University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: October 4, 2007

By KEVIN FRYLING
Reporter Staff Writer

To meet staffing requirements necessitated by the UB 2020 goal of growing the university by 10,000 students and 750 faculty members over the next 15 years, UB will not only need to increase staff by 650, but also retain the average university employee six years beyond his planned retirement age, Scott Nostaja, interim vice president of human resources, told those attending a Professional Staff Senate meeting last week.

Nostaja addressed an audience of about 100 on the impact of UB 2020 on university employees at the PSS' first meeting of the academic year, held Sept. 27 in the Center for Tomorrow, North Campus.

"The university has got to start thinking creatively about alternate work arrangements just to meet the staffing challenge," said Nostaja. "If your planned retirement is at 64, we've got to keep you until you're 70."

Based on current projections, he added that about 900 staff members are expected to reach or exceed the average retirement age within the next five years.

In addition to increasing the quality of research, faculty and incoming students at the university, Nostaja said UB 2020 is focusing on improving the quality of work life at the university in order to recruit and retain university employees.

"What if the University at Buffalo were like our buddy, Wegmans, down the street, that year after year appears number one or two on the Fortune list of the 100 best places to work in America?" he asked. "What if we were the first and only university in the country to be one of the country's best places to work?"

In order to learn more about reaching this goal, Nostaja and Ezra Zubrow, professor of anthropology and president of the Buffalo Center Chapter of United University Professions, the union representing faculty and professional staff, attended the 2007 Great Place to Work Conference in Los Angeles in April. According to information presented at the conference, Nostaja said businesses that rank among the nation's top 100 best places to work are characterized by trust in management and co-workers, pride in one's work, product or role in the community and a high degree of camaraderie. Benefits, salaries and training are important, but not the key, he added.

Initial steps that have been taken to foster similar values at UB include the establishment of an Organizational Development & Training Unit and a workforce relations and advancement unit in the Office of Human Resources, as well as recruiting a director of work-life balance to lay the groundwork for a "robust" employee wellness program. Nostaja also said there needs to be a significant expansion of the Employee Assistance Program, which, he said, receives $3,000 a year to serve a population of 8,500, plus more community engagement programs targeting university employees.

"We need to do a better job on our employee orientation program as well," he added. "We need to connect employees to our campus on the first day. We need to do things that are innovative and fun."

For the second half of Nostaja's presentation, PSS members split into small groups to brainstorm additional ideas to foster trust, pride and camaraderie at the university. The results of the half-hour session were presented by 10 group facilitators.

In terms of building trust, facilitator Robinette Kelly, assistant director of employee relations in Human Resources, pointed to the importance of transparency and communication. "It was suggested that we have 360-degree evaluations," in which managers are not only evaluated by their supervisors, but also by their reporting staff members, she noted.

Suggestions from other groups included more flexible work schedules and child-care programs; an easing of such "dividers" as North versus South Campus, faculty versus staff, UUP versus CSEA; and assurances from members of the senior administration that they are committed to remaining at the university.

An emphasis on "consistency and fairness across departments" was a prominent theme in many presenters' comments. "There's wide acknowledgement that not every department treats their employees the same," noted facilitator Matthew Deck, assistant director of clinical operations in the School of Dental Medicine. "Some people get to come to meetings like this without repercussions, some people are told they can come to meetings like this, but there are going to be repercussions and some people feel like they can't go at all—and that's not right. It should be the same across the board for all of us," he said.

Suggestions for boosting pride included implementing a better orientation program for new employees, ensuring paid time off for participating in community service projects, connecting employees' jobs to specific aspects of UB 2020 and encouraging employees to wear UB colors and pins. At least one group noted that some offices do not permit their employees to the wear UB blue during Homecoming week.

Suggestions related to increasing camaraderie included providing employees free tickets to UB events and speakers, as well as sponsoring company picnics and staff retreats.

At the close of the meeting, Nostaja said that most of the ideas presented seemed "attainable or achievable."

"I don't think there's anything that's come out here that's undoable," he added, promising to consolidate the groups' comments into a report for President John B. Simpson and Provost Satish K. Tripathi, as well as to begin developing programs within the Office of Human Resources based on participants' suggestions.

"It's not all just an exercise in futility," Nostaja assured the audience. "It really is input to make the process better."