Salaries, health insurance outlined at forums

Beginning July 1, UNMC faculty and staff will receive an average salary increase of 3.95 percent, with individual increases made on the basis of performance.

UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., said the increase for 2006-07 staff salaries comes despite the state allocating a salary pool increase of 3.25 percent, compared to 3.95 percent for faculty members. UNMC leaders have pledged to make up the more than $700,000 difference, so the average increase for both faculty and staff is 3.95 percent.

Harold M. Maurer, M.D.

The news was announced May 24-25 to more than 265 employees during two separate Chancellor’s Forums in the Durham Research Center Auditorium. The forums covered a myriad of topics from health insurance and employee training and development programs to construction and a new online employee handbook.

Dr. Maurer told the group that increasing medical center salaries, however, is his primary goal. As a result, this will be the second consecutive year that UNMC officials have boosted the salary pool for staff employees to match the state allocation for faculty.

“We’re pleased that we’re able to do that,” Dr. Maurer said. “I don’t know if that will happen on any other campus, but it will happen here on July 1.Getting faculty and staff salaries at least average for our peer group is my No. 1 priority.”

Currently, UNMC faculty salaries fall 8.1 percent below their peers — the highest gap in the university — while staff salaries are 4.5 percent below.

Employee Relations Director Carmen Sirizzotti and Human Resources Executive Director John Russell prepare for the forum.

During the hour-long forum, Human Resources Executive Director John Russell previewed upcoming changes to the university’s health insurance, as well as reviewed UNMC’s health insurance enrollment and its reimbursement account participation, as compared to the entire University of Nebraska system.

Among the changes is an expansion of the CareMark pharmacy disease management program, through which CareMark works with the employee’s pharmacist and/or physician to assure the most effective treatment program. CareMark will expand its existing list (diabetes, ulcer and asthma) to include hypertension, pulmonary conditions, cardiovascular disease and back pain. Once formally implemented, which is expected in the next several months, employees taking medication for any of the seven conditions automatically will participate in the disease management program, unless they opt out.

Foundations for Success offered this summer Foundations for Success, a career development series, will be offered in four, eight-hour sessions on June 29, July 27, Aug. 31 and Sept. 28. It is open to UNMC office-service employees who have been nominated by a manager or supervisor. Employees must have been employed at UNMC for one year. The series was developed by the UNMC Office of Community Partnership, in collaboration with UNMC Human Resources- Employee Relations and the UNMC Center for Continuing Education. The goals of the program are to: Assist employees in identifying career goals and their strengths and weaknesses in relation to these goals. Provide tools to help employees form a balanced plan of action to meet personal and professional needs. Provide an opportunity for employees to acquire additional knowledge and skills that will enhance job performance, maximize career potential and bring value to UNMC. Provide career development information and access to UNMC Resources. Provide information and skill-building tools to assist employees in their present positions or prepare them for future career. Nominations will be accepted until June 8. Managers and supervisors should e-mail kkarrer@unmc.edu to have a copy of the nomination form sent electronically to them.

In a separate change, the university is implementing CareMark’s BioCare Solutions Advanced Guidelines as of June 1. As a result, new participants who are being treated for hepatitis C and psoriasis will be required to undergo annual reviews, while employees with rheumatoid arthritis, RSV and allergic asthma will have a one-time review. Individuals currently being treated for one of these conditions will be “grandfathered” into the plan (no review required) – the only exception is for individuals taking Human Growth Hormone. In that case, an annual review is required, Russell said.

TIAA/CREF plans to expand its investment choices within the next six months, Russell said, through the TIAA-CREF Open Plan Solutions Platform. As a result, they will provide more counseling and advice to employees, as well as a Roth style (after tax), 403(b) plan. Russell encourages employees to meet with a TIAA/CREF or Fidelity representative to optimize their investments.

Additional details on these changes will be forthcoming, Russell said.

Employee Relations Director Carmen Sirizzotti, who joined UNMC in late August, outlined the various training and development opportunities on campus, ranging from Foundations for Success, which will resume June 29, to The Management Series and Administrative Colloquium.

More on UNMC’s training opportunities, as well as employee guidelines, can be found on the newly designed Human Resources Web site at www.unmc.edu/hr.

The following topics also were addressed during the forum.

• Construction on the Michael F. Sorrell Center for Health Science Education will resume in late June/early July after construction bids return June 8.
  
• Groundbreaking on a second research tower, adjacent to the Durham Research Center, will be in August.
  
• The Legislature’s approval of LB 605 provides approximately $37 million for UNMC to modernize five buildings — Bennett Hall, Poynter Hall, Wittson Hall, the College of Dentistry and Eppley Institute — over a 10-year period.
  
• Work will begin this summer to improve the intersection at 42nd Street and Leavenworth Street to permit north and southbound left turns to give vehicles an easier way around the UNMC campus. Work also will be done to modify 42nd Street between Leavenworth and Harney streets from four lanes to three lanes.
  
• UNMC is moving ahead with a proposal for a College of Public Health, which would award degrees and work with population health. Overall, there are only 38 public health colleges in the United States, Dr. Maurer said. Although there is one in Iowa and Oklahoma, there are none between Nebraska and the west coast, he said.
  
• Creating economic growth in Nebraska is the newest addition to UNMC’s vision statement. “That’s language business leaders understand,” Dr. Maurer said. “Our reputation and branding are critical, but it’s also important for us to educate the public on the economic value of an academic medical center in the state.”