July 10, 2018

The UM System Board of Curators met June 21-22 at the Columbia campus to discuss various UM System issues. They discussed combining the Ethics and Compliance Hotline and Bias Hotline as well as the approval of new policies for layoff/transition assistance benefits, sick leave and personal days. The board also approved the budget for fiscal year 2019.

UM System President Mun Choi, gave his annual report.

“The university, board of curators, president, chancellors, deans and the faculty members are committed to achieving excellence,” Choi said. “We have a long way to go, you’ve seen some of the statistics and we’re going to have to turn around our research programs, we’re going to have to make key investments in our faculty and staff and also really invest in programs that lead to student success.”

####Combining the Ethics and Compliance Hotline and Bias Hotline####

Jennifer May, Chief Compliance Officer, gave an overview of the accomplishments of the committee and proposed the integration of the Ethics and Compliance Hotline and the Bias Hotline.

The project is currently underway and it aims to integrate the hotlines to eliminate confusion and provide a single portal for individuals to report and for the organization to manage cases.

The Ethics and Compliance Hotline provides an anonymous avenue for reporting suspected incidences of financial, ethics or compliance abuses at any of the campuses or the health system. The Bias Hotline allows people to report incidents of discrimination or retaliation and improve the universities’ education methods and help prevent discrimination across the UM System.

The main difference between the Bias Hotline and the Ethics and Compliance Hotline is the Bias Hotline is not anonymous. The combined hotline will provide the anonymity for the Ethics and Compliance portion.

####Approval for layoff/transition assistance benefits, sick leave and personal days####

The board approved a new policy that will allow new employees to use all four personal days during their first six months of employment. Employees have a total of four personal days per year and prior to this policy, new employees were only allowed two personal days during their first six months.

Similarly, there is now no yearly limit on using sick leave or the use of sick leave for an immediate family member. Staff were previously allowed 12 days of sick leave per year, but the policy was not consistently enforced. The new amendment leaves it up to individual supervisors to approve sick leave and has integrated childbirth and adoption of a child as well.

Non-tenure track faculty and individuals with non-regular academic appointments will be added to the transition assistance plan via an amendment to the renewed transition assistance policy. Previously, these employees were not eligible to receive transition assistance. Transition assistance covers short term, temporary income and benefits to employees subject to involuntary layoffs.

“Our staff and faculty are the backbone of the university,” David Steelman, chair of the Board of Curators, said in a press release from the MU News Bureau. “These policy changes to some of our benefit programs will provide staff with more flexibility, which we hope will translate into helping them do their work better. Our faculty and staff continue to do a fantastic job, and we’re working hard to support them by addressing their concerns.”

####Board approves budget for FY19####

According to the news bureau, the Board also approved the budget for the 2019 fiscal year, allocating $3.2 million across the UM system and its respective campuses.

_Edited by Morgan Smith | mosmith@themaneater.com_

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