long. COVID-19 has limited some of those activities but we continue to believe employees should be recognized throughout the year.

I know Flourish was mentioned. Expanding on that, I wanted to ask the panelists how they have seen staff benefit from their awesome programming and how you see the future of Flourish playing a role in really helping with overall wellness of staff especially during the ongoing pandemic and many subsequent mental health issues that have arisen. And also to speak to the importance of Flourish post-pandemic.

Flourish is a very important program for Texas A&M. The Flourish staff has done an excellent job in adapting their programing to the remote environment and they look forward to post-pandemic programming.

Have there been any talks about expanding this to cover sister campuses (Galveston, McAllen) or System Schools (Corpus, Kingsville)?

Yes, some programing has already been expanded and we are looking for opportunities for more.

A lot of the Flourish items do not transfer well to remote campuses. What will be done to make more items available to the remote campuses?

As we continue to build Flourish, we will constantly evaluate the effectiveness of programing for everyone. We also look forward to involving many more people in the design of new programing.

A lot of Flourish programing is geared toward the younger generation. What is fun, light-hearted, and engaging to younger employees is not appealing and can be off-putting to the more mature population. The program's effectiveness should be evaluated before additional resources are allocated to it.

As we do more around employee wellness and wellbeing, we want to meet the needs of every employee. This will take time and input from everyone but we are committed to meeting the needs of everyone who works at Texas A&M.

Expanding on Flourish, I wanted to ask how have y'all seen staff benefit deal their limited budget to support programming and how you see the future of Flourish continuing to play a role in really helping with staff especially during the ongoing pandemic and many subsequent mental health issues that have arisen. What is the future of Flourish post-pandemic/post interim?

Flourish is very important going forward. Please see previous responses for more information.