HUMAN RESOURCES NEWS

The Office of Human Resources would like to announce the following new employees to the University of Baltimore community:

New Staff (exempt and non-exempt):
Paul Aiken, maintenance mechanic, Physical Plant
Chertara Carrington, police communications operator, Public Safety
Marie Gray, administrative assistant, Office of the Provost
Robert Hradsky, vice provost, Office of the Provost
Keiver Jordan, PeopleSoft student finance systems specialist, OTS Development
Precious King, security officer, Physical Plant
Robin Plotnick, director of Alumni Relations, University Advancement
Kelli Rossin, administrative assistant, School of Law faculty
Kia Scipio, assistant director, Law Career Services
Dawn Scruggs, executive administrative assistant, Office of the President
Christina Warfield, administrative assistant, Office of Administration and Finance
Stanley Waters, housekeeper, Physical Plant
Shawn Wheeler, administrative assistant, Langsdale Library

Welcome to the University of Baltimore!

And a fond farewell to those staff who have left UB:
Ida Robinson-Backmon, Robert G. Merrick School of Business faculty

You Say It's Your Birthday!

Following is a list of all regular and Contingent II employees who are celebrating birthdays in the month of April. Happy birthday from the UB community.

Susan Baker
Robin Bohnenstengel
Jim Bradley
Chertara Carrington
Patrick Chachulski
Ann Cotton
Jane Delury
Linda Fair
Deborah Ford
Michelle Gilligan
Deborah Grey
Chris Hart
Roger Healy
Lanny Herron
Michael Higginbotham
Michael Hoeche
Reggie Johnstonnbsp
Nicole Jones
Tovah Kasdin
Katie Kauffman
Bob Kennedy
Michael Maher
Stacey Marriott
Esther Materon-Arum
Ted Matson
Bob McQuitty
Jeff Missouri
Richard Morrell
William Nottage
Steve Pinchback
Arnold Rochvarg
Terry Ross
Tim Sellers
Walter Shaw
Jaya Singhal
Darrell Stevens
David Stevens
Sara Tomko
William Towns
Wim Wiewel
Larry Williams
Evette Woodrup

News About Your Health Benefits

Full-time student certifications are required if your child is over the age of 19. Although your child can be covered under your insurance plans through the calendar year in which he or she turns 19, after that time, they must be full-time students (undergraduate student with a 12-credit minimum), or full-time graduate students (9-credit minimum). The student certifications can be downloaded from the Department of Budget and Management Web site, or by visiting the UB Office of Human Resources’ Web page and clicking on “benefits.”

Coverage Period: Remember that your current benefits will continue through June 30, 2005. The state will be changing the enrollment period so that you can enroll, make changes, cancel, etc., this spring. The new or changed benefits will take effect on July 1 and continue through June 30, 2006. The state moved the enrollment period to coincide with the fiscal year (July through June).

Supplemental Plan Through Fidelity

At this time, the Fidelity supplemental plans (SRAs) (403b or 457) are not yet available.  If you have sent in an application to join Fidelity’s SRAs, it cannot yet be processed. The Office of Human Resources recommends that you set up a pre-tax SRA plan with TIAA-CREF, Valic or Nationwide Solutions, all of whom have both plans for your convenience. HR will continue to update you on the status of the Fidelity contract.

Note that the Fidelity contract for the optional retirement program, the account where the 7.25 percent of annual salary is placed, is set up to go. Those who have elected Fidelity should see their funds set up through Fidelity.

Pre-Tax Contributions for 2005: As you near retirement, or even in advance of that time, you should make plans to set aside funds of your own to assist you when you retire.  Studies confirm that you need approximately 70 percent of your current income to maintain the status quo when you retire. Social Security and your retirement account are two pieces of the puzzle. A supplemental account is another way to set aside additional funds for retirement.

For this calendar year, employees may contribute a total of $14,000 and an additional $4,000 (for employees 50 and older) to a supplemental plan (403b or 457), through TIAA-CREF, Valic or Nationwide Solutions. Because two plans are available, employees can actually defer the amount specified above into each plan. As an example, a 50-year-old employee can open up a 457 and a 403b with one of these companies, and tax defer $36,000 in calendar year 2005, assuming that his salary at least equals the amount that he wants to tax defer. 

If this is confusing, or if you need more information, you might want to set up an appointment with a TIAA-CREF, Nationwide or Valic representative. 

Their contact numbers are:

TIAA-CREF: 1.800.842.2733

VALIC: 1.800.448.2542

Nationwide Solutions: 410.252.7201

If you are planning to increase your pre-tax deductions, please be sure to calculate how much you can defer so that you do not go over the limitations set forth by the IRS. 

On Communicating Well: Five Strategies To Enhance Your Managerial Communication Skills

By Joelle Jay

One of the biggest challenges managers face is communication. And yet, communication is also one of the most critical aspects of leadership. Without good communication, managers can fail to gain commitment from employees, fail to achieve business goals and fail to develop rapport with the people on their team. In short, they can fail as leaders no matter how good their intentions may be.

Strategy #2: Facilitating

Facilitating communication is more than just listening, more than leading a conversation. Good facilitation is a continuous cycle of three steps: hearing what is said, integrating it into the topic at hand and saying something to move the conversation forward.

For example, imagine a manager facilitating a meeting in which she and her team are developing goals for the coming year. The conversation might sound something like this:

Manager: As we develop our goals for next year, it's important that we hear from everyone in the department. What are your ideas?

Employee 1: I think it’s important that we get productivity up. I notice we have a pretty relaxed pace around here, and it gets frustrating when some people are working hard and others seem to be contributing less than others.

Manager: OK, so we need improved productivity. What would that look like as a goal?

Employee 2: Actually, I think it’s more a matter of setting a higher sales goal than improving productivity in the office. We don't just need to be busier; we need to get better results.

Manager: I see. So the idea is that we should set higher sales goals for everyone, which would consequently address the productivity issue. Is that right?

Employees: Yes.

Notice in this exchange that the manager took the time to repeat what she heard so that the employees could verify its accuracy. She also integrated each comment into the topic at hand, tying the first employee’s frustration with productivity to the task (goal-setting), and connecting the second employee’s point about sales to the topic on the table (productivity). Even though her employees were giving all of the input, the manager stayed focused on the task of preparing goals and led all comments in that direction.

Good facilitation is one of the ways managers become leaders. It requires garnering the input of everyone in a group while keeping them focused on the task at hand. It’s especially useful when guiding a team toward a desired outcome-for instance, when developing a strategic plan, putting together a joint project or coordinating activities.