With Mapping Nearly Finished, UCAP Moves to Calibration Phase
Jan Myers, director of compensation and UCAP project director
Troy Vaughn, director of Campus Recreation
With nearly all UA employees' positions mapped, the University Career Architecture Project has entered its functional calibration phase, with the goal of ensuring consistency across all titles and levels.
Jan Myers, director of compensation and the UCAP project director, gave an update on the project at the Appointed Professionals Advisory Council meeting on Tuesday. The project aims to better define nonacademic jobs, support career progression, and better match compensation practices with those used outside the University, according to officials in the Division of Human Resources. As part of the project, classified staff and appointed personnel positions will be combined into a new classification called "university staff."
More than 10,500 of the UA's positions – which do not include faculty – have been mapped, Myers said. The functional calibration phase entails having subject matter experts across campus meet to review jobs with similar responsibilities, and those meetings began in September, Myers said. Discussions about plans for future calibration will follow in the organizational calibration phase.
"We'll take all of that data that we gathered during the functional sessions with subject matter experts, and then start to share that from an organizational perspective," Myers said. "So, we'll meet with leadership from a college or division perspective and share what we discovered during functional calibration and any potential mapping outliers."
The calibration phases will provide time to refine or clarify defining elements of job functions or families, she added.
Myers reiterated that, for existing employees, UCAP will not change retirement plan elections or reduce pay. Existing titles can continue to be used as working titles. Myers said policy proposals surrounding issues like vacation and sick time accrual, corrective action and layoffs are currently under review.
After Myers' presentation, APAC Chair Jennifer Lawrence, manager of business and finance in the Department of Neuroscience, said she has been meeting with other shared governance leaders, such as Classified Staff Council Chair Jeff Jones and Chair of the Faculty Jessica Summers, to discuss the future of shared governance after appointed professionals and classified staff are moved to a single employee classification.
"We don't want to lose representation, but it's not clear at the moment where divisions would be if we continued with two groups," Lawrence said, referring to the future of CSC and APAC once all non-faculty employees share a single classification. She added that UA President Robert C. Robbins has pledged his commitment to shared governance, in which faculty and other employees are included in decision making.
On another topic, Troy Vaughn, who took over as director of Campus Recreation in July, highlighted the unit's current projects, which include a new recreation center at the Honors Village under construction north of Speedway Boulevard and involvement in the Student Success District, a redevelopment planned for the Main Library, Bear Down Gymnasium and the Albert B. Weaver Science-Engineering Library.
Vaughn also spoke about Campus Recreation services that many might not know about, such as outdoor recreation trips, personal training, departmental CPR classes and a challenge course.
Vaugh added that Campus Recreation strives to be collaborative.
"We actively seek out those collaborations. So, if you haven't heard from me yet or if your office hasn't heard from me yet, I'm sure you will," Vaughn said.
APAC's next meeting will be held from 3-5 p.m. on Nov. 27 in the Sabino Room of the Student Union Memorial Center.