Guest Blog from Doug Bodary

Each member of the IPS Leadership Academy is required to make at least one blog post during their two-year leadership experience.  This is Doug's post:

 

County Official Orientation Program in August 2014 and Its Importance

Every four years the majority of county officials in Tennessee run for re-election and inevitably these elections produce fresh faces in some of the courthouses.  This upcoming August’s elections, with numerous retirements as well as officials just deciding not to seek another term, is shaping up to be an election with a major turnover of county elected officials.  While some of these new elected officials may have an idea of the office of what they will be elected to (i.e. they were an employee in the office), many will be entering the office that they will manage for the first time on September 1.  

Seeing the need several years ago for a basic introductory course for the newly elected officials, CTAS created the County Officials Orientation Program (COOP).  This intensive course not only provides an overview of the basics of the elected offices, but also gives the new officials a chance to meet the CTAS staff and the field consultant that is assigned to their county.  Additionally, this program gives the opportunity for networking of the new officials with the county officials associations, as their board members and their executive directors attend the conference as well. 

Through the training and networking opportunities that the newly elected county officials will find at COOP, they will know who to call and turn to for assistance and guidance when they take office on September 1 and face an issue that they are unsure of an answer to.  It is through this orientation program and the first couple months in office that many of the new officials form a professional relationship of trust and confidence with the CTAS staff that can carry on for the duration of their time in office. Therefore, it is critical that their experience at COOP is a positive one. COOP truly is the first and lasting impression that CTAS gives to the newly elected officials and it is paramount that it be successful. 

 

Doug Bodary, CPA, MBA
Finance & Budget Consultant
County Technical Assistance Service
315 John Rice Blvd. STE 101
Murfreesboro, TN 37129
615-532-3555 office
615-653-7001 cell

Promoting better county government through direct assistance to county officials and their associations

 

UT Board of Trustees Update

The UT Board of Trustees held its annual meeting last week in Knoxville.  Among the many important agenda items was approval of the FY2015 budget.

All IPS agency budgets were approved as submitted during our budget hearings. Among the good news for employees is that the state has agreed to fund the increase in insurance premiums that will go into effect January 1. Normally these increases are passed on to employees, but given that no cost of living adjustment was made in salaries this year, the state is providing funding for the increase.

Although COLA increases were not in the budget, the board did vote to allow the campuses and institutes to fund limited salary increases during the year. These include promotions (Robin Roberts appreciates this!), adjustments due to change in classification, and other increases approved in the Compensation Guidelines adopted by the Board.

The IPS senior leadership team will review budgets in early fall to determine if we have sufficient one-time funding for mid-year merit bonus payments. If we have funding available, then we will develop a plan to be approved by the president and CFO prior to implementing it.

Stay tuned for more news to come.

Compensation Advisory Board Update

I have served as the IPS representative on this board since it was formed in 2010. Significant improvements have been made as summarized on its web site at http://humanresources.tennessee.edu/cab/index.html

The CAB, as it is known, meets three times per year on the day prior to the UT Board of Trustees meeting. The June 17 meeting agenda was full of progress reports. Items of note for IPS staff include a recommendation for CAB “town hall” meetings where members of CAB will visit UT staff across the state to listen to issues around compensation and benefits. These will be scheduled later in the year.

CAB is also reviewing possible increases to minimum rate of pay and an update to the salary schedules so that they continue to reflect market position. UT’s minimum pay rate will increase to $9.50 effective July 1, but this will not cost IPS because we have no employees below this rate. The new salary schedules will cause us to evaluate where employees are relative to their target salary so that we can put tighter long-term funding plans. We also reviewed turnover data for the university compared to higher education in general and the entire workforce. The average turnover in IPS over the last six years was 10 percent, and for the entire university it was 11.4 percent. We discussed the “baby boom” bubble moving through the workforce.

We also discussed a change to the sick leave donation policy that is working its way through the process. This is thanks to John Charlson, who raised it as an issue at the last IPS ERC meeting. I took the concern to the Benefits Advisory Group and that group recommended a change from a minimum 80 hour donation to a minimum 40 hour donation. I expect this policy will be changed in the next few months.

Please visit the CAB website to get a full report of all the activity. It’s a very busy and very effective group.