HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) CONNECTION

WINTER 2004

Table of Contents

• 2004 Annual Open Enrollment Coming in April!
• HR Re-organizes: Meet the New Assistant VP's in HR
• E-Recruit: Continued Improvements
• Benefits Corner
• Five Habits of Highly Successful Investors
• ODS Spring 2004 Workshops
• Employee Appreciation Day Coming Soon!
• You and Your Health: A Chocolate Heart FOR the Heart
• UUSAC President's Message
• Legislative Advocacy: A Strategic Approach
• When It Snows: Remembering the People Who Leave Their Homes
• UUSAC Directory
• 2004 Holiday Schedule
• HR Directory

It’s ALMOST that time of year again.
Annual Open Enrollment Coming Soon in April!

Annual Open Enrollment is your opportunity to enroll, change or discontinue your health coverage. Your personalized open enrollment packet will be mailed directly to your home address in April. This important information is your only notification of any changes to the health plans. To ensure your open enrollment packet arrives on time to your home address, please make sure your home address is current in the Campus Information System. Changes made during the Annual Open Enrollment period in April will be effective July 1, 2004.

Watch for the BIG WHITE 2004 Open Enrollment envelope in your mail. It’s important that you take the time to review your packet carefully!

HR RE-ORGANIZES: MEET THE NEW ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENTS IN HUMAN RESOURCES!

Human Resources has three new but familiar faces. You may already know them: Joan Gines, Phil Johnson, and Tom Loveridge. In December, after approval by the Board of Trustees, Joan, Phil, and Tom were promoted to Assistant Vice Presidents for Human Resources.

Bringing with her over 25 years of experience in benefits, Joan Gines became Director of Benefits in July 1, 2001. In her new role as Assistant Vice President, Joan will continue to oversee the Benefits Department but will also take on the responsibility of the HR Service Teams and act as liaison to UUHC representing Human Resources on UUHC’s Administrative Council

Phil Johnson has been with Human Resources since April 26, 1993. He started as a Compensation Analyst and is now the Director of Compensation, HRIS, and Policy Administration. As Assistant Vice President, he will oversee Organizational Development Services in addition to his current responsibilities.

Tom Loveridge has been with the University of Utah since February 1977. He will continue to keep his title as Director of OEO/AA. As Assistant Vice President, Tom will also be responsible for Employee Relations.

E-Recruit: Continued Improvements!

Human Resources implemented a new online job posting and application system in November 2003. This system allows candidates to view and apply for jobs online, update an existing application, and add resume or cover letter text to an application. In addition, it allows Human Resources to forward qualified applicants to hiring managers more quickly than ever before.

In response to feedback received from hiring managers and applicants, we have further refined the system since its launch in November:

·
• Formatting of job descriptions has been improved to help applicants find the specific jobs they are seeking.
• Internal applicants are no longer required to log in prior to viewing open positions.
• Candidates are offered additional information if they visit the HR jobs web site between midnight and 7:00 am when E-Recruit is offline. Nursing candidates are offered an alternate online information form if they visit during these hours.
• Applicants are given more time to complete the application before the program automatically logs them out.
• Additional technical information has been added to the HR jobs web site to reduce browser problems on applicants’ computers.

Human Resources is continually working to improve the recruiting experience for applicants and hiring managers. Planned improvements involve:

• Including working titles on postings
• Adding Full-time/Part-time shift information on applications
• Formatting the application that hiring managers receive so that important information is easier to locate.

If you have feedback on the E-Recruit system, you are encouraged to forward it to your HR Service Team.

Benefits Corner

• Did you know that in 2004 you can contribute up to $13,000 to each supplemental retirement plan ( 403(b) and 457(b) )? If you are age 50 or older you may also contribute an additional $3,000 to each of these accounts.
• Don’t forget, tuition reduction forms must be submitted each semester. The forms are due to the Benefits Department no later than the first day of the semester in which classes are to be taken.
• Did you know that the University pays over $1,500,000 a month in pharmacy claims for members of the University’s health care plans.
• Want to know how much you have left in your flexible spending account? You can check your balance on-line at www.wffbs.com.
• Don’t forget, you only have until September 30th to submit claims for reimbursement.
• As of February 1, 2004, Wal-Mart has decided to no longer accept signature-based Mastercard Credit Cards. Since the Benny Card is signature-based (does not allow use of a PIN number for authorization), it can no longer be used at Wal-Mart.

University of Utah Benefit Vendor Solicitations

Periodically employees will receive information in their home mail which has been sent directly from a University of Utah benefit vendor. These mailings should only come from companies the University contracts with for individual retirement plans, MetPay (for homeowners & auto insurance), and prescription drug plans. The University’s contracts allow these companies to send a limited number of communications directly to employees to remind them of benefits which are available to them as University employees. Having the benefit vendor mail this information directly to employees minimizes additional budget costs for printing and postage which the University would incur if we provided the same information. This assists the University in keeping benefits costs low and affordable for University employees. Only home address information is provided to companies who have benefit contracts with the University. We recognize these group plans may not provide the best fit for every employee, but some will find the rates are lower or the information helpful.

Five Habits of Highly Successful Investors

To drive a car, you need to know some basics: how to start the engine, how to park and the rules of the road. But you don’t need to know all the ins and outs of how an engine runs unless you’re a mechanic. The same is true in investing. When you’re starting out, you don’t need to know every nuance of financial markets, but you do need a grasp of the essentials.

Give some thought to the following habits of highly successful investors. They can help you make sound investment decisions.

SET GOALS
It sounds simple. To be successful in anything you must have a vision and work toward it. Establish your goal. What specific thing do you want to accomplish? Do you want a $500,000 nest egg, the means to pay your children’s education, or to be able to buy your first home? Next, set a reasonable time frame and a monthly investing target amount.

TAX-DEFER AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
If a big retirement nest egg is your goal, the best way to get there is to use tax-deferred products – 401(k) plans, 403 (b) plans, and IRAs. With these products, you pay less in taxes now, and invest more for your future with money that would otherwise go to taxes. You also benefit from the power of compounding: that is, your earnings are tax-deferred also, so they stay fully invested – you don’t lose money to taxes while you are accumulating retirement funds. If you’ve taken full advantage of your employer’s pension plan and supplementary retirement plan and need to save more, there are after-tax products like mutual funds and Roth IRAs that can help. And if you have self-employment income, consider opening a Keogh.

TRY NOT TO TIME THE MARKET
Market timers have to be right twice to be successful. They have to buy at a low point and sell at the high point. That’s difficult if not impossible to do consistently. No one knows in which direction the market will head on any given day, month, or year. Instead, successful investors build their wealth by investing on a regular basis in solid long-term performers. To help you get started, sign up for an automatic investment plan that transfers money automatically from your checking account into an investment account such as a mutual fund. You won’t miss the money, and you’ll be accumulating money towards your goals.

DIVERSIFY
Smart investors don’t rely on a few hot stocks or sectors. They balance their holdings over a range of sectors or industries and build a portfolio that includes different types of investments or asset classes, such as stocks, bonds, and money market investments as well as real estate and guaranteed holdings. A well-diversified investment portfolio can help provide a measure of stability by insulating you from the ups and downs of any one type of security or market. Different types of investments generally perform differently under changing economic conditions.

PAY ATTENTION TO EXPENSES
Savvy investors look at essential data before they invest. Want a mutual fund? Look at the company’s investment track record, individual fund sales charges or loads (not all companies have them), and expenses. Higher fees do not necessarily translate into higher-quality returns. All other things being equal, expense charges can make a substantial difference in your investment returns years. A $100,000 investment, compounded at an annual rate of 8 percent for 25 years, would be worth $152,000 less with an extra 1 percent of accumulation taken off the top for expenses.

For more information about saving and investing for the future, please contact the Benefits Department at 581-7447, an individual investment counselor from one of the five retirement vendors working with the University or contact your personal financial advisor.

ODS Spring 2004 Workshop Schedule

It's not too late to enhance your professional and leadership skills. Register on-line today at www.hr.utah.edu/ods/ or call 585-2300.

Employee Appreciation Day

Thursday, SEPTEMBER 30, 2004
OLYMPIC CAULDRON PARK
10 AM - 2 PM

fun, food, giveaways, live music, celebrities, benefits fair, employee talent and art shows & a great deal more!

JOIN US and find out how the U APPRECIATES YOU!

A Chocolate Heart FOR the Heart
by the College of Health

Who would have thought that something so good would also be good for you? And just in time for Valentine’s Day! This February 14th, give your sweetheart a heart-shaped box of chocolates and not only will you be giving something delicious, but also something to promote good health. More and more scientific evidence proves that chocolate is particularly good for your heart.

Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, contains antioxidants and specific flavonoids (beneficial plant chemicals) that have been shown to decrease the risk of heart disease by preventing atherosclerosis. Recent research has indicated that chocolate has four times the amount of antioxidants as tea – a heavy hitter in the area of beneficial antioxidants. Dark chocolate is the best choice as it has more antioxidants than milk chocolate and also has less fat than milk chocolate. In addition, cocoa butter, a main ingredient of chocolate, has a fat called stearic acid that does not contribute to cholesterol formation in the body.

The health benefits of chocolate have been known for centuries. Europeans living in the 17th century used chocolate to treat anemia, tuberculosis, fever and gout. And chocolate was vieWednesday as a way to strengthen the heart. Now in the 21st century we know it can literally make your sweetheart’s heart stronger and longer.

With something that gives such great pleasure to many people you would expect some misconceptions as well. One myth is that chocolate has a lot of caffeine. While it is true that chocolate does contain caffeine, the amount is very small, especially compared to other caffeine-containing products. For example, an eight-ounce carton of chocolate milk contains about five milligrams of caffeine compared to the 115 milligrams in one five-ounce cup of coffee. Another myth is that some people are chocoholics. Although some people do have a stronger preference to chocolate than others do, eating chocolate itself cannot become truly addicting. Eating chocolate can, however, become a high-calorie habit with a pleasure sensation.

If you plan to give or receive chocolate this Valentine’s Day, following are some tips on how to properly enjoy fine chocolate:

• Chocolate is best tasted on an empty stomach at a temperature between 66 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Do not store chocolate in the refrigerator – it will cause the cocoa to separate and you will notice it turn white.
• When tasting dark chocolate, the kind with the healthiest components, let the chocolate sit in your mouth for a few seconds to release its flavors and aromas. Then chew it to release more flavors. Let it rest lightly against the roof of your mouth so you experience the full range of flavors.

If you want to make a special chocolaty treat for your Valentine, try the American Dietetic Association recipe below. It is filled with flavonoids from both the chocolate and the strawberries to give your heart a power punch and your mouth a sweet sensation.

After Valentine’s Day is over and you’ve done a favor for your heart, come in to the University of Utah Nutrition Clinic for the true test. Experienced dietitians at the Nutrition Clinic can test your cholesterol and other blood lipids (fats). In a matter of minutes you’ll know whether the chocolate accomplished some good things for YOUR heart. Call the University of Utah Nutrition Clinic at 581-5417 to schedule an appointment for a cholesterol check or to speak to a dietitian.

DARK CHOCOLATE-COVERED STRAWBERRIES

INGREDIENTS 6 ounces dark chocolate
3 T half and half cream
½ T unsalted butter
20 large strawberries

In a one-quart glass bowl combine chocolate and cream. Heat in microwave oven on high 1 ½ to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Add butter and stir until melted. Dip each strawberry into the chocolate mixture allowing the excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl. If necessary, add additional cream to the chocolate to achieve desired coating consistency. Transfer the coated strawberry to a baking sheet lined with foil or waxed paper and repeat process. Allow the chocolate to cool and then chill the strawberries until chocolate is set, approximately 20 to 30 minutes.

UUSAC PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Employees of the University of Utah:

UUSAC hopes that we can partner with you in promoting a sense of excellence on campus! You will find in this edition of the newsletter an article on our legislative advocacy efforts, and a piece on the importance of saying “thank you,” to those who serve us well!

My theme remains the same for each of us, all year. Contact us. Let us know your concerns. We are only as good as the effort that we all put into our shared relationship.

May your 2004 New Year be PROSPEROUS and full of GOOD HEALTH and your life be one of a continuous flow of GREAT MOMENTS with those people that you care about most.

My best regards,

Aaron White
President, UUSAC
2003-2004
581-8518

Legislative Advocacy: A Strategic Approach
by Marcus Trinite, President-Elect, UUSAC

When It Snows: Remembering the People Who Leave Their Homes
By Mark L. Stevens and Kathy Marlock*

We all know that when “war” is declared, families are separated and our neighbors often leave their homes to travel to distant places to engage in the work of defending our national interests. But, have we all remembered, this winter, to stop and think about all the time and energy that our fellow campus employees have had to take away from their families and homes just to make it possible for us to come to our place of work during this recent snowy season. Some employees have been deployed in the middle of the night to come and tackle the invading mounds of snow. Some have been called to campus at odd hours around the holidays because “duty” called. Some, we are sure, have felt lonely engaging in the arduous tasks of clearing steps, sidewalks and trucks. Just like those who are sent to war, some of our “U” employees have probably felt like they’ve been busy mapping out a plan of attack to figure out where to go with all of the snow and how to eliminate it as a threat to those of us needing to travel in uncertain conditions related to the many areas of the campus. We wish to salute them and thank them for all of their efforts in keeping the university running; they are so very important to the life of the campus community!

As co-authors for this article, we’ve come to value each other’s perspective. Mark’s view is one of gratitude for the roads, parking lots, and sidewalks at the U; he feels that they are taken care of in ways that are probably better than most in the city. Kathy’s stance is one of thankfulness for the employees and their equipment that supports the function of making employment and travel possible. Look at the big picture! It can be a helpful and important reminder about our interdependence.

We pulled together to try and calculate how we might put all of the recent white stuff into perspective. We decided that if you think of what it takes to keep your own driveway and sidewalks clear and multiply that by say about 200, then you can start to imagine what it takes. Of course, there is more to it than that. The water content, the amount of snow, and the short period of time in which the snow fell the day after Christmas put a lot of miles on snow removal equipment. So while the skies stayed open dropping heavy flakes on top of everyone, the crews were busy trying to keep the equipment mobile while the windy, white, icy conditions played with everyone’s skin!

In addition to those people running the heavy equipment, many thanks also go to the crews of welders and mechanics who kept things running behind the scenes. Without their expert knowledge, no one could have gone anywhere; they kept the equipment running and the university community moving.

Thank you to the “U” employees in Plant Operations, Grounds, Transportation and elsewhere who gave up their “normal lives” to perform their jobs. Since this isn’t Camelot and we didn’t get to declare when and where it would snow; and since we don’t know any magic tricks for making it vanish, we turn to our community of experts and fellow employees to say thank you!

Oh, by the way, just one last thing. “Have you noticed lately that the piles of snow on campus are getting smaller?” Perhaps they’ve grown legs and have been moving like gypsies throughout the night. We wish all of our readers Sweet Dreams; and, we send our many thanks to those who throughout the night do good deeds on our behalf, even if those important acts are part of their jobs!

*Mark L. Stevens is the Chair of the Salaries, Wages and Benefits Committee of the University of Utah Staff Advisory Committee (UUSAC); Kathy Marlock is Co-Chair of the Communication Committee of UUSAC. Both are members of UUSAC’s Executive Board.

A Few Good Staff Employees Wanted!

Like the U. S. Marine Corps, the University of Utah Staff Advisory Council (UUSAC) is looking for “a few good men and women.” However, there is no possibility that you will have to serve in combat situations—rather, you would serve on University committees, making the U of U better for you and all others who study, work or visit campus.

Annually, some of the members of each University committee are released from service and new members are selected to fill the vacancies. These committees provide an invaluable service to the University. There is a committee in need of your assistance if you have an open mind, want to improve the University, enjoy working with others to “make a difference” and are able to serve. In addition to improving the University, service on these committees can be very enjoyable, interesting and rewarding. Please consider applying for one of the many University committees needing new members, or nominate someone you feel could “make a difference.”

All regular, full time (.75 FTE or greater) staff employees who have completed their probationary period of employment, and all .50 FTE staff employees who are eligible for benefits are eligible to serve on University committees.

The UUSAC University Service Selection Committee will accept applications and nominations for service on these committees until 5:00 PM, Friday, March 12, 2004. Submit a separate application for each committee for which you are applying/nominating.

There are two ways to submit applications:

1. Electronic Submission: Using the Internet, go to the University of Utah home web page, click on “Faculty & Staff”, click on “Staff Advisory Council”, and then click on “Join UUSAC and other University Committees”. This will bring up an electronic form that will submit your application—follow the instructions on the electronic form. If you are nominating someone else, DO NOT use the electronic form.
2. Paper Submission: Provide the following information about the applicant, not exceeding two typewritten pages:

• Committee Name
• Applicant Name
• Campus Address - Please submit your CAMPUS address, rather than your U.S. Postal Service mailing address (unless you are located off-campus). Example: “150 PARK” (room number + building designation) instead of “201 S. President’s Circle”.
• E-Mail Address
• Campus Phone
• Vice Presidential Reporting Area
• Department Name
• Job Title
• Status (Exempt or Non-exempt)
• Length of U of U Employment
• U of U Work History (Include departments of employment, length of service, duties, etc. If employment at the University has been less than one year, describe previous employment experience.)
• Paragraph stating purpose for seeking the committee appointmen
t.
• If you are nominating someone else, include your name, e-mail address, campus phone, and a brief statement explaining why you are nominating the candidate. Before submitting the nomination, be sure to contact the person you are nominating to be certain they are willing and able to serve.

If you opt to submit a paper application, please e-mail it to mtrinite@hsc.utah.edu or you can send it through campus mail to Marcus Trinite, president-elect, UUSAC, Health Information Department Retention Center 134 S. 400 E. SLC, UT. 84106. Applications and nominations for the committees listed below must be received no later than 5:00 PM, Friday, March 12, 2004. After the UUSAC University Service Selection Committee has reviewed all applications, the appropriate administrator in charge of each committee (i.e., University President, Vice President, or committee chair, etc.) will make the actual appointments.

The following committees have openings for University service:

For a description of each committee, go to the University of Utah home web page, click on “Faculty & Staff”, click on “Staff Advisory Council”, and then click on “Description of University Committees Needing Staff Members”.

If you have questions about committee service or the application/nomination process, please contact Marcus Trinite at phone: 297-4847or email at mtrinite@hsc.utah.edu

UUSAC DIRECTORY

If you have story ideas or comments regarding information in this publication, please contact Sheri Gordon or Kathy Marlock. Visit UUSAC’s web site at www.utah.edu/uusac/

2004 HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

HR DIRECTORY