Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1988 [PAGE 90]

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80

BOARD O F T R U S T E E S

[September

11

This project was undertaken approximately two and one-half years ago by the University Office of Personnel Administration with the four following objectives: 1. T o make the new manual a more accurate reflection of personnel operations; 2. To clarify those policies and rules which have been inconsistently interpreted; 3. To insure that legal requirements are accurately stated; and 4. T o make the manual more "user-friendly." The new manual has been completely reorganized. It has been divided into sections which reflect major personnel functions. Each section addresses one or more subjects, each having a single University policy followed by University rules given individual topic names in addition to discrete numbers. All University regulations pertaining to the same topic immediately follow the University rules for that topic. It is believed that this organization of information will make it easier for managers and employees to locate answers to their questions, will enable personnel staff to readily recognize problem areas and permit easier identification of the policy and rules changes needed when laws affecting nonacademic employment are passed or modified. Overall, the new format makes the new manual more user-friendly. The current Policy and Rules — Nonacademic has a preface which has been rewritten for the proposed version. The proposed preface includes the application of Policy and Rules — Nonacademic and maintenance procedures in addition to general information regarding the constitution of policies, rules, and regulations and the approvals necessary for changing each. Since Board of Trustees' approval is necessary for all policy changes, a Summary of Policy Changes (Appendix A) is attached. For ease in recognizing the proposed changes, the summary is arranged with the current chapter policies shown on the left and the corresponding proposed policies on the right. Underlining and overstrikes on the right denote additions and deletions to the present policies. A review of the Summary of Policy Changes shows that no revisions are proposed for the policies in current Chapters II, IV, VIII, and XIII other than format changes occasioned by the manual's reorganization. Chapters IX and XI policies have no substantive wording changes but major sections have been removed from the policies and designated as University rules (in some cases incorporating existing rules) to conform with the intent to have more general policy statements with the rules addressing specific items. The first modification of the Classification and Compensation, Chapter III, policy was the addition of "established" to reflect actual conditions. The second change permits the president to authorize alternate meritorious salary programs for step-plan employees. The policy changes identified for Chapters VI, VII, and X are primarily for clarification but do include some substantive revisions. For instance, Chapter X policy has been rewritten as two policies instead of one for clarity, but a statement regarding closing of the University on holidays has been changed due to legal concerns. In Chapter VI, Conduct and Discipline, a policy statement on sexual harassment was added but a paragraph on political activities was moved without content change to a rule. A statement also had to be added to Chapter VII, Grievances, to exclude negotiated employees from the Policy and Rules — Nonacademic grievance procedure unless the grievance procedure is specifically incorporated in the collective bargaining agreement. This addition was recommended by legal counsel in light of the provisions of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act. As the Summary of Policy Changes indicates, the negotiations policy of Chapter V was also subjected to content revisions due to the advent of the Illinois