Members of the staff have continued to be involved in reengineering team efforts, either as team members or as advisors to departments and teams as change in work processes continues. These are exciting, challenging and sometimes painful times, as we improve work processes with fewer people engaged in the work.
Members of the Benefits Office staff deserve special mention for the outstanding work they accomplished on the special retirement incentive. It was a massive effort, handled in a finite amount of time, and they can be very proud of their accomplishment.
In the area of affirmative action and equal opportunity, accurate statistical data has allowed us to more easily monitor activity in the employment area. We need to find better ways to encourage promising minority group members to consider MIT when developing their careers, and we need to present MIT as an attractive place to work. Shelly LaVallee has been instrumental in gathering statistical data in preparation for distribution of the 1995 - 96 Affirmative Action Plan.
A number of staffing changes took place. Notable among those was the retirement of Kerry B. Wilson. Kerry took advantage of the retirement incentive after working here for 34 years. Kerry embodied all the finest qualities one wishes to find in a colleague. We wish him well in retirement and we miss him. Members of the staff who transferred from our office included Ramona Allen to the Biology Department, Kathleen Avison to the Benefits group at the Lincoln Laboratory, Susan Lester to the Office of the Secretary of the Corporation, and Cynthia Vallino to a full time engagement in the reengineering process.
Barbara Roberts joined us to fill the position of Coordinator of Disabilities Services. Cynthia Kam replaced Susan Lester in the Compensation Office. Roslyn Allen was hired as a Benefits counselor and there were two new Personnel Officers hired, Kenia Franco and Deborah Tyrrell. Stephanie Neal-Johnson came on board as Assistant to the Vice President replacing Cynthia Vallino.
Seongae Han, a member of the Benefits Office staff was promoted to Retirement Program Administrator.
Paul Glac and Susan Cina left to pursue positions that provided greater job interest.
As of June 1, 1996, of the total of 34 administrative staff in the Personnel Office, 10(29%) are minorities and 27(79%) are women. (In 1995, of the total of 33 Administrative Staff in the Personnel Office, 6(18%) were minorities and 24(73%) were women.)
As of June 1, 1996, of the total of 20 support staff in the Personnel Office, 4(20%) are minorities and 15(75%) are women. (In 1995, of the total of 20 support staff in the Personnel Office, 5(25%) were minorities and 16(80%) were women.)
Joan F. Rice
The mission of the Compensation Office is to establish and implement fair, equitable and competitive compensation programs for the Institute's faculty, research, administrative, and support staff, in accordance with the Institute's reward philosophy and strategy.
This year, the Compensation Office participated in 40 external salary surveys conducted by universities, associations, and consulting groups from across the country. As in previous years, the Office conducted two major surveys with approximately 30 participants each. The survey results continue to provide us a solid basis in determining our market positions, and in developing our review allocation proposals to the Executive Committee.
Nine salary reviews covering approximately 7,300 Campus employees were conducted this year. As part of our continuous effort to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the annual salary review processes, we developed electronic review sheets for the faculty review which were used by the Dean's Offices; and for the research, administrative, and support staff reviews, electronic sheets were provided to the Personnel Officers. All of the electronic review sheets provide meaningful summary statistics which enable management to assess the financial impact of review recommendations. The feedback from users have been most favorable.
Given the reengineering efforts and reorganizations that have been taking place at the Institute, a total of 92 administrative positions were classified or re-classified this fiscal year. The total number of active classified positions that currently exist in the Institute's Administrative Staff Classification System is 1,016.
The process to request classifications of new or existing positions can now be done electronically, which not only reduces the amount of paper flow, but more significantly, reduces the duplicate efforts and time needed to record job descriptions. In addition, we have developed an electronic Job Description Index, which provides quick and easy access to the library of over 1,000 job descriptions which currently exist in our electronic system.
Cynthia Kam
The new hire orientation program was revised using MS PowerPoint software. The content of the program was also revised resulting in a more efficient presentation of information and reducing the length of the presentation by almost 50%. Use of this software allows for simple and inexpensive editorial changes. The visual presentation has eliminated the need to have slides or overheads produced. Plans are underway to make the program available on the Benefits Home Page of the World Wide Web. This approach will allow employees hired at remote locations and those unable to attend a presentation to obtain important benefit and personnel policy information. The Benefits Home page combined with an e-mail address was used extensively during the Special Retirement Incentive Program. This form of communication allowed individuals to access information about the program and gave us a tool to provide rapid response to questions from employees.
In a continuing campaign to encourage participation in the Supplemental Retirement Plan [401(k)], the Benefits Office provided an opportunity to employees who were not maximizing their plan contributions to increase the level of their contribution by telephone. Like last year, the telephone system also allowed employees who were not contributing to enroll in the plan. As a result, there were 79 additional savers and 57 participants increased their rate of savings. These efforts resulted in the Plan's passage of IRS discrimination tests and prevented the need to suspend contributions for highly compensated employees. This was the first time since 1993, when the test became more restrictive, that corrective action was not needed to bring the plan into compliance with federal regulations.
The Children's Scholarship program made 1173 payments to colleges and universities for tuition payments for the children of MIT employees. The total expenditure was approximately $3,600,000. In addition, approximately 1200 employees enrolled and successfully completed 2,600 courses through the Tuition Assistance Program.
This year the Benefits Office developed and instituted the first phase of a comprehensive retirement planning and investment education program. During this first phase, the Benefits Office instituted an additional tax-deferred retirement savings program, introduced additional high-quality, low-cost investment options for the TDA program, and offered or sponsored a number of seminars on such important topics as investment fundamentals, investment asset allocation, estate planning and health insurance in retirement. Approximately 400 faculty and staff members attended these seminars.
The Benefits Office also administered the Special Retirement Incentive Program. We identified 1,384 faculty and employees who met the eligibility criteria of being 55 or older with 10 years of service. Of those eligible, 642 accepted the offer and will have retired from the Institute by September 30, 1996. The incentive to retire was an
additional monthly annuity equal to 10% of base pay and a bridge payment of $500 a month for those between ages 55 and 62. The incentive plan was funded through the MIT Retirement Plan. An additional incentive , not funded through the Retirement Plan, was made available for tenured faculty members. Tenured faculty who were at least age 60 by July 1, 1996, and who agreed to leave MIT, were eligible to receive a transition payment of 1.5 times annual salary. Tenured faculty who were at least age 65 by July 1, 1996, and were rehired by their departments for up to 49% time for up to 5 years, were eligible to receive a transition payment of 1.0 times annual salary. The magnitude of this program was enormous, in that within a 6-month period, more than four times the normal annual number of retirees were counseled and guided through the retirement process. In order to accommodate this increased volume, the Benefits Office set up a special unit in Building 16. We took various steps to reengineer our operations by automating processes, simplifying other processes, increasing communications with other MIT departments involved in the retirement process and using the capabilities of outside organizations to enhance our own capacity. Use of the telephone for enrollment and as a means of receiving additional information helped us get timely information to the individuals affected. Many of the changes made to the processes and systems will enhance our ability going forward to produce accurate and timely information to our customers. In the future, much of the data previously passed in paper forms will be transferred electronically, directly into the pension payroll.
I would like to thank the staff of the Benefits Office for their dedication, professionalism, and good humor in getting through an enormously challenging year.
Marianne Howard
Faculty and Staff Information Services (FASIS) has the responsibility to acquire, maintain, and provide employment information about faculty, staff and other persons affiliated with MIT and to ensure the currency, privacy, and accuracy of this information.
The Office continues to process approximately 14,000 appointments and changes. In addition, the office continues its role in the processing of salary reviews, in the servicing of data requests received from within the Personnel Office and the MIT Community, in responding to external employment verification requests, and in the production of the staff telephone directory.
In this fiscal year there were three major upgrades to the personnel systems. The first major upgrade involved the upgrading of the personnel file servers and the Novell local area network. It was necessary to upgrade Novell in order to technically support the personnel-benefits staff who provided administrative support for those individuals who were eligible for the special retirement incentive. This personnel-benefits staff resided in building 16 and required access to the personnel office local area network. The second major upgrade was to the Restrac employment management system. This upgrade involved the installation of Restrac Hire 3.0 and PC Oracle. Restrac Hire is designed around an open, client/server architecture that supports industry standards. These include the use of Microsoft Windows on desktops and popular SQL relational databases on the server. Our choice of relational database was Oracle. The third major upgrade was the Cyborg Human Resource System. This system was upgraded from version 8.2 to the latest release called Solutions/ST. This new product is a significant enhancement that has introduced a brand new GUI interface that takes full advantage of the Windows standards for ease-of-use and consistent presentation design.
This fiscal year data and process enhancements included the monthly loading of Lincoln Laboratory benefits data for the purpose of benefits reporting, and the completion of the conversion of the MIT-ID number which included assisting the payroll office with its conversion. In addition numerous data files and listings were generated to support the data needs of the personnel-benefits office. Computer programs were developed to generate the data needed for the special retirement incentive, the electronic transfer to an outside vendor for administration of COBRA program and to Blue Cross/Blue Shield, the Benefits Accounting Office coverage changes and layoff letters.
Reengineering continued to dominate the time and effort of some of the staff during the first half of the fiscal year. While only a few are involved in reengineering, the demands of that work impact all of the staff. And, because there is a strong sense of commitment and dedication, every effort is made by all of the staff to focus in on all of the details and to carry out the many responsibilities which require accuracy, and completion in a timely manner. For this effort I wish to thank the FASIS staff.
The Appointment Process System(TAPS) which also included the Query Facility (TQF)was the major reengineering effort that required the assistance of the FASIS Staff. During this fiscal year Cynthia DeSimone
tested the TAPS application which included acceptance testing, conducted a number of TAPS workshops, assisted with the installation of TAPS for a pilot project and trained TAPS pilot team members on the use of the application. Virginia Hillen, the Personnel Senior Analyst Programmer, worked very closely with Information Systems in the design of TQF and to provide data to the warehouse for the TQF application. In addition she coordinated the installation of TQF on the pilot team's desktop, conducted TQF workshops, provided training and support on the use of TQF, and assisted in the acceptance testing of TAP.
It is with sadness that I report that Paul Glac our Systems Coordinator left MIT for another job opportunity. Paul was primarily responsible for the internal and external data requests. In addition, Paul assisted with networking and troubleshooting of computer problems. His job required him to listen very carefully and patiently to his customers. He excelled in those talents. He will be missed!
Claire Paulding
Employee Relations consist of three areas within the Personnel Office: Personnel Services, Labor Relations and Employment.
The primary mission of the Personnel Services section is to provide a full range of employee relations services to both employees and supervisors within the various organizational units. These include staffing assistance, job counseling, policy interpretation, performance evaluation, salary administration and conflict resolution. A new Personnel Officer, Kenia Franco, was hired to bring the number of Personnel Officers up to the regular complement of seven and Jacqueline Gillis transferred into Personnel Services from FASIS as Administrative Assistant.
During the year we have worked closely with several of the reengineering teams advising them on the human resources implications of the planned redesigns. As a result of increased demand for human resources support for the reengineering teams we got budget approval to add two more Personnel Officers. With the addition of these two positions we have been able to assign Personnel Officers to be full members on some of the reengineering teams.
Several Personnel Officers were actively involved in counseling employees affected by curtailment of staff at the Francis Bitter Magnet and Plasma Fusion Center Laboratories as well as the transfer of the Parking and Safe Ride Program to an independent contractor and have assisted these employees in understanding their benefit choices and job opportunities. The Personnel Officers have also been actively involved in the Institute's increased emphasis on performance evaluations and teamed with department representatives to provide training to supervisors and employees on how to successfully conduct and benefit from performance reviews. This was an extensive effort and several hundred employees received training on giving and receiving effective performance reviews during the past year.
We also represented the Institute before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination on several occasions. Of the nine complaints filed, the Commission found no probable cause in any of the cases.
The Office of Labor Relations is responsible for negotiating and administering the collective bargaining agreements covering approximately 1,400 MIT employees in five bargaining units. Labor Relations also represents MIT in grievance arbitrations and, in some cases, before administrative agencies in employment-related cases.
In the course of the last year the following agreements were concluded: On November 28, 1995 the Institute signed a new agreement, expiring June 30, 1997, with Local 254 of the Service Employees International Union, (SEIU) for the Campus bargaining unit; on November 28, 1995, the Institute signed a new agreement, expiring June 30, 1997, with Local 254 SEIU for the Lincoln Laboratory bargaining unit; on December 8, 1995, the Institute signed a new agreement, expiring June 30, 1997, with the Research, Development and Technical Employees Union (RDTEU); on February 5, 1996, the Institute signed a new agreement, expiring June 30, 1997, with the MIT Campus Police Association (MITCPA). The wage increase in all the agreements was consistent with MIT budgetary guidelines.
The agreement with the Security Officers Independent Union (SOIU), who represent the Security Guards at Lincoln Laboratory, expires on June 30, 1996.
In addition to the above, during the last year MIT also reached agreements with SEIU ( Campus bargaining unit) over aspects of the implementation of reengineering efforts in mail, custodial, and building maintenance services.
The number of grievances fell in comparison with the prior year. Arbitration awards were received in three cases: one award was in favor of the union, the other two awards were "split" decisions. Two cases have had at least one day of hearing and are on-going. Five cases were settled prior to arbitration. Eight grievances have been filed to arbitration and have yet to be heard.
During the year, the Office of Labor Relations also handled a number of cases brought before the National Labor Relations Board. Two cases were resolved in favor of MIT; one other case is pending.
In addition, this Office continued to provide advice and council to departments, centers and laboratories contemplating business design changes that impact collective bargaining issues, and continued to work closely in support of various re-engineering efforts.
The Employment Group provides support in the processing of job listings, applicant materials, employment advertising and unemployment claims for campus employees. The group is also responsible for reception area activities for the Personnel Office.
During the past year, approximately 11,275 applications for positions were received and processed in the Personnel Office, 612 persons were hired for positions listed in the Personnel Office, of which 185 were MIT internal applicants who were seeking employment alternatives for promotional opportunities or other circumstances. Nancy Collins, Personnel Recruiter, reviewed 1070 applications for support staff positions, interviewed 340 candidates and assisted in filling 190 positions.
In May the Employment Group started promoting the option of consolidated advertising in the Boston Sunday Globe for job opportunities at MIT. Consolidated advertisements save money compared to individual advertisements and receive better placement and therefore enhance visibility. So far the response has been rewarding with the departments willing to participate and the number of applicants for position openings have increased.
Some 270 unemployment claims were processed this year for former campus employees. We have worked closely with representatives of the Massachusetts Department of Employment and Training to provide timely information to MIT employees who are terminated and may be eligible for benefits, including individuals in departments impacted by funding reductions or staff restructuring related to reengineering efforts. We also selected Jon-Jay Associates as our new agent to represent us in unemployment compensation matters.
Robert J. Lewis
The Training & Development Programs office in Personnel supported three major efforts at MIT throughout the last year.
The first major effort was its agenda of courses offered to all MIT employees as well as specific courses tailored for departments, laboratories, and centers. Approximately 1200 people attended these programs. Most courses offered in the fall had high demand, thus these classes were repeated in the spring and summer for people on waiting lists. Topics included teamwork, meeting leadership, handling conflict, writing effectively (business, technical and scientific), and preparing research proposals.
The second major effort was leading the performance appraisal training effort in support of the Human Resource Principles. Fifty-five course leaders selected from among Campus employees were trained to lead two courses: one about giving performance appraisals and one about receiving them. The Training & Development Programs office helped create course materials and teach the course leaders, as well as support the course leaders in a variety of ways throughout the roll-out.
The third major effort was leading the Training & Development Planning Team for reengineering. One important result was the creation of the new Human Resource Practices Design team. This office is also actively participating on that team.
Margaret Ann Gray
The Family Resource Center offers faculty, staff and students a broad range of services to assist with child care and schooling, normal parenting concerns, family relocation, and balancing work and family. Our work requires comprehensive knowledge of area programs and resources, and ongoing collaboration with many MIT offices and departments. In addition, the Center makes available information and materials on institutional, local and national initiatives related to work/family and family policy.
Services offered by the Center this year included approximately 950 office consultations plus 35 informational "briefings", 35 workshops, and 5 discussion groups; approximately 950 members of the MIT community attended workshops and groups.
Family Resource Center services were enhanced this year through the upgrade of our computer network and the addition of a computer terminal for client use, allowing clients to access directly a number of databases and internet resources. Major new initiatives to publicize services within the MIT community included the development of an email network, <"families@mit">, a new Family Resource Center brochure, and, by means of a collaborative project with other departments, a new flyer for incoming families that identifies the Center as one of several "first stops" for relocation assistance.
In November, the Family Resource Center hosted the first annual conference of the College and University Work/Family Association, an organization the Center helped found in order to provide opportunities for information exchange and professional development among work/family specialists at institutions of higher learning.
Nancy Hay, the Center's Senior Office Assistant, was replaced in July by Carolyn Hart.
Kathy Simons
Rae Simpson
The Disabilities Services Office (DSO) is responsible for the development of effective disability services and programs for the Institute. These services include physical and communication access, academic accommodations, and identification and implementation of reasonable accommodations for employees and students. The DSO also facilitates committees that address the development of concrete plans, goals, and strategies to foster and promote equal access to services, opportunities and benefits at MIT.
The Coordinator for Disabilities Services conducts forums/meetings with students, administrators, faculty members and staff on disability issues, and also serves as liaison to governmental and professional agencies, and associations relative to disability issues.
In the past year, the DSO has dedicated most of its time to providing academic access for students with disabilities at MIT. This required the translation of all course materials supplied by instructors into an accessible format for students with disabilities such as vision impairment, hearing impairment, and Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), and in a timely manner.
The accessible formats for students with vision impairment included electronic files to be enlarged, brailled, and/or used in conjunction with other computer equipment, reading course materials onto taped recordings, and creating tactile images of graphs and/or charts; interpreters were procured for students with hearing impairments; notetakers for students with learning disabilities; and typists and/or notetakers were procured for students with disabilities such as RSI.
The DSO also worked closely with the members of the Adaptive Technology for Information and Computing Laboratory (ATIC) in determining an efficient system by which to utilize its services and procure 24-hour access for all of the DSO's student employees.
The DSO's main purpose is to create a system by which student employees can provide MIT students with disabilities, equal academic access, while working as independently of the DSO as possible, to allow the DSO time for researching current ADA legislation, educating and training the MIT Community about ADA, and identifying and assessing reasonable accommodations for employees.
A total of 21 employees, including 3 Lincoln Laboratory employees, identified themselves as individuals with disabilities and requested services from the DSO. Fifteen of these individuals required the determination of the need for a reasonable accommodation. This required meeting with the self-identified employee, the employee's supervisor, Personnel Officer, and any other relevant parties involved, to assess the essential functions of the job, and to identify the appropriateness of the accommodation requested.
In addition to the above, I also performed several ADA presentations to the following departments/members of the MIT community: MIT Medical Department; MIT Medical Department physicians; Bursar's Office; Admissions Office; Undergraduate Education and Student Affairs - the Office of Counseling and Support Services; Resource Development; Social Work Services; Psychiatry; Campus Activities; Presidential Staff; Office of the Senior Vice President; and MIT's Personnel Office;
Barbara Roberts
MIT Reports to the President 1995-96