On July 1, UVA’s much-ballyhooed “restructuring” will finally come to pass. The change, codified in the Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act, is just as complicated as its name suggests. Basically, the new law gives UVA more freedom from State oversight in exchange for fewer State dollars.
Restructuring gives UVA more flexibility when it comes to raising money and building new facilities. But what does it mean for UVA’s thousands of employees?
According to a “Frequently Asked Questions” section at UVA’s website (www.virginia.edu), current workers will see no change in their terms of employment. For people hired after July 1, however, things are not so clear.
UVA’s website states: “All new salaried staff, non-faculty, hired on or after July 1, 2006 are hired as ‘University Staff’ and will be covered under University HR policy. Initially, University Staff will be covered by policies very similar to the current state policies.”
Jan Cornell, president of the Staff Union at UVA, has long opposed restructuring, and she says it’s that word “initially” that worries her. For now, the new HR policy will be mostly the same as the current policy, which is dictated by the State. In the future, however, UVA administrators could make changes that may be good for business but not for workers, Cornell says. UVA officials did not return calls by press time.
“We need to worry about our youngsters coming up and working at UVA 10 years from now,” says Cornell. As it stands, current employees have the option of keeping the State system or jumping over to the new HR policy (whatever it may turn out to be). UVA’s website calls the option to join the new policy an “opportunity,” but Cornell says she is advising current workers not to jump to the new plan. “I’m not trying to be difficult,” says Cornell. “I just want to see the plan first.”
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