Building employee loyalty and satisfaction is one of UNMC’s main goals, UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., said during this week’s employee forums.
“That does not mean we don’t have employee loyalty and satisfaction,” Dr. Maurer said. “We do.” Plans, however, are to make further strides in that area, he said.
Dr. Maurer’s comments were part of UNMC’s ongoing employee forums, held Monday and Tuesday in the Eppley Science Hall Amphitheater. John Russell, executive director of Human Resources, and Jane Harris, division director of employee relations, also shared information on topics ranging from health benefits and the dependent tuition remission program to construction and employee reward and recognition programs.
UNMC administrators have added the goal — to create a culture that builds employee loyalty and satisfaction — to the strategic plan’s 2001-2004 critical success factors. The five other goals are to: enhance and expand the educational environment, increase UNMC’s prominence as a health research science center, advance community/campus partnerships for health, create a culturally competent organization and develop selected new technologies.
“We want your good ideas and leadership on things that are important for us to do at the medical center,” Dr. Maurer said.
Harris encouraged employees to provide feedback on how employee information can be better communicated to them. In the future, representatives of the Chancellor’s Council or Human Resources will be available to provide information in small-group settings.
“In most organizations, communication ranks as one of the key factors in retaining employees,” Harris said.
The presenters also addressed the following areas:
Budget — Employees will receive a salary increase of about 4 percent, Dr. Maurer said. Approximately 40 jobs will be lost, mostly through attrition.
“We feel fortunate that we’ve only sustained a 3 1/2 percent reduction in our 2002-2003 budget,” Dr. Maurer said. “It could have been 5 1/2 percent.”
Last week, lawmakers were faced with tough choices, as a decrease in state revenue prompted cuts to be made from the biennial 2001-2003 budget that they passed last summer. They chose to sustain $30.3 million of Gov. Mike Johanns’ spending vetoes and to override $44 million.
Construction — UNMC’s construction projects include the new Research Center of Excellence, new parking garage and new east utility plant, as well as modernizing the College of Dentistry in Lincoln. Administrators envision building an educational center at 42nd and Emile Street to serve as the “home” for the College of Medicine. They also hope to build a bioterrorism preparedness center on campus.
Since 1976-77, UNMC has received $7.9 million in capital construction funds from the state, Dr. Maurer said. During that same period, the University of Nebraska campuses received $220 million.
Centers of Excellence — Bioterrorism preparedness has joined cancer, transplantation biology, cardiovascular disease, neurosciences, genetics and biomedical technology as the newest of UNMC’s centers of excellence.
Reward and Recognition — Since its inception, UNMC has awarded 29 Gold ‘U’ Awards and 244 Silver ‘U’ Awards to employees for outstanding service. UNMC employees have sent approximately 8,000 Thank ‘U’ Awards to their colleagues. Of those, less than 2,500 have been redeemed for products and services. To request a Thank ‘U’ Reward for a colleague, send information to Thanku@unmc.edu.
Employee Scholarship Program — During the past year, employees have used 1,584 credit hours and have transferred 2,133 credit hours to a spouse or dependent child for a total of 3,717 credit hours. For more information, visit http://trp.unl.edu. Dependent children must be full-time students at the campus they are enrolled at and, for credit during the summer session, must be full-time preceding the spring semester.
Health benefits — NU President L. Dennis Smith has established a Health Care Advisory Committee to make recommendations on NU’s Health Trust. The group has established nine guiding principles, which will be further reviewed and possibly implemented to varying degrees. The items range from separating premium ratings for retirees and separating pricing options for employees at lower income levels to adding a five-year minimum for employment and participation in the NU plan to be eligible as a retiree for health coverage and a ‘no cash’ option for NU credits.