Tag: administration and finance vp

2018-2019, Anonymous, Answered, From Floor

2% Faculty Raise

December 6, 2018

Questioner: Anonymous

Posed to: Shari Shuman, Vice President, Administration; Finance

  1.  I have heard that the administration refused to make the 2% faculty raise for last year (2017-2018) retroactive to the beginning of the academic year. Instead, the raise only applies for a portion of the year. Is this correct? If so, why isn’t the faculty raise for 2017-2018 retroactive to the beginning of the academic year? What is the actual date the raise becomes effective?
  2. I received my raise for 2017-2018. I taught in the summer of 2018. When will I receive the additional compensation for that teaching as provided for in the CBA?

Response from the floor by Vice President Shari Shuman

For Part A, retro pay went back to September 23rd. VP Shuman stated that the President did address the first question from the floor regarding summer pay.



2018-2019, Anonymous, Answered

Board of Trustees Bargaining Representative

Questioner: Anonymous

Posted to: David S. Szymanski, UNF President

Can we please know how much UNF paid Leonard Carson each of the past two years?

 

Response from the Floor by Vice President Shari Shuman:
In fiscal year 2017, we paid our Chief Negotiator $54000, in 2018 fiscal year, we paid $124000, and this year, we have paid $4200 so far. If we did not pay our Chief Negotiator in this way, we would be paying more for a full-time staff member to support the negotiation needs of the university administration.

 

2017-2018, Anonymous, Answered

Parking Permit Queue Not Working

Questioner: Anonymous

Posted to: VP of Administration of Finance, Shari Shuman

Once again, we wait an hour in the online parking permit queue and then the system does not work. What is being done to stop this problem, and will someone be held accountable?

Response from the Floor by Dr. Gordon Rakita on VP Shuman’s behalf

He stated that she recognized there was a problem. Currently there is a project underway to identify a better vendor for parking services.

 

2014-2015, Anonymous, Answered

Geese Feces

Questioner: Anonymous

Posted to: Shari Shuman, Vice President Administration & Finance

QUESTION SYNOPSIS-I:
The other day I did see my faculty colleague walking in our building with goose feces on her shoe. Due to my background, I do not say such things to people, but it is a concern of mine. With all of the geese and people that walk, we shouldn’t have to suffer through this situation. Are there solutions? Can sidewalks be washed regularly? Must geese stay near people? Are there other options? Thank you for the consideration.
ADDITIONAL QUESTION SYNOPSIS– I:
At the last meeting, my question was read and I sensed most people joking, so please let me try again to share the serious issue of the goose feces in building. Now I see the geese causing issues of making feces on sidewalks. I saw the students – and even the faculty – having the geese feces on their shoes and making public building carpets and floorings so messy. I researched the issue and found that Chattanooga State Community College had similar issue. Their maintenance crews remove up to 100 pounds of geese feces each day. Goose feces in ponds are bad for the water and cause much algae growth. Stony Brook University had similar issue and used the border collie dogs with trained handlers to humanely remove the geese. Other idea is the Solar Super Sonic system. With this technology, the system plays pre-recorded goose distress calls every ten minutes to alert geese of danger. There must surely be more options the university can enact before we have a feces crisis.

Response from Shari Shuman, Vice President of the Administration & Finance:

I understand your concern about the geese droppings on our campus. It is a daily reminder that life existed on this plot of land before UNF was built and hopefully it will be here long after we as individuals are long gone. Our campus has a tradition of coexisting with the natural beauty that surrounds us, which makes us very attractive to prospective students and visitors. Still, it is not fun to have to dodge droppings as you walk across campus.

Physical Facilities works hard to clean the walkways of the droppings daily. Pressure washers are going full speed every morning.

We have researched various ways to handle this dilemma, including the very unconventional method of using what’s called a Goosinator. It is essentially a remote controlled creation that can go as fast as 25 mph to scare geese away. If you want to see for yourself, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=junuoSsHqks

After much debate, it left us with a variety of concerns, including how we treat wildlife on our campus and dangers of possibly scaring the geese into crowds of people. Goosinators have been successful on golf courses, but we are a campus, with activity 24-hours a day and 3,000 residential students.

We are continuing to research ways to make the campus safe for all: faculty, staff, students, visitors and yes, even safe for the geese.

 

Shari Shuman

VP, Administration and Finance

University of North Florida

1 UNF Drive

Jacksonville, Fl 32224

904-620-4727

2017-2018, Anonymous, Answered

TIAA and Retirement Options for Faculty

December 7, 2017

Questioner: Anonymous

Posed to: FA President Radha Pyati

Many UNF employees have much of the retirement savings in TIAA (which now owns the Jacksonville-based bank EverBank). Several recent news stories, especially in the New York Times, have shown that TIAA’s operations may not be as stellar as their reputation (e.g., https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/your-money/tiaa-403b.html ). Has UNF or the SUS been keeping track of the performance of the TIAA accounts commonly held by employees and comparing their past performance and predicted performance to other possible retirement investments? If there are concerns, would UNF consider more options for employee flexibility in how our retirement savings are invested?

 

Response by: Vice President Shari Shuman

While we are aware of the recent news regarding TIAA, the investment and optional retirement plans are all handled through the State’s Department of Management Services.  Similar to other benefits, such as health insurance, while we facilitate the process we do not directly handle or oversee any of the options or investments.  Also, please be aware that these companies’ performance are closely tracked by the State and information regarding their performance can be found on the department’s website.  Additionally, there are also numerous other investment options, including both companies and products, other than TIAA.

Shari Shuman

Vice President, Administration and Finance

University of North Florida

2016-2017, Anonymous, Answered

Disaster Insurance for Scientific Equipment

January 12, 2017

Questioner: Anonymous

Posed to: Shari Shuman, Vice President, Administration & Finance

Is it true that if for instance lightning were to fry a piece of scientific equipment, used either for research or teaching purposes, that the university does not possess insurance, maintenance agreements, or have a fund for repairing or replacing that item of equipment? Does not having such a backup plan mean that one’s research, and maybe even one’s career, could potentially be brought to a halt by such a loss?

Response: 

Please see the response to the question regarding lightning hitting a piece of scientific equipment. Let me know if you need anything else.

UNF does have lightning coverage under contents of the property policy. Our coverage pays actual cash value for a loss which is (cost of repairs or replacement less depreciation). There is a $2,500 deductible per occurrence.

– Shari Shuman

2016-2017, Anonymous, Answered

Salary Increase for Interim COAS Dean

October 13, 2016

Questioner: Anonymous

Posed to: Scott Bennett, Associate Vice President, Administration and Finance

Would you please report to the Faculty Association the salary increase Professor Dan Moon received when he was appointed Dean of Undergraduate Studies and the salary increase he received when he was appointed Interim Dena of the College of Arts and Sciences?

Response:

I think it’s inappropriate to discuss personnel issues regarding individuals. Nonetheless, I will briefly discuss an overall philosophy. Some people are confusing a raise with a promotion. Often a pay raise comes with a promotion. When we promote faculty, they of course get a pay increase.  Typically someone serving in an interim role also gets a raise due to heightened responsibilities, but typically not to the level of the permanent position. In such cases the university saves money as the interim does not make what the former permanent position did.

Secondly, we negotiate with the faculty’s representative, the Union, to set the date of employment on which we base pay raise. This has always been June 30

2016-2017, Anonymous, Answered, From Floor

Classroom Access for Guest Lecturers

September 1, 2016

Questioner: Jose Franco

Posed to: Shari Shuman, Vice President Administration & Finance

Is there a way to revise the procedure for gaining access to classrooms on campus such that a faculty member filling in for another faculty member will be allowed into the room by the campus police?

Vice President Shari Shuman provided a response from the floor:

If a faculty member is not attached to a course, there is a safety and security measure with allowing individuals access to classrooms who are not authorized users. A faculty member wishing to substitute for the faculty member of record for a course would need to have the Chair of the department call the campus police and inform them of the substitution. Shari Shuman will follow-up with the Chief of police to clarify the process.

2015-2016, Anonymous, Answered

Building 14 steps

Questioner: Anonymous

Posted to: Shari Shuman, Vice President Administration & Finance

A concern was expressed about the steps in building 14.

 

Response from Shari Shuman, Vice President Administration & Finance:

Physical Facilities reviewed the steps and did determine that the metal stair treads, that covered the edge of the stairs, needed to be replaced.  The work should be completed within two weeks.

 

Shari Shuman

VP, Administration and Finance

University of North Florida

1 UNF Drive

Jacksonville, Fl  32224

904-620-4727