Rutgers
University
Administrative
Assembly

^The Administrator
...the Administrative Assembly Newsletter

Editor: Charles R. Olszewski Busch Campus 65 Davidson Rd Room 101 ASB phone 5-5061 fax 5-5493 e-mail olszewski@acs.rutgers.edu

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Contents:

Assembly Election

Presidential Search Committee

New Buy-Out Proposed

Hard Times(Editorial)

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Delegate Election Leaves Vacancies

In February, the Election, Nominations and Membership Committee of the Administrative Assembly sent out Declaration of Candidacy forms to all Assembly-eligible employees via electronic mail. Those interested in serving as a delegate on the Administrative Assembly were asked to complete and return the form by March 1^st.

A total of five individuals submitted a form. Janice L. Davey of Newark, Rose Farias of Busch Campus, New Brunswick, Charlotte M. Fuller of Cook Campus, New Brunswick, James Gerety of Camden, and Lisa McCorkle of Douglass Campus, New Brunswick will be delegates for the 2002/2003 Assembly year after the election results are ceritified at the March 22^nd Assembly meeting.

There were fourteen vacancies on the Assembly at the time of the election. Nine vacancies remain unfilled. If you are interested in serving as a delegate, contact Gloria Meyer at glomeyer@rci.rutgers.edu or Rosemarie Kulp, Assembly President, at rkulp@rehs.rutgers.edu.

Meyer will be away on vacation through the date of the next meeting. Rose Kulp should be contacted until March 22, 2002. Include your name, campus address, e-mail, office phone and fax in your e-mail.

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Assembly Omitted from Presidential Search Committee

Rutgers University is searching for a new president. Among the groups contributing to the last Presidential Search Committee was the Administrative Assembly. The composition of the Search Committee indicates that one (1) administrator will be selected from the entire University. The Administrative Assembly is not included in the nomination process for this individual.

The Committee will consist of ten faculty members, four students, and three University academic officers, as well as the single administrator.

Former delegate Richard Bird reminded the Assembly that the President of the Administrative Assembly was designated a member of the last Search Committee. Assembly President Rosemarie Kulp has contacted the senior administration and the Board of Governors seeking inclusion of a representative from the Assembly. To date, she has received no response. “The A/P/S staff is an integral part of the University,” Kulp said. “Since we are the cogs on the wheel that make the University move, we should have a stronger voice in selecting our leader. The person ought to be an individual with qualities that can work well with our group, along with the other entities of the University.”

Charles R. Olszewski, Assembly Vice-president and President-elect, commented on the situation. “No one should expect any administrator to have a deciding influence on the selection of a new President for Rutgers. That is, correctly, the province of the faculty and of the students. The Administrative Assembly, however, should be allowed to make its presence known to the candidates so that they are aware of this unique resource.”

“An increasing number of colleges and universities are forming representative groups for their administrators,” he continued. “Knowing that we are here, are interested, and have a twenty-eight year history of service might influence some of the more desirable candidates to favor Rutgers.”

He added, “Then too, a higher profile would not hurt the Assembly, either!”

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New Retirement Buy-out Proposed

Last issue, The Administrator reported on two bills, A1394 and S451, that provided for early-retirement incentives for PERS, TPAF and ABP employees who had 25 years of service and were 50 years of age or beyond by their retirement date. Since then, a new bill, A1779, has been introduced (February 11, 2002) that has much the same provisions as the earlier motions, but also provides for persons who are age 60 and above, but with less than 25 years of service. The text of the bill, which has been assigned to the State Government Committee of the Assembly, can be found on-line at http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2002/Bills/A2000/1779_I1.HTM.

Governor McGreevey is considering a narrower bill restricted to PERS employees only. That bill would give an employee with 25 years of service who is 50 years of age or older a 3-year credit to PERS years-of-service. PERS retirees with 20 to 25 years of service would get no additional service credit, but would get free health-care benefits if they are 60 years of age or older. Those 60 and older who have from 11 to 20 years service would be given a lump-sum payment.

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I know I promised last month that this month’s editorial would be on 24-7-365. Things, however, have changed. The Governor of New Jersey, to fill a perceived budget gap for the current fiscal year, has asked Rutgers to give back 5% of the money given to it by the State for Fiscal 2002 - that’s from now through June 30^th. That is about 20% of the amount remaining.

This means cutbacks. The Administrative Assembly is preparing to discuss its position on how cutbacks ought to be handled with regard to you, our constituents. We will be meeting on Friday, March 22^nd at noon at the Labor Ed center on Douglass Campus. The discussion will necessarily center on layoffs.

We all hope that layoffs will not prove to be needed to cover this year’s gap. Given the depth of the cut we have taken, and the expectation that the Governor will be seeking even deeper cuts for next fiscal year (starting July 1^st), that may be a vain hope.

I do not know what the Assembly will adopt as recommendations. I do know the points I consider essential.

First, cut everywhere possible on non-staff expenditures. Don’t throw people overboard until you’ve gotten rid of everything else that can be done without. Understand, of course, that we cannot make cuts that will diminish our ability to conduct the core business of the University. This consists of undergraduate and graduate education, and research.

Once we reach the point where we have covered all we can without affecting employees, try to find ways of cutting back without cutting off. Use the hiring freeze and normal attrition to make the first cuts. Encourage individuals close to retirement to take the money and run - the State is already considering several such plans, and the Governor is preparing yet another. Consider ten-month appointments in place of twelve-month. Consider job-sharing. Consider offering appropriate staff members a shift to another unit or to a lower paid line if their job is up for elimination. Choose cuts carefully, to ensure that they do indeed make a significant contribution to salary savings; and even more significantly that they do as little as possible to diminish the ability to do business.

At the sharp end, give the customary notice to those being laid off. This consists of five days’ notice for each full year of University employment, up to a maximum of one hundred twenty-five days. Try hard to find another position within the unit, or at least, within the University, that the individual is capable of filling. Give priority in hiring to those on notice and to those already laid off. As far as can be managed without undue new expenditures (this is to cover a budget cut, after all!) provide counseling and out-placement services for those being laid off.

Lastly, give assurance to those who must leave that, when things loosen up, people who were laid off while in good standing with the University will get first consideration for re-employment if they wish it.

Do you have other ideas? Talk to your Assembly representatives. Their names and contact information can be found at http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~assembly/delegates01-02.html. Come to the meeting on March 22, if you can. Better still, contact Gloria Meyer at glomeyer@rci.rutgers.edu and see if there is an opening for a new delegate on the Assembly. Speak now. Next month may be too late.

Charles R. Olszewski
Editor, “The Administrator”

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