Learning Expeditions (Program Information)

Sponsored by: ING

Session 1

Friday, May 14 • 10:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

1A: Childcare Programs Help Institutions Attract and Retain Key Faculty, Staff and Students

Examine the trends in offering childcare support programs, from on-site childcare to backup childcare. Review specific challenges in university communities. Examine results from a university’s childcare center parent survey and compare with national statistics to examine potential returns to an institution through reductions in turnover and absenteeism and increased loyalty and production.

Fran Durekas, Chief Development Officer, Children’s Creative Learning Centers; Robynn Pease, Director, UK Work-Life, University of Kentucky

1B: Benefits Designs and Redesigns Maximizing Strategic Cost/Benefit

Sibson Consulting representatives and two university partners, who have invested in strategies to design and redesign benefits for the purpose of maximizing the strategic cost/benefit, will discuss successful approaches they’ve recently implemented. These approaches have maximized participant benefits and matched those benefits to college and university interests. Participants will also be invited to share the ins and outs of benefits design/redesign initiatives that their institutions have undertaken

Barbara Butterfield, Senior Consultant; Steve Cyboran, Vice President; and Norman Jacobson, Senior Vice President, all with Sibson Consulting, A Division of Segal

1C: Training, Equipping, Monitoring and Supporting: HR’s Role With Search Committees

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

1D: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? How to Prepare for an Audit of your Plan before the Auditor Comes Knocking

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.

Edward Hilgendorf, Director of Plan Compliance and Reporting, and Carmie Howell, Manager of ERISA Reporting, both with TIAA-CREF

1E: Understanding Higher Ed Academe: Perspectives, Concepts and Practices — A Glimpse of the Academic Enterprise

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 2

Friday, May 14 • 1:45-3:00 p.m.

2A: Making Better, More Strategic Staffing Decisions Utilizing the HR Benchmarking Survey

This session will showcase how your colleagues in other institutions are using the results of CUPA-HR’s new HR Benchmarking 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. Learn how you can develop a metrics scorecard at your institution.

Ken Tagawa, Chief Learning Officer, CUPA-HR; Karen Hutcheson, Senior Vice President, Sibson Consulting, A Division of Segal; Marita Sullivan, Senior Director of OHR Research & Planning, Georgia Institute of Technology

2B: Creating Personal and Institutional Value Through Process Change

Learn how Pace University leveraged process improvement, teamwork and collaboration to bring significant positive change to a group of high performers and the institution. With hands-on exercises and tools, you will begin your own journey toward process change in support of your school’s vision and strategy, ensuring continued revitalization and future growth. You will also examine how process change creates personal value for them through professional development, knowledge transfer and peer coaching.

Robert Lazer, Director of Organizational Learning and Development, Pace University

2C: New Employee Orientation as a Passport to Contribution

Being new on the job can be exciting, and at the same time daunting. New people are hired for their skills and competencies and with an expectation that they will make a contribution. New employees can expect that they will receive direction, resources and support in order to demonstrate or develop their skills to further their careers and make a contribution. Learn how the University of Richmond used new employee orientation to make these expectations more explicit. Receive tips to enhance your onboarding process since research has shown that new employees decide whether to truly engage or to get “on board” within the first 90 days on the job.

Patricia Chandler, Employment Recruiter, and Aubrey Pettaway, Organizational Learning & Development Specialist, both with University of Richmond

2D: HR Analytics: What Data Do You Measure and More Importantly Why?

This interactive session will discuss the need to address the critical differences between metrics and analytics. We will discuss and define their differences and outline practical steps for developing effective metrics for overall better decision making and planning.

Marc Ramos, Partner Manager, Aquire

2E: Economic Issues on Campus — In the Eye of the Storm

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 about strategic restructuring, communications with employees, retention practices, morale on campus and other challenges through small group discussion during the presentation.

Kelly Jones, Senior Vice President, Higher Education Practices Leader, Sibson Consulting; Ricardo Coronado, Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources, Tarrant County College District; Kay McFarlin, Managing Director, National Advocacy Programs, TIAA-CREF

Session 3

Friday, May 14 • 3:30-4:45 p.m.

3A: Social Media: You Can Be an Innovator! But Should You?

This panel presentation will help you 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.

Diane Swisher, Communications Consultant, Sibson Consulting, A Division of Segal; Paul Michaud, Chief Human Resources Officer, Georgia Southern University

3B: Why and How to Prepare Your Retirement Plan for an IRS Audit

The IRS reports that it audited 6,298 retirement plans in 2008. Your institution may be next — so be prepared. Get the facts and planning strategies in this session. Learn how the IRS selects retirement plans for audit, how the audit is conducted, and what problems are most commonly found in various plan types. Hear details and lessons learned from a peer based on their experience in prepping for and working through an IRS retirement plan audit. In addition, attendees will receive reprints of the in-depth article titled “Why and How to Prepare Your Retirement Plan for an IRS Audit” published in the Winter 2010 issue of the Journal of Pension Planning & Compliance.

Tom Peller, Vice President, Fidelity Plan Sponsor Solutions; Graham L. Gillis, Ed.D., Associate Vice President, Employee Benefit and Risk Management Services, University of Arkansas System Office

3C: Leadership Development — Strategies for Building Your Talent From Within

Determine specific strategies to develop and deliver a leadership development program that enhances the leadership skills of the faculty and staff administrators at your institution. Learn to develop a competency model customized and aligned with institutional objectives and culture. Examine the challenges of developing a leadership program designed for both faculty and staff.

Wayne Guthrie, Vice Chancellor for Human Resources, and Tina Woodard, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Professional Development, both with The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

3D: The Flex Team: A New Staffing Reality

Learn how one institution, in the face of increasing workload and decreasing resources, is meeting staffing needs through a college-wide “Flex Team,” a group of budgeted, hourly employees trained to be deployed where needed. Learn what has made the Flex Team so successful and how you can implement a similar team at your institution.

Patty Jones, Executive Director of Human Resources and Public Affairs, and Merl McDonald, HR Program Coordinator, both of St. Petersburg College

3E: Selecting the Right People: New Tools in Employee Selection

At a time when colleges and universities are experiencing the greatest need for a new cadre of leaders, over-dependence on the traditional employment interview may be setting up gaps in leadership caliber and quantity. This session will provide an overview of recent research on college selection processes and a case study describing how an institution dramatically improved the effectiveness and efficiency of its selection processes in hiring its president.

Dale Campbell, Professor and Coordinator of the Community College Leadership Consortium, University of Florida; Leslie H. Krieger, PhD, SPHR, Vice President and Consulting Psychologist, Assessment Technologies Group

Session 4

Saturday, May 15 • 10:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

4A: Healthcare Reform — What It Is and What You Should Know

Understand the new healthcare reform legislation being discussed in Congress. Examine how it will affect the benefits you offer your faculty and staff in the short term and the long term.

Donna Popovich, Executive Director for Human Resources, University of Tampa; Bob O’Brien, National Practice Lead for Higher Education, Aetna Inc.

4B: Client-Centered Design: A Case Study — Enhancing Recruiting and Hiring Processes

This presentation will explain how you can engage your clients across the college community for the purpose of designing HR processes that meet the clients’ needs.

Nickie Green, Director of Staff Recruitment, and Sherry Elkins, Director of Compensation, both with SCAD

4C: Where Have All Your Employees Gone? Optimizing Your Leave of Absence Program

Alleviate the frustration associated with managing and tracking multiple leave programs and learn how to implement a best practices approach. Investigate the shortcomings of traditional leave of absence programs and learn about ways to deal with backlash among those employees who may be experiencing a sense of unfairness. Examine how a comprehensive and integrated absence management program can help reduce costs.

Stan Kulesa, Assistant Vice President, Benefits, and Patsy Herzog, Manager, Absence Management, both with The Standard; Lyndi Porter Zavy, HR Business Partner, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

4D: Restructuring the HR Division to Deliver Exceptional Service: Service Center Implementation — A Case Study

Poor organization design is one of the leading causes of low employee morale and productivity. There are four critical signs that the organization structure and work processes need improvement: high employee turnover of the most talented people, low productivity, increased customer complaints, and decreased profitability. This case study presents how USF Human Resources assessed its productivity and then engaged in the process of restructuring to provide services in a more effective and efficient way to meet the unique needs of its clients.

Timothy Miller, Director of Talent Management, and Lori Withrow, Human Resources Analyst, both with University of South Florida

4E: Transforming the Compensation and Records Department from a Budget Drainer to a Revenue Generator

In today’s environment of shrinking budgets and dwindling funding, we need transform our departments from budget draining to revenue generating. In this fun and interactive session, perform a SWOT analysis to determine strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats within the department, and use the analysis as a springboard to develop a plan to generate revenue. Using the University of Kentucky case study, map the plan, including equipment needs, legal requirements, labor requirements, marketing and public relations plan, etc. After persuading the key leaders and decision makers, implement the plan and evaluate for effectiveness.

Debbie Carwile, Compensation Manager, University of Kentucky

Session 5

Saturday, May 15 • 1:30-2:45 p.m.

5A: Increasing Retirement Plan Participation Through a Plan Brand Identity

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

Gregg Holgate, National Vice President, ING; Jennifer P. Christian, Benefits Manager, LSU System Office

5B: Who’s Hiring? National Trends in Higher Education Employment

Most people are familiar with employment trends at their own college or university. But how do those trends compare with the national level? In this session, we will discuss findings and analysis from the most recent Higher Education Employment Report published by HigherEdJobs. We will examine data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and HigherEdJobs and discuss how these trends may affect the future of higher education.

Donna Popovich, Executive Director of Human Resources, University of Tampa; John Ikenberry, President, HigherEdJobs

5C: Is It Over Yet? Managing 403(b) Compliance

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 and a case study about how those challenges were met.

Stewart Mixon, Chief Operations Officer, Medical University of South Carolina; Don Harris, Senior Vice President, VALIC

5D: Future Trends and Creative Workforce Planning

The changing landscape of workforce planning will be discussed. As the labor force continues to develop and change, HR must be able to adapt its strategies to stay ahead of the curve, in compliance with the law, and in touch with the needs of the workforce. This presentation will provide HR with the tools for leading change on campus.

Pearl Alexander, Senior Director of Human Resources, Georgia Institute of Technology; Russell Ford, Attorney at Law, Littler Mendelson

5E: Social Media for Recruitment and Brand Building in Higher Education

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.

David Zajchowski, Human Resources Manager, Rollins College; Kevin Wilson, Director of Higher Education Sales, PeopleAdmin

Session 6

Saturday, May 15 • 3:00-4:15 p.m.

6A: The Defining Components of a Great Academic Workplace

In order to attract and retain top talent and ultimately support efforts to deliver on their missions, today’s leading institutions are being very intentional about understanding institution climate/culture, workplace quality and faculty/staff engagement. Do you want to be known as a great place to work? We’ll discuss themes and insights from two different workplace recognition programs, including The Chronicle of Higher Education’s 2009 “Great Colleges to Work For” program, which is in its third year of capturing critical information and identifying interesting trends. The presenters will share how their organizations have benefited, highlight best practices from recognized institutions and identify key metrics you might consider at your college.

Richard Boyer, Partner & Senior Researcher, ModernThink, LLC: David Zajchowski, Human Resources Manager, Rollins College

6B: 403(b) Plans: Now and in the Future

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.

Richard Turner, Deputy General Counsel, VALIC

6C: The Changes We’ve Been Dealt — Complying with New Laws and Regulations

With a new administration in Washington, 2009 brought with it dramatic changes to America’s workplace. Colleges and universities are no exception. With a year behind us, hear from an employment lawyer about how these changes are affecting employers, specifically colleges and universities. What can you do to make sure that your campus is in compliance? What can you do to avoid the pitfalls of these new laws and ensure that your interpretation and implementation new policies and procedures are compliant with the law?

Michelle Bedoya Barnett, Attorney, Holland & Knight, LLP

6D: Wise Employee Cost Reduction Strategies

Reducing operating costs, including employee compensation and benefit costs, is an ongoing struggle. Budget pressures continue to be immense. We are challenged to find opportunities to reduce costs today, and yet not impair our long-term mission and responsibility. Creative thinking is critical. This session will identify a wide range of cost reduction options, focusing on employee compensation and benefits, within higher education institutions.

John Toller, Chief HR Officer, East Carolina University; Steve Greene, Managing Member, Helms & Greene, LLC

6E: Performance Management: Driving Results and Accountability at Edison State College

An effective performance management system is a meaningful process that drives results while holding individuals accountable for associated outcomes. To ensure alignment between staff evaluation, college goals and a new classification/compensation system, Edison State College designed and piloted a new staff review process and related tools. This session will provide an overview of the goals of Edison State College’s performance review, the methodology to design and implement a new process, and the link to other HR processes.

Pamela Fairfax, Associate Vice President for Human Resources, and Amber McCown, Manager, Staffing Services, both with Edison State College