President approves 3 percent salary increase for eligible staff
UF President Bernie Machen has approved a 3 percent across-the-board salary increase for all eligible TEAMS and USPS employees. The salary increases will be added to employees’ base salaries and will be effective September 16.

Funding for these increases was made available from cost savings associated with recent changes in the university’s leave regulation that reduced the amount of payments for unused vacation leave employees receive when they leave the university.

For more information, including details about the implementation of the salary increase, please see the September 8 DDD memorandum from Paula Varnes Fussell, vice president for Human Resource Services.

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Leave regulation changes approved
On September 6, the University of Board of Trustees approved changes to the UF Leave Regulation, 1.201. The changes affect eligible TEAMS and USPS employees. The changes include:

• When terminating employment, eligible TEAMS and USPS employees are approved to receive a maximum 200 hours of unused vacation leave, and
• The cap on accrued unused vacation prior to excess vacation leave being rolled to sick leave will be 352 hours; the cap for USPS employees remains unchanged at 240 hours.

Additional  information may be found on the Leave Administration section of HRS's web site.

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State of Florida announces significant changes to fall Open Enrollment period
Open Enrollment dates have changed!
The state of Florida recently changed the previously published dates for the 2011 Open Enrollment period. The tentative dates for the enrollment period are now November 7 - November 18, 2011. As a result of ongoing bid protests related to HMO changes, Open Enrollment has been delayed and significantly reduced this year for state-sponsored plans. Employees will have approximately ten days to make their annual open enrollment changes to their state plans.

Although the state’s Open Enrollment period, during which employees may enroll or make changes to their insurance plans, will be considerably shorter this year, the enrollment period for UF plans (long-term disability, UF Term Life, Long Term Care) will run from October 7 thru November 18, 2011. 

Please check the state’s myBenefits and UF HRS’s web sites frequently this fall for updates on confirmed Open Enrollment dates, plan changes, how to enroll, and more.

Proposed changes for Plan Year 2012
Over the past few months, the state of Florida has been undergoing a bid process to renew contracts and secure the best value for health and supplemental services. During that process, several proposed plan changes were recommended as a way to help reduce plan costs, including a few that are still underdebate. The major changes currently proposed for next year are:

• One HMO provider assigned per county, as opposed to multiple HMO providers options
• Medco would be the new pharmacy benefits manager for both the PPO and HMO plans
• Increased rates for some dental plans
• A name-change for Alta Hospital Supplemental to Cigna 
  

While the HMO changes are not finalized, additional information will be made available by the start of Open Enrollment. For more details about the proposed HMO changes, please see the state’s HMO FAQ section.  

What can you do to prepare?
With Open Enrollment about a month away, a few things you can do to get ready include:

• Update your local home address in the myUFL system by October 20. To do so, log in the my.ufl.edu and navigate to: My Account > Update My Directory Profile. For instructions, refer to the UF benefits page under the new employee section of the HRS web site.
• Have your People First user ID (PFID) ready. Your PFID can be found in the myUFL system by navigating to  My Self Service > Benefits >Dependent and Beneficiary Information.
• People First passwords expire every 90 days. Reset your password by logging onto the People First web site and following the Forgot Password instructions. For further assistance, call 1-866-663-4735.
• Watch for state Open Enrollment packets beginning the week of October 24. These will be mailed to the last home address shown on file. Information about UF plans will be sent to employees’ work e-mail addresses and in the monthly Infogator e-newsletters. 
• Attend the Benefits Fair on October 7 at the Touchdown Terrace. If you are outside of Alachua County, attend a fair in your area; see the Benefit Fairs schedule on the DMS web site.
• Refer to the state’s myBenefits and HRS’s web sites frequently for updates.

Questions? Call (352) 392-2477 or e-mail benefits@ufl.edu.

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Superior Accomplishment Awards nomination period kicks off September 12
New diversity, community service awards added for 2012
In the spring of each academic year, the University of Florida honors faculty and staff throughout campus who make the extra effort to succeed. If you know of such an employee, now is the time to nominate him or her for a Superior Accomplishment Award. The 2012 Superior Accomplishment Awards nomination period runs from September 12 through October 31, 2011.

This year, two awards will be added to the Superior Accomplishment Awards program: Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace and Community Service.  As with the other annual awards, one winner from each division will receive $200 along with a certificate of appreciation and a University memento.  Each division winner then is eligible to be selected for one university-level award of $2,000. 
Eligible for nomination are Academic Personnel, TEAMS, and USPS employees. This awards program honors faculty and staff members who contribute outstanding and meritorious service in their fields or to the university. It also seeks to recognize those employees who have made exceptional contributions to the University of Florida’s efficiency and economy or to the quality of life provided to students and employees.

Superior Accomplishment Awards are presented each spring semester for the period covering the previous academic year. The 2012 awards honor work conducted between August 1, 2010, and July 31, 2011. Awards are given in the following six categories, first at the divisional level and then at the university level:

• Clerical/Office Support
• Support Services
• Scientific/Technical
• Administrative/Supervisory
• Administrative/Professional
• Academic Personnel

Division-level winners each receive $200 along with a certificate of appreciation and university memento. Each division winner then is eligible to be selected for one of six university-level awards of $2,000 each or one of eight $1,000 awards sponsored by The Gabor Agency (four awards) and Willis-HRH of Gainesville Inc. (four awards). In addition, each of the six university-level winners and his or her guest will be invited to attend a University of Florida football game in the President’s Box the following season.

For additional information about the Superior Accomplishment Awards program, nomination criteria, and nomination forms, please visit the Superior Accomplishment Awards section of the HRS web site or contact your divisional committee chairperson, listed below. The divisional award committees are responsible for the nomination processes and for winner selections in their divisions. Self-nominations are not accepted.

DIVISION 1 – All departments, divisions, and units under the Office of the President, the Office of the Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, the Office of Research and Graduate Programs, the Office of the General Counsel, the Vice President of Human Resources, the Office of the Vice President and CFO, the Office of the Vice President and CIO, and the Office of University Relations as well as all UF departments, divisions, and units under the Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs (UFF)
Contact: Melissa Orth, 111 Tigert Hall, P.O. Box 113157, 392-4574, Fax 846-3124, maorth@ufl.edu

DIVISION 3 – All schools, colleges, departments, and units under the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Contact: Susan Ciccarone, 3219 Turlington Hall, Box 117330, 392-0266 x 224, Fax 392-6568, susancic@ufl.edu

DIVISION 4 – All schools, departments, and units under the Senior Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources (IFAS)
Contact: Kay Ahrens, 2001 McCarty Hall, P.O. Box 110270, 392-1961, Fax 392-8988, kahrens@ufl.edu

DIVISION 5 – All colleges, departments, and units under the Senior Vice President for Health Affairs (Health Science Center to include Vet Med)
Contact: Beth Miller, 1600 SW Archer Rd, Rm M-120H, P.O. Box 100284, 273-7545, Fax 392-8554, milleb@ufl.edu

DIVISION 6 – All departments and units under the Vice President for Student Affairs
Contact: Myra Morgan, 155 Tigert Hall, P.O. Box 113250, 392-1265 x267, Fax 392-7301, myram@ufl.edu

DIVISION 7 – All departments, divisions, and units under the Vice President for Business Affairs
Contact: Fred Gratto, Bldg 809 PPD, P.O. Box 117745, 392-1148, Fax 392-3044, fgratto@ufl.edu

University Committee Chair – Kevin L. Clarke, Employee Relations, Office of Human Resources, P.O. Box 110281, 392-4777, kevin-clarke@ufl.edu.

UF’s Superior Accomplishment Awards program was developed to recognize deserving university employees and is coordinated by Human Resource Services. For more information, please visit the awards’ web site or contact Kevin Clarke at (352) 392-4777.

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President Machen announces cabinet reorganization
On September 6, UF President Bernie Machen announced a reorganization of his cabinet aimed at “improving overall leadership effectiveness by streamlining reporting relationships and enhancing efficiency.”

As part of the restructure, Win Phillips, vice president for research, was named senior vice president and chief operating officer. The Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs was restructured to oversee the offices of the Chief Financial Officer, Enrollment Management, and Student Affairs.

For more information, please see President Machen’s September 6 DDD memorandum.

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Better Reporting, Less Effort
New Effort Reporting system designed to improve business processes while saving resources
This October, effort for the Summer 2011 academic semester will be certified using a new Effort Reporting system designed to improve the university’s business processes while saving paper and faculty time. The new system features three integrated modules: an electronic Faculty Assignment Report (FAR), sponsored research Commitments, and Effort Certification. 

Required by law, effort reporting provides a method for UF to certify to sponsoring agencies that direct labor charges to sponsored research projects (or those used to meet cost sharing requirements) are reasonable and reflect the actual work performed. Effort reporting also satisfies state requirements for the reporting of instructional student contact hours.

The new system features an effort certification form that is easier to read and use. Effort percentages from the FAR display side-by-side with actual effort for easy comparison when completing the effort certification form. For departmental effort coordinators, a separate A-21 view is also available for the process of reconciling actual effort with the sources for pay.

The new electronic FAR eliminates the need for collecting various hardcopy signatures. A faculty member receives a system-generated e-mail when action is required on his or her part, and the form routes electronically when approval or acknowledgement is needed. The new FAR helps streamline the effort certification process and improve the documentation of faculty effort related to tenure and promotion.

The new Commitments module tracks university commitments of cost-shared and key personnel to sponsored research. This enables departments to better manage the ebb and flow of effort from one semester to the next, while ensuring the overall commitment to the sponsor is met. In addition, this module helps prevent the over-commitment of faculty to projects and improves the process of mapping out the sources of payroll each semester.

Effort coordinators, faculty, and principal investigators are strongly encouraged to attend one of the following Town Hall sessions. These sessions will present an overview of the new Effort Certification module and provide time for questions and answers. Sessions will be held:

• Monday, October 10, 9 to 11:30 a.m., 282 Reitz Union
• Monday, October 10, 1 to 4 p.m., Deweese Auditorium, McKnight Brain Institute
• Thursday, October 13, 3 to 5 p.m., G001 McCarty Hall
• Tuesday, October 18, 9 to 11:30 a.m., 282 Reitz Union

To register, login to myUFL and navigate to My Self Service > Training and Development > Request Training Enrollment, and search for course number GET046.

The offices of the Chief Financial Officer, Chief Information Officer, Provost, and Institutional Planning and Research partnered to develop the new Effort Reporting system, which was introduced to campus in July. Guided by a steering committee comprised of faculty, grant administrators, and core office staff members, the new system has been developed with the input and involvement of UF deans, department chairs, faculty, the Faculty Senate Research and Scholarship Council, and department coordinators. Focus groups were also held throughout campus to understand the needs of system users. Ongoing communication sessions will provide additional feedback for any necessary system changes moving forward.

As a companion to this effort, the Office of Contracts and Grants Accounting, the Office of Institutional Planning and Research, and the University Controller have collaborated to provide better documentation and support of the policies related to Effort Reporting, Cost Sharing, and Cost Transfers.

For more information, please see the Office of the Chief Financial Officer’s web site.

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Deadline for Higher Education Opportunity scholarship applications is November 1
The University of Florida’s Higher Education Opportunity (HEO) provides children of full-time TEAMS employees with the opportunity of tuition assistance for an undergraduate education at the University of Florida. In March 2012, Human Resource Services will select, at random from a pool of eligible HEO applicants, 50 TEAMS employees to participate in this program. Each eligible employee may submit one child’s name into the drawing. To be considered for this benefit, the TEAMS employee must apply for the HEO by November 1, 2011.

For the child of each selected employee, the university will pay the in-state matriculation fees (the actual tuition minus any additional fees for building, capital improvement, financial aid, technology, activities, athletic, health, transportation, etc.) for up to twelve credit hours during the fall and spring semesters and six credit hours during the summer semesters. Please note that any Bright Futures scholarship award will be subtracted from the amount the student can receive from the HEO.

As long as the student remains eligible for the program, the Higher Education Opportunity will assist with the student’s tuition until he or she has accumulated a maximum of 132 credit hours. Please visit the HEO section  of the HRS web site to read about additional eligibility requirements.

To be entered into the HEO drawing, the full-time TEAMS employee must:

1. Submit a completed HEO application form to UF Training and Organizational Development no later than November 1, 2011.

The child of the full-time TEAMS employee must:

1. Have applied for admission to the University of Florida no later than November 1, 2011.
2. Graduate from high school no later than July 31, 2012.

Please note that the University of Florida admissions process and the HEO selection process are separate. Selection for the HEO benefit does not indicate admission into the University of Florida. Application for admission to UF also does not automatically enter a child’s name into the HEO drawing. In the event a child is not accepted to UF, the benefit may be used at a public community or state college in the state of Florida.

For questions about this program, please contact Kenya Williams, UF Training and Organizational Development, at (352) 273-1761 or kenya-williams@ufl.edu.

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New partnership with lynda.com provides increased access to IT training
Through a grant from the university’s Student Technology Fee, the lynda.com training library is now available to all faculty, staff, and students. UFIT will handle the administration and technical support for a one-year pilot program featuring unlimited access to lynda.com.

The lynda.com Online Training Library® is accessible 24/7 from the UFIT Training page. The library includes more than 1,100 courses, with several courses added each week. Course topics range from web development, animation, and video graphics to business software like MS Word, Visio, and SharePoint online training. With lynda.com, employees have the option of watching a course in its entirety or pausing the video for “just-in-time” learning.  

After the completion of the one-year pilot, site usage statistics will be evaluated to determine the feasibility of extending the unlimited access program. lynda.com  is one of six projects funded by the Student Technology Fee for the 2011-2012 academic year. For more information about applying for Student Technology Fee funding, visit the UFIT web site.

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Sick Leave Pool open enrollment will run October 1- 31
Qualifying University of Florida employees may apply for membership in the Sick Leave Pool during its open enrollment period from October 1 to 31.  All applications must be received by the Sick Leave Pool administrator by 5 p.m. on October 31. Please note that Open Enrollment for the Sick Leave Pool is a separate process from the annual benefits Open Enrollment period and has its own deadlines.

The University of Florida’s Sick Leave Pool enables participating employees to combine a portion of their individually accrued sick leave for collective use. Members of the Sick Leave Pool may draw upon the pool—with approval from the Sick Leave Pool Committee—when all individually accrued leave hours have been depleted due to personal, not family, catastrophic injury or illness.

All Faculty, TEAMS, or USPS employees who earn sick leave are eligible to participate in the Sick Leave Pool. Employees must have a minimum balance of 64 hours of sick leave. The minimum sick leave balance requirement is pro-rated for part-time employees.

Once the membership application is approved, employees will contribute eight hours of sick leave to the Sick Leave Pool through automatic deduction from their balance. This is a one-time contribution of eight hours, unless the total available hours in the pool drops below the minimum level set by the Sick Leave Pool Policy.

Applications for membership may be obtained at any human resources satellite office or online. Current members of the Sick Leave Pool do not need to rejoin.

If you are not sure whether or not you are a member of the Sick Leave Pool, you may check your status in My Self Service > Benefits > Benefits Summary.  If you see the information below, you are currently a member of the Sick Leave Pool and do not need to rejoin.

For more information, please contact Leave Administration at (352) 392-2477 or central-leave@ufl.edu.

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2011 UFIT Awards accepting nominations
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2011 UFIT Awards, which recognize IT staff that bring out the best in one another, serve campus with distinction, and honor those who work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep university systems running.

New this year: the three awards categories are now all team awards; no individual nominations will be accepted. A "team" may be defined in any of the following ways:

• Staff who worked on an IT project (project team may have both IT and non-IT staff)
• IT staff (from different units or all from the same unit) who worked together to resolve a technical issue or improve an administrative or business process, or
• A group, unit, or department within UFIT that exemplifies the following characteristics:
• collaboration, innovation, and leadership
• exceptional customer service, and
• outstanding work behind the scenes

The awards categories are Bringing out the Best: Collaboration, Innovation and Everyday Leadership Throughout UFIT; Serving the Client: Providing Consistent and Exceptional Service; and Unsung Heroes: Working Behind the Scenes.

The 2011 UFIT Awards period covers July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2011.  Nominations will be accepted through September 30.

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©2011 University of Florida Office of Human Resource Services
The InfoGator is a monthly e-publication produced by the University of Florida’s Office of Human Resource Services. It is distributed electronically to UF faculty and staff and is available online. Please direct questions or comments to its editor, Angie Brown; Human Resource Services; P.O. Box 115006; (352) 392-4626; TDD 800-955-8771. The InfoGator is available in an alternative format upon request.
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