Home < News <  January 26, 2009

UCOP Restructuring Update for Week of January 26, 2009
January 27, 2009

• Staffing Update
• New Appointments
• UCOP "Community" Group
• Academic Affairs Restructuring
• February Town Hall
• Workshops
• Job Postings

Colleagues,
We have a full message this week with information about staffing, including reductions, a new UCOP Community Group, restructuring of Academic Affairs, and additional information about the February Town Hall with President Yudof, workshops for employees, and new appointments and job openings.

Staffing Update
As you are all painfully aware, staffing reductions have begun as a result of reorganization and consolidation. Our initial plan was to make these reductions in one or two waves. However, the pace of department reorganizations is likely to result in layoffs occurring among relatively small groups of employees over a period of months. As before, the President and I have asked department leaders to keep you informed about the reorganization process and potential staffing reductions for their areas.

I also want to remind you there is a very specific process that is followed when a staff member receives a layoff notice, involving one's manager and HR, so that employees understand their rights and options, and so they are properly supported during their transition. If you have any questions or concerns about the process, please contact Rene Jackson.

New Appointments
Several appointments have been made in the past two weeks including:

Jenny Kao of State Government Relations has been named Executive Director of Issues Management, Policy Analysis and Coordination (IMPAC). She will shortly announce additional unit members, including divisional directors and coordinators.

In the Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis (SPPA) group in Academic Affairs, Todd Greenspan has been named Director of Academic Planning, Hilary Baxter Academic Planning Analyst, Anne Machung Director of Accountability, and Charles Masten Access Services Manager. They will be working with their current units to ensure an orderly transition of their current work as they begin their new assignments.

In Human Resources, Jennifer Damico has been named manager of Decision Support/Payroll for HR Information Systems Support.

New UCOP Culture, Climate and Community Group
Restructuring isn't just about getting smaller; it's also about learning to work differently. To that end, a group of UCOP employees called the Culture, Climate and Community group (CCC) has been meeting to support that goal. In particular, the group is looking at ways to help OP staff and managers work more collaboratively and support one another both personally and in their work. CCC has partnered with the UCOP Staff Assembly (UCOPA) to provide a number of workshops such as the Keeping It Real workshops scheduled for today in Franklin and Thursday in Kaiser (more information below). UCOPA will continue to support CCC's efforts by sponsoring complimentary workshops.

CCC has also been meeting with staff in newly formed units and with groups of staff served by the new units to get feedback on what is working and what needs to be changed. The first CCC-sponsored event for all UCOP staff is a brown bag session with UCOP Budget Director Michael Rancer. He will provide an overview of the new UCOP budget process and how the Budget Office works with departments. The brown bag is scheduled for next Thursday, February 5, at noon.

The CCC group encourages ideas and comments regarding ways to improve the culture, climate and community at OP. Contact Deanna Dudley or Trish Hare.

Restructuring Academic Affairs
Restructuring for the Academic Affairs division continues. Earlier this month, Interim Provost and Executive Vice President - Academic Affairs Robert Grey discussed with President Yudof the broad outlines of a restructuring plan for the division, and the following individuals have been asked to convene working groups to propose staffing, budgets, and other implementation details for the impacted departments within Academic Affairs: Vice President Judy Sakaki (for Student Affairs); interim Executive Director Patricia Price (for Academic Personnel); Director Yvette Gullatt (for the new Educational Partnership unit). Proposals will be presented to the Provost and a consulting group comprising representatives from the campus administrations and the Academic Senate, and shared with staff as soon as they are available. The work is being conducted on a fast track and we expect designs to begin to emerge as early as late February with Academic Personnel likely to be first out of the gate. The goal is for full implementation of the plan by July, 2009.

February Town Hall
As previously announced, we are planning a UCOP town hall meeting with President Yudof, co-sponsored by the UCOP staff assembly (UCOPA) for later next month - dates and times are as follows:

Thursday, February 19;
2:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Kaiser Center Auditorium

Friday, February 20;
9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Elihu Harris State Bldg (15th and Clay).

Discussion topics are expected to include highlights of some of President Yudof's key goals and priorities for 2009, updates on the budget situation and the UCOP restructuring, and plenty of time for questions and answers. Look for more information about the town hall in the weeks ahead.

Workshops
The UCOP Staff Assembly (UCOPA) is sponsoring a noontime workshop, "Keeping it Real: How to Negotiate Your Emotions and Take Care of Yourself during Turmoil," with Jude Sharp, Employee Assistance Program coordinator, and Kate Powers, president of Powers Consulting. At the request of OP staff, UCOPA is repeating this workshop originally offered in December. It provides a supportive environment for listening to a presentation and discussing how to take care of oneself during the UCOP restructuring and job stress. Workshops are today at noon in Franklin 9204 and Thursday at noon in Kaiser 612.

Job Postings
In Communications, the Executive Communications Director position, responsible for coordinating, researching and writing speeches for executive leadership, has been posted. Also, two Designer positions have been reposted in order to ensure a qualified pool of applicants. Those who have already applied for the positions will continue to be considered and need not reapply.

HR is in the process of posting a new Coordinator of Analytical and Professional Support position in the Immediate Office of the Vice President of HR. Check the UCOP job website for this posting in the next few days. This MSP position will be posted for three weeks, and is open to all UCOP employees.

Please continue to visit the UCOP jobs website for additional job openings.

Katie

Katherine N. Lapp
Executive Vice President, Business Operations