UNIVERSITY OF WEST GEORGIA

ANNUAL REPORT

Fiscal Year 2006 (July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006)

DEPARTMENT OF

 Human Resources

Name of Department Head

 Stephanie Rooks

Name of Person Completing Report

 Stephanie Rooks

1*

Departmental Mission/Vision Statement (url only, required)

http://www.bf.westga.edu/EffectEval/Assessments/Human_Resources.asp

2*

Departmental Statement of Goals, Process to Assess These Goals, and Assessment Results (url only, required)

http://www.bf.westga.edu/EffectEval/Assessments/Human_Resources.asp

3*

Give an Example of How your Department Used the Assessment of Goals and Outcomes to Change/Improve a Process (required)

1. Continue to improve the level of customer service to the campus community through increased communications, cross training and making information easily accessible. (Applicable to Bread and Butter Goal 6c)

The department implemented semi-annual information sessions; the initial meeting was scheduled for June 17, 2004. These sessions are designed to reorient faculty and staff regarding human resource or payroll related issues such as:

• General Benefits Information
• Recruitment Policies
• Training Opportunities
• Payroll Policies and Information
2. Provide benefit information to all new faculty and staff. (Applicable to Bread and Butter Goal 6c)

In fiscal year 2006 the staff provided benefits orientation sessions for 76 new faculty members for the 2005-2006 academic year. We also provided orientation sessions for 110 new administrative and support staff personnel during the fiscal year. Orientation sessions cover basic life insurance, supplemental life insurance, health and dental insurance, long-term care insurance, flexible spending accounts, retirement options, long-term disability, and completion of personal information for payroll purposes.

Hosted Optional Retirement Vendors during new faculty orientation, in order to assist faculty with making a retirement decision and facilitate the enrollment process.

3. Provide employees with a wide range of benefits in order to meet their needs. (Applicable to Bread and Butter Goal 6c)

Utilization of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) continues to increase, 74 individuals have contacted EAP for assistance with personal issues as of March 31, 2006. Contacts were made for the following reasons:

• Alcohol/Drug Issues 5
• Children 14
• Emotional Mental Health 33
• Legal/Financial 1
• Marital 17
• Other Family 4

Added pre-paid legal benefit to voluntary benefit selection

Assessment:

The customer satisfaction assessment for the Office of Human Resources was conducted in December 2004. The results of the assessment show that, overall Human Resources is performing well, and the majority of the customer base is content with the service provided.

Of the 48 respondents who completed the survey 33 (72%) rated their overall experience with the office as good or excellent and an additional 6 (13%) rated their experience as average.

After review of the actual responses, items that respondents would like to see improved are as follows:

1. Additional training of staff, in order to facilitate prompt and consistent answers.
2. Improved interpersonal skills
3. Provide department heads lists of available applicants when department has vacancy.
4. Provide clear, concise and timely information regarding deadlines. Provide more than one-day notice.
5. Workshops on personnel and payroll policy.
6. Student checks being delivered to incorrect department.

In response to the requests of the respondents, the following action will be taken:

1. Cross training the HR staff is a continuous process, sharing information with the staff is a priority.
2. Interpersonal skills are imperative for the Department to function effectively. We will stress the continuous improvement.
3. All Staff members attended a two day Customer Service Training Sessions
4. Payroll schedules are published at the beginning of each fiscal year; this information sent on the all-staff and all-faculty list serves and is published to the HR website. The communications later in the year are reminders that a specific deadline varies from the normal pattern.
5. Information sessions on policy and procedures are under development. We hope to have the first session in late July or early August.

4*

General Statement of Department Condition (required)

The Human Resources department is in adequate condition. The workload continues to increase with the increasing number of faculty and staff. In August 2004 the department processed 76 new faculty members, in addition to the 110 staff that were hired during the fiscal year. The department was involved in recruitment for 125 staff positions during the fiscal year.

5

Departmental Achievements

6

Staff Productivity

Various staff members attended conferences of which two were hosted by the USGHRA and CUPA and one by the Payroll Users Group, and the American Payroll Assn as well as a non-resident alien taxation workshop.

Various members of the staff serve on various University and System Wide Committees.

Held Annual Benefits Fair during open enrollment period, 334 faculty and staff registered.

The Human Resources staff has completed a records inventory and has developed a records retention schedule based on BOR records retention guidelines for the department. All documents that fell outside the parameters described in the BOR guidelines were purged. In the interest of conserving space documents that the institution is required to maintain for extended periods of time have been moved to an offsite storage facility.

Another program undertaken in FY 06 was the implementation of payroll card program, and expansion of direct deposit eligibility. . This program offers a direct deposit vehicle for individuals that do not maintain a banking relationship. We have required all new employees to enroll in direct deposit using either their own checking account or the payroll card. Currently we offer two Payroll Card options, one through BB&T and Directo. To date six individuals have taken advantage of the payroll card. 96% of our benefited employees are enrolled in direct deposit.

Human Resources has undertaken a FLSA study of our classification system. This study includes reviewing current classification of positions in relation to the revised FLSA standards and correcting any misclassification of positions as related to the job responsibilities. Another aspect of this project is the development of generic position descriptions for all positions on campus .This exercise is expected to be completed in early FY 2007.

7

Student Achievements

8

Other Awards, Distinctions, and Achievements