Guest Blog from Melissa Ashburn

Melissa represents IPS on the UT Exempt Staff Council. This is an update from Melissa:

The Exempt Staff Council met with Mark Smith, Director of Environmental Health and Safety, on March 23 and received information about the automated external defibrillators (AEDs) located in UT buildings on the Knoxville campus. There are 24 AEDs in campus buildings, including in all athletic buildings and recreational facilities. UT Police are in the process of installing 10 AEDs in campus police vehicles. The list of campus AED locations will be posted soon on the UT Environmental Health and Safety website. The Department plans to train two or three persons in each building on the proper use of the defibrillators. Mark Smith stated departments may purchase AEDs for $500 to $1,000 per unit.

As a side note, during the IPS Employee Relations Committee meeting in April, Dr. Mary Jinks asked if IPS employees would be interested in CPR training and/or AED use training. The committee learned that CPR training will require about a half day, and if AED use training is added, a full day of training will be required. There are persons employed in our agencies who are certified to deliver such training. If there is enough interest, a training date may be scheduled for IPS employees.

The Exempt Staff Council further discussed the UT procedure for layoffs. The Reduction in Force guidelines followed by the University are located here: The Council was informed that UT provides no less than 30 days notice to any employee facing lay off. Dr. Jinks informed the IPS ERC members that IPS provides 90 days notice in such circumstances (when possible).

Following the lead of IPS, the Exempt Staff Council is developing a supervisor survey for consideration by UT administration. It is the goal to have all supervisors at UT evaluated by their staff, and the Council intends to present a supervisor survey to the Human Resources Department in the near future. The Exempt Staff Council has also been updated on the development of UTK’s strategic plan. The “Vol Vision” weblink where you can view the draft plan and timeline for the strategic planning process is
here:

Thanks to Melissa for submitting this blog post!