TO: P & S Staff DATE: February 16, 1999
FROM: Andy Hurst FILE:
RE: P & S General Meeting Notes Wednesday February 10, 1999.
The meeting was attended by about 22 P & S members.
Performance Review System:
Klaus Reiniger commented that it appeared that the PPR process went much smoother this year. The distribution of ratings averaged out higher than expected, which he felt reflected the efforts put forth for the ISAC and CERN projects. There were not many changes required to normalize supervisor recommended ratings. In general, the employee supervisor interviews were done well, facilitating good communications. The HR department was instrumental in expediting the process. Two P&S have submitted appeals of their rating. The review panels have been selected, and the appeal process will proceed. Training for the work planning part of PPR will begin within a month (or so).
The PPR system now established is important in that it is one that would be acceptable to the federal funding and review agencies. There may be some further refinements; next year, PPR forms will be circulated in June for completion by September. It is expected that the reviews will average out at the 3 rating.
Salary Administration :
At a recent PSRC meeting, (meeting notes have been posted), Jim Hanlon described a salary system comprised of three pots - one for scale increases, one for performance bonuses and the third for career progress (steps within a range and range changes due to reclassification). By September / October 1999, the management will have a better understanding of the salary administration possible within the next 5-year plan. Klaus had just received a draft memo proposing a comparison system in which employees would be grouped in 4 general categories:
1. Administrative support
2. Technical support
3. Scientific support
4. Scientists.
The motivation is coming from the Board of Management. The information is preliminary, and further discussion is required with employee representatives.
Election of PSRC Positions:
Klaus thanked Elly Driessen, Pat Stewart, Grant Sheffer and John Drozdoff for their efforts on the PSRC over the last two years. John Drozdoff, Ann Trudel, and Stu Austen had been nominated for members at Large. Grant Sheffer was nominated during the meeting. No other nominations were received, so these candidates were acclaimed. Klaus intends to call a PSRC meeting next month.
The PSRC committee:
* Chair: Klaus Reiniger ; term expires December 1999.
* Vice-chair: John Yandon; term expires December 1999.
* Secretary: Andy Hurst; term expires December 1999.
Members-at-large:
* Roman Ruegg; term expires December 1999.
* Dave Morris; term expires December 1999.
* Stu Austen; term expires December 2000.
* John Drozdoff; term expires December 2000.
* Grant Sheffer; term expires December 2000.
* Anne Trudel; term expires December 2000.
Other Business:
With the possibility of a new employee grouping structure, the PSRC may eventually be replaced with a different form of employee representation. Andy Hurst pointed out that it is important for the PSRC to maintain communications with the management and to be prepared to offer critical constructive review of any proposed changes. This will be particularly important after a few years when there will likely be organizational restructuring as senior members of the management retire. Franco Mammarella noted that there was a relatively poor attendance at this meeting in comparison to previous annual general meetings. Klaus felt that this may be a function of the issues. Every P&S was given a hardcopy notice of the meeting, but e-mail or web-based reminders may help increase the turnout. Roy Moore volunteered to prepare a P&S web page. Roy advertised the web-available program which calculates the UBC Staff pension benefits for different scenarios. The page can be found at: www.triumf.ca/ubc/ubcpens/