“Targeting Innovation”

Session 1

Monday, April 12 • 10:30-11:45 a.m.

Review the challenges and opportunities the economic crisis has created on campuses around the country. Identify best practices developed by colleagues and corporate partners. Learn about the results of an economic issues survey conducted by CUPA-HR in January 2010. Share ideas and best practices through small group discussion about strategic restructuring, communications with employees, retention practices, morale on campus and other challenges.

Ken Tagawa, Chief Learning Officer, CUPA-HR; Mary Maher, Vice President for Human Resources, University of Texas Health Science Center

Most people are familiar with employment trends at their own college or university. But how do those trends compare with other institutions in the U.S.? In this session, we’ll examine the findings from the most recent Higher Education Employment Report published by HigherEdJobs. We will also examine data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and HigherEdJobs and discuss how these trends may affect the future of higher education.

Andrew Hibel, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder, HigherEdJobs; Kirk Beyer, Director of Human Resources, Gustavus Adolphus College

Learn the common pitfalls, benefits and struggles of taking a higher education HR office paperless.

David Lindberg, Director of Human Resources, North Dakota State College of Science

There has been a surge of violent events on college campuses in recent years, and cases (ranging from sexual misconduct to murder) implicating employees suggest that the problem of violent or inappropriate behavior is an organization-wide phenomenon, going well beyond the student population in both its reach and magnitude. This session will offer a new approach, designed specifically for higher ed, to classic threat assessment initiatives targeting staff and faculty.

Eileen Weisenbach Keller, Assistant Professor, Northern Kentucky University; Stephanie Hughes, Associate Professor, Northern Kentucky University, and Founder, RiskAware, LLC

This session will focus on the strategy Eastern Michigan University is using to positively change institutional culture related to managing problem performance. You’ll hear about the successes and challenges associated with creating a culture that emphasizes constructive feedback. Through discussion and role play, you’ll learn how interactive training can have an immediate impact on trainee confidence and ability.

David Trakul, Director of Employee Relations and Policy; James Gallaher, Chief Human Resources Officer; and Zachary Fairchild, Human Resources Organizational Development Consultant, all of Eastern Michigan University

Session 2

Monday, April 12 • 1:00-2:15 p.m.

New plan rules, which went into effect in January, require certain plan sponsors to file an expanded Form 5500 with DOL. Some plan sponsors are also now required to prepare GAAP financial statements; engage an independent, qualified, certified accountant to audit their plan’s financial statements; and include the report with Form 5500 for the first time. These new requirements, and others, may prompt many previously unaudited 403(b) plans to be audited for the first time. This session explains why it is important to start planning for those audits now.

Carmie Howell, Manager of ERISA Reporting, and Edward Hilgendorf, Director of Plan Compliance and Reporting, both of TIAA-CREF; Pam Beemer, Associate Vice President for Human Resources, Northwestern University

This interactive session will provide an overview of the impact of Web 2.0 technologies such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn on staffing and recruiting, focusing on the specific needs of higher ed and identifying areas that require a unique approach to social media use. You’ll learn how leading institutions are using social media to enhance their employment brand and improve their ability to attract the high-caliber candidates.

Chris Wolf, Recruitment Advisor, The University of Arizona; Kevin Wilson, Director of Higher Education Sales, PeopleAdmin

This session will examine key drivers of employee engagement and explore ways administration, as well as faculty and staff members themselves, can improve engagement. Discover one university’s findings with regard to measuring and acting on survey results to impact those drivers most critical to full employee engagement in an academic environment. Consider how these methods of measurement, discovery and action might be adapted for your institution.

Jeff Stafford, OD Consultant, and Susan Rafferty, Assistant Director of Policy, both of the University of Minnesota

The news of a tragic event — a natural disaster, an act of violence, the death of a student or employee — on a college campus occurs all too often. Every event is unique, and each shatters the lives of many. In this session, you will confront a mock tragic event on campus and help plan a campus-wide response.

Hank Christiansen, Senior Vice President, The Wellness Corporation; Donna Cable, Senior Director of Employee Relations and Staffing, Yale University; Mary Frances Forcier, Ph.D., Director, Colonial Academic Alliance

Hear how a university system developed a process to automate employment contracts and appointment notices from its HRIS system. Learn how to creatively store the necessary information in the HRIS and how to brand the contracts to a particular university within the system.

Janice Minder, Director of Human Resources, South Dakota Board of Regents; Nancy Grassel, Director of Human Resources, Black Hills State University

Session 3

Monday, April 12 • 3:00-4:15 p.m.

Some forward thinking institutions have taken steps to address both the health and the healthcare needs of their employees by partnering with them on not just health problems, but also on preventative healthcare solutions that aim to optimize health and fitness. In this session you’ll examine a framework for creating a culture of health; hear results of Sibson’s Healthy Campus survey; gain an overview of the Engagement Strategies Best Practice Reference Guide developed by Sibson’s Healthy Campus Advisory Council; and hear examples of how some institutions have employed best practices in this area.

Steve Cyboran, Vice President, Sibson Consulting, A Division of Segal; Joni Troester, Wellness Director and Workers’ Compensation Manager, The University of Iowa

Turning The Ohio State University from an elephant into a ballerina is one of the key directives from the university president. This transformation is about culture, structure and strategy. In this session, you will deepen your understanding of culture and how it is tied to strategy and explore the business case and an action plan for culture change.

Anne Massaro, Project Manager, and Sandy J. Li, Organization Development Consultant, both of The Ohio State University

In this session, you will hear a case study and see examples of brands, tools and resources used by your peers in other higher education institutions to build awareness of retirement plan features and benefits and to drive plan participation.

Kate Lewis, National Vice President, ING; Mary Maher, Vice President for Human Resources, University of Texas Health Science Center

The business of higher ed is a complex interweaving of history, concepts such as academic freedom, governance, teaching and research, and a focus on contributing to the betterment of society through education. What lies behind this unique culture? How does it influence policy and decision making? What are the major themes and issues facing higher ed? Explore these important topics and perhaps gain some insights and strategies to enhance your effectiveness in the higher ed enterprise.

Ken Tagawa, Chief Learning Officer, CUPA-HR

Session 4

Tuesday, April 13 • 10:30-11:45 a.m.

This session will help you gain an understanding of the new healthcare reform legislation that has been passed and how it will affect the benefits you offer your faculty and staff in the short term and the long term.

Bob O’Brien, National Practice Lead for Higher Education, Aetna Inc.; Kirk Beyer, Director of Human Resources, Gustavus Adolphus College

CUPA-HR’s new HR Benchmarking Survey was developed at the request of members and is intended to provide HR departments with important benchmark information on structure, size, responsibilities and performance. This session will showcase how your colleagues in other institutions are using the results of the survey to complement their planning processes to make better and more informed decisions. Learn what types of metrics other institutions have developed for the workforce and the HR function and how they use them — and how you can develop a metrics scorecard at your institution.

Karen Hutcheson, Senior Vice President, Sibson Consulting, A Division of Segal; Chuck Standfuss, Director of Employment Services, Macalester College; Ken Tagawa, Chief Learning Officer, CUPA-HR; Betsy Rodriguez, Vice President for Human Resources, University of Missouri System Administration

Fiduciary responsibilities are not the same for all types of organizations or for all types of plans. This session compares the fiduciary responsibilities of ERISA plans and non-ERISA plans. Knowing the similarities and differences is important because fiduciary responsibility affects so many areas of retirement plan operation such as reporting, disclosure, notices to employees, fund selection, and fee disclosure. Correct and cost-effective administration of fiduciary responsibilities is often a top institutional risk management priority. This session will help you learn how you can do your part.

Tom Peller, Vice President, Fidelity Plan Sponsor Solutions; Wayne McClain, Director, Benefits Plan Administration & Compliance, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Thorough investigations and artfully written investigation reports are critical tools in your workforce management plan, particularly in a unionized environment. In this session, you’ll examine the investigation process from start to finish with helpful hints on witness interviews and report drafting.

Bill Brady, Principal Labor Relations Representative, and Chris Dale, System Director for Labor Relations, both of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities

During times of having to do more with fewer resources, it is important that every employee perform at peak level. Fostering employee engagement is not a luxury, it is the best way to create the commitment and connection that helps all organizations work better. Learn why this is important and how you can take steps, both systemwide and personally, to improve levels of employee engagement in your organization.

Joan Curran, Organizational Development Consultant, and Mary Ceccanese, Research Coordinator, both of University of Michigan; Deanna Wadley, Patient Placement Coordinator, and Hinke Jansen, Lead HR Compensation Consultant, both of University of Michigan Health System

Session 5

Tuesday, April 13 • 1:00-2:15 p.m.

Now that the 403(b) regulations have finally arrived, what can we be doing to simplify plan administration and manage plan compliance? This session is designed for benefits administrators and technology officers and will explore the various ways 403(b) compliance can be achieved, even in a multi-vendor environment. The presentation will include an overview of the challenges related to compliance and a case study about how those challenges were met.

Don Harris, Senior Vice President, VALIC; Janice Minder, Director of Human Resources, South Dakota Board of Regents

Learn how to implement a best practices approach to leave management, thus alleviating the frustration associated with managing and tracking multiple leave programs. Investigate the shortcomings of traditional leave of absence programs, and learn how a comprehensive and integrated absence management program can help reduce costs.

Stan Kulesa, Assistant Vice President for Benefits, and Patsy Herzog, Manager of Absence Management, both of The Standard; Mark Baker, Principal, and Al Daniels, Consultant, both of The Baker Benefit Group, LLC; Kirsten Williams, Benefits Manager - Health and Welfare, Northwestern University

Four-year colleges and universities are beginning to understand what many community colleges have known for a long time — a centralized employment recruiting process yields many benefits. This lively session will help you make the case for pulling together recruiting efforts — technology, advertising, employment branding, budgeting — under one umbrella and will detail one school’s positive experience.

Kathlene Collins, Publisher, Inside Higher Ed; Alissa Begin, Human Resources Specialist, University of Saint Thomas

Hear from experts and discuss with your colleagues ways to prevent violence in the workplace and how you can mediate and resolve disputes amongst employees that if left unchecked can lead to decreased productivity or violence. Using real-life cases, a panel will provide ideas on how to avoid hiring disruptive and violent employees and how to deal with those that get by the screening.

Dr. A.G. Monaco, Associate Vice President; Dr. Becky Hoover, Director of Employee Relations; and Gaston Reinoso, Director of Employee Selection and EEO, all of The University of Akron

Session 6

Tuesday, April 13 • 3:00-4:15 p.m.

Learn quality assurance techniques for guiding and directing the activities of faculty and administrative searches. Learn how to train, orient, support and monitor search committee members to ensure their activities are within legal bonds. In short, learn the best practice approach to conducting searches in the 21st century.

Christopher Lee, Principal, SearchCommittees.com; Wendy Kraynak, Manager of Recruitment & Employment, Delta College

This session will tout the critical importance of proper candidate identification verification as a first step in the screening process. You’ll learn about the complexities surrounding the criminal court system and the need to conduct due diligence criminal research. You’ll also learn the importance of proper employment and education verification and how to look out for fraud throughout the process.

Freida Williams, HR Manager, Carnegie Mellon University; Robert Capwell, CKO, Employment Background Investigations, Inc. (EBI)

This panel presentation will help attendees learn how social media is being used in organizational settings. You’ll hear about specific ways in which social media can be used to support various institutional initiatives and programs and the internal issues that must be addressed to implement such programs. You’ll also gain a clear understanding of the cultural, policy and implementation considerations involved.

Jennifer Schuster, Vice President, Sibson Consulting, A Division of Segal; Kirk Beyer, Director of Human Resources, Gustavus Adolphus College; Nancy Grassel, Director of Human Resources, Black Hills State University

Hear the findings of over two decades of studies on reorganizations, reductions-in-force, high-risk personnel actions, and successful versus unsuccessful outcomes. Learn what components to include in your reorganizations, layoffs and furloughs to create a smoother transition. Learn how to develop a team of HR representatives with varying levels of skill and knowledge to create a harmonious HR group effort for departments.

Connie Deutsch, Consultant, University of Texas, and Founder of Deutsch Psychology

This in-depth session will explore everything you need to know about 403(b) retirement plans. Refresh your knowledge of the basics and discuss past and current regulations, operational compliance, and optional provisions including loans, Roth features, contract transfers and much, much more. Learn about the latest and greatest including several big announcements about what’s coming down the pike in 2010.

Bob Architect, Senior Tax Law Specialist, VALIC

Session 7

Wednesday, April 14 • 8:00-9:15 a.m.

This session will examine the challenges veterans face when seeking civilian employment and offer tips for building the business case for creating a veteran hiring initiative.

Lisa Rosser, Chief Advocate for Hiring Military, The Value of a Veteran; Patricia Gyurke, Director of Employment Services, West Virginia University

This session will provide guidance on how to maximize the skills of student employees by properly training their supervisors. You’ll learn how to strategize methods to deal with performance issues, ethical concerns and personal matters of this unique group of employees.

Tom Sonnleitner, Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services, and Tim Danielson, Interim Director of Human Resources, both of University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

HR is the champion for training staff well. What about training HR well? We’ll look at the challenges faced by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System in trying to ensure well-trained HR staff across 32 colleges and universities. Learn how a comprehensive online training resource was developed, and share ideas with your peers for ensuring high-quality training of HR people.

Toni Munos, System Director of Personnel-HRIS, and Heather Kidd, Personnel Director of Data Integrity, both of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities

Full-time faculty members are the core employees of a college or university, responsible for delivering the academic promise of the university to its students. When universities decentralize faculty hiring to the individual colleges or departments, there is potential for mixed messages as a result of a lack of common focus. By centralizing the hiring process within the Provost’s Office, the provost is able to assure the alignment of faculty with the academic mission, values and goals of the university. This session will describe the process one institution used to forge a strong partnership and good working relationships between the Provost’s Office and the Office of Human Resources for the benefit of the institution.

Toyia Stewart, Director of Employment; Douglas Knerr, Vice Provost for Faculty & Academic Administration; James Gandre, Provost and Executive Vice President; and Gretchen Van Natta, Vice President for Human Resources, all of Roosevelt University