of University Pennsylvania Personnel Relations
Office of Personnel Relations 737 Franklin Building/I6
NEWSLETTER
December 12, 1978
A supplement to Almanac
Retirement Age Explained What is the University's retirement age? The General Counsel's Office has supplied the following information: "The 1978 amendments to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, along with the proposed changes in the Department of Labor's bulletin which have been published to this time, indicate that all normal retirement ages currently in effect at the University may be retained." The normal retirement age is presently sixty-five for all newly-hired employees. The University will continue to encourage faculty and staff members to plan for retirement at the normal age. (Tenured faculty, depending on their appointment dates, begin normal retirement at the ages of sixty-five, sixtyeight, and seventy.) In order to increase the opportunities for appointment of junior faculty and staff, the University makes available several attractive early retirement programs. The General Counsel's Office further notes that "with certain exceptions, the University cannot compel the retirement, prior to the age of seventy, of employees scheduled to retire after January 1, 1979, or, in the case of employees under contracts or similar arrangements providing for unlimited tenure, after July 1, 1982." 235 Houses Bought with the Help of the University's Guaranteed Mortgage Plan In 1965 the University started an innovative plan designed to create a community near the University. Called the "Personnel Guaranteed Mortgage Program," the plan allowed faculty and staff members to buy residential property in certain areas of West Philadelphia. An agreement was reached with The First Pennsylvania Banking and Trust Company that the Unversity would provide funds, not to exceed two million dollars, for mortgage loans. By 1975 the funds had exceeded three million dollars, and participants had purchased one hundred and seventy-six houses. This program has contributed to making the area around the University-known as University Cityinto a thriving neighborhood with its own newspaper, many community-
interest groups, and a population perhaps best characterized by its diversity. The arrangement with The First Pennsylvania Banking and Trust Company ended in 1975. But in the summer of 1976 the Guaranteed Mortgage was resumed with the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society as mortgagor; the available funds were increased to five million dollars. The area covered by the program was extended to include certain parts of Center City as well as areas in
completed three years of service. Mortgages are granted in amounts which cannot exceed the appraised value of the property, for a term no longer than thirty years. Interest charges are competitive with the rates offered by other banks. In the entire history of the program the University has had to repurchase only one mortgage. The house was sold, however, for more than it cost to buy back the mortgage and the profit realized by the sale was given to the original owner. If you would like more information about the Guaranteed Mortgage Program, applications, instructions, and procedures are available from the Treasurer's Office, 427 Franklin Building. If you find a house you like in University City or Center City, the University may be able to help you buy it. "See! Winter Comes to Rule the Varied Year" Where are the snows of yesteryear? More to the point, what happens to the University when it snows this year? Executive Director of Personnel Relations Gerald Robinson monitors the weather conditions, including their effects on transportation and city and suburban roads, and advises the President and Provost about travel conditions. If the University has to be closed and classes cancelled, the Office of Personnel Relations notifies the appropriate people and makes public radio announcements. The University's snow emergency code numbers are 102 for closing of day sessions and offices and 2102 for cancellation of evening sessions. Unless the University is officially closed all employees are expected to report for work at their normal times.
West Philadelphia. The present boundaries are, in general, east to 18th Street and west to 51st Street. The area is shown in detail on a map in the Treasurer's Office. Since August 1976 faculty and staff members using the program have bought fifty-nine houses, so that the total number since 1965 is now two hundred and thirty-five. Those eligible for the program are fully-affiliated and fully-salaried members of the academic staff in the rank of assistant professor and above and full-time statutory and senior administrative officers, immediately on appointment. All other fully-affiliated and fully-salaried staff members, administrative and professional personnel, and any full-time member of the support staff over twenty-five years of age are able to participate after they have
Happy Holidays!
"Brown Bag Seminars" Begin on January 15 with Vartan Gregorian If you would like to know more about how the University is managed, a series of seminars sponsored by the A-i Assembly will give you that opportunity. Beginning on January 15, 1979, these management information sessions will be held weekly at the same time-Mondays from 12 noon to 1 p.m.-and at the same place-Houston Hall's Benjamin Franklin Room-for sixteen weeks. The seminars, taken as a group, are designed to give a broad understanding of how the University works. Each seminar covers a specific area of management and will focus on organizational structure; the goals and responsibilities of the department or management area; the scope, including how departments and offices interact; and the methods and problems of managing each area. Following the talk, there will be a question and answer period. The gatherings are informal and everyone is invited to bring a "brown bag" lunch. Provost Vartan Gregorian will talk at the first meeting on "The University: Its Mission and Objectives." As the first speaker, he will discuss the management structure of the entire University. This introduction will be followed by sessions dealing with specific areas. A tentative schedule of speakers and topics follows. Provost Vartan Gregorian Secretary of the Corporation Jan is Somerville Vice President for Administration 0. Bruce Johnstone Dean of the Wharton School Donald C. Carroll Vice President for Budget and Management Jon Strauss Treasurer Harold Manley Comptroller Jerrold J. Jackson Vice President for Development and University Relations William Owen Director of Research Administration Anthony Merritt Assistant Vice President UMIS Richard T. Paumen Vice President for Operational Services Fred Shabel Director of Communications Curtis Barnes Assistant Vice President for Commonwealth Relations James Shada Executive Director of Personnel Gerald Robinson Administrator of the Office of Equal Opportunity James Robinson Executive Director of Personnel Gerald Robinson (and Staff) The University: Its Mission and Objectives The Role of the Trustees and University Governance The Role of Executive Officers Academic Organization Financial Planning and the Budget Process Cash Flow and Investments Day-to-Day Financial Management Development and Financial Resources Grants and Contract Administration Management of Information Systems Operational Services Communications External Affairs
Personnel and Human Resources Grievance Procedure Affirmative Action Personnel Policy and Procedures
We urge you to reserve Mondays, 12 noon to 1 p.m., for these informative and interesting seminars. Bring your lunch and all your questions to the Benjamin Franklin Room in Houston Hall beginning Monday, January 15, 1979. Edited by Debra J. Thomas Designed by Howard S. Kline
Staff Training Programs: University Library Offers Wide Variety Most of us who work like to get better at our jobs; we are interested in learning more about what we do and want to perform our tasks with greater efficiency and skill. Many of us hope to advance in our chosen careers. Often we are not sure how best to accomplish these goals. Because the University recognizes this desire and wishes to help, a number of responsibility centers have established training programs and others are in the planning stages. In the pages of this Newsletter we will keep you informed of existing programs and those that are being discussed. We hope you will respond with suggestions and comments about your needs. What do we think of when we speak of "training programs"? There is a tendency to look only at those rather formal courses which provide a degree or a certificate at the end of a fixed period of time, "certifying" that we have attained competence in a new skill or have gained a new unit of knowledge. Certainly these kinds of programs are needed; they can provide invaluable training and the means of recognition. But there are other, less structured, ways of acquiring new information and job-related skills which take place all the time but which we may overlook because they are not formally described as "training." A good system of staff training includes a wide variety of methods. In this month's issue, we will focus on the staff development programs provided by the University Library. The Library uses both formal training-including course work, conferences, and seminars-and informal sessions such as staff meetings which teach particular groups about new methods in performing specific tasks. Monthly gatherings of interest groups within the Library may be addressed by other professional members or outside speakers expert in a particular branch of knowledge. Professional societies can provide a great deal of information not only about an area of interest but about useful conferences and meetings. The Library encourages its staff members to participate in and attend meetings of associations both within and without the University. These methods, informal and formal, provide interested employees with the means to further their own knowledge and skill and to encourage them to take a greater interest in issues related to their present and future job responsibilities. The formal training available to the support staff is both specialized and
.
Thiypdoanvuercsitk
general. Like all University employees, Library support can staff work toward a degree or take courses here at Pennsylvania under the staff scholarship program. Those who seek specialized library training can take courses at Drexel University leading to the Master of Library Science degree (a program not available here). The Library pays the tuition for four credit units per quarter and gives up to three hours a week of release time, provided that the job responsibility of the employee using this program can be met by another staff member, for up to nine people each year. It takes an average of three years to complete the M.L.S. program on a part-time basis. The professional staff can also take advantage of the staff scholarship program in choosing from a wide variety of courses which may further their understanding of issues relevant to a particular academic discipline where they may have library responsibilities. In addition, the Library sends a number of its professional employees to national and local conferences and pays for some of the expenses involved in attending learned society meetings held locally and around the country. A-i staff members may also take specialized library courses at Drexel University. The Library has provided release time of three hours a week to encourage people to take courses in which they are interested and which are related to their job responsibilities. The Library has also run its own seminars for this group of workers. Two typical professional programs which A-i staff attend are the "Library Administrators Development Program" and the "Library Management Skills Institute." The Library Administrators Development Program, sponsored by the College of Library and Information acounts saving to Services, University of Maryland, is a two-week program held each spring. Its purpose is "to aid in the reorientation of the outlook of the senior library administrator from the technical problems of librarianship to the central issues of organizational management." Using the basic concepts of administration developed in business, public administration, and their supportive social science disciplines, the program increases the managerial sophistication of library administrators and supervisors. The Library Management Skills Institute, sponsored by the Association of Research Libraries and run by the Office of University Library Management Studies, conducts similar, shorter programs, usually lasting three to four days, several times a year throughout the country. Five or six Library administrators and supervisors attend each of
these programs. The University Library has sent twenty-five to thirty people to these programs over a two-year period. The institutes increase the staff's understanding of their supervisory role in relation to their other library responsibilities. Formally and informally, the University Library provides its staff members with opportunities for training, recognizing that as each employee gains in experience and knowledge the Library system, as a whole, is improved. Staff members are urged to take advantage of these opportunities. Note: The Wharton School is conducting a survey to learn more about the training needs of its employees. If you work at the Wharton School and would like to take part in the survey, please contact the Assistant Director of Personnel Jacqueline M. Schreyer. New Employee Orientation Program Underway The University is a big place and, at first, it can be confusing to new employees, especially those who have never before worked in an academic environment. To acquaint new staff members with the University and its history, to help them understand their role and how that role fits into the community, the Office of Personnel Relations is preparing an orientation program for A-i and A-3 staff. (This program does not include the faculty, who have their own orientation in September.) The program will be in several parts. Beginning with welcoming remarks from the orientation leader, it will include a slide show, an orientation packet and, when appropriate, guest speakers. The slide presentation will deposit direct acquaint new employees with the history of the University, some of our notable achievements, famous alumni and faculty, the physical layout of the campus, the administrative and academic structure, plans for the future, and it will instruct them about where to go for help with certain problems. The orientation packet is made up of maps, information about various University benefits and options such as the guaranteed mortgage plan, staff scholarships, community interest groups, recreational facilities, the University's credit union, and other helpful information. After the slide show, the orientation leader will discuss the packet and answer questions of a general nature. We expect that all those who attend the orientation will already have received individual benefits counselling. (continued on page 4)
Something on Your Mind? If you have questions, comments, notices, or suggestions, send them to "Something on Your Mind?" All inquiries and remarks sent to 737 Franklin Building will be kept confidential. Comments or questions of sufficiently broad interest will be printed in this column. Question: I have applied for a job outside the University and want to know if my future employer will be given a copy of my recent performance review form? Answer: Your performance review form will not be released to anyone outside the University. Since you have your own copy of the review, you may include it or not as part of your resume, but that is entirely your decision.
Question: I like payday, but I don't like standing in line to deposit my check. Is there some other way? Answer: Yes, the University provides for direct deposit of employee's paychecks in the following local banks: First Pennsylvania (S), Girard Trust, Provident National (S), Central Penn National Bank, Continental Trust, Fidelity Philadelphia Trust (S), Industrial Valley Bank, Heritage Bank, Mid-Atlantic National Bank, Bryn Mawr Trust Company, Southeast National Bank, Lincoln Bank (5), and Germantown Savings Bank. Banksacept designated with an (S) also wil
any of the above banks, send a letter to the Manager, Payroll Section, Franklin Building. You must inclu...