Since 1995, the President's Award for Exemplary Service has been awarded to administrative staff members to recognize their commitment to service excellence within the university community. The award honours contributions in several areas: service, support and professionalism; excellent performance in the job; extending help to students, faculty, fellow employees, parents, and university guests; and involvement with committees or organizations. The awards are a way for the university  to recognize staff members' accomplishments, resourcefulness, initiative, creativity, leadership, responsiveness in delivering service, and dedication to high standards as a member of the Memorial University staff. Up to a total of five awards are presented each year.

Suggestions for improving the nomination and selection process for this award are welcomed. Many academic and administrative units have indicated that a September nomination time frame, with a Sept. 30 deadline, is not practical. The nomination process has therefore been moved to the spring and it is now time recognize those members of our staff for doing an outstanding job by nominating such individuals for the President's Award for Exemplary Service.

To qualify for the award, candidates will be administrative and support staff of Memorial University and its agencies who have worked at the university for at least three years but who have not been a previous winner. Nominations may come from alumni, faculty, staff, students and other members of the university community.

Nomination forms will be available April 1 from the Office of the Vice-President (Administration and Finance) and Legal Counsel, Arts and Administration Building, Room A-2024.

Even if you have nominated someone before, nominate that person again. If you would like information about the awards call Marilyn Thompson, manager of Organizational Effectiveness, Human Resources, 737-4627 or by e-mail marilynt@morgan.ucs.mun.ca.
 

Previous receipients:
1995: Paul Barnes, Earth Sciences; Daphne Corbett, Physics; Dr. Lenka Husa, Animal Care Services; Roxanne Millan, Faculty of Arts; and Michael Rayment, Computer Science.

1996:  James Cooper, Faculty of Engineering  and  Applied Science; Mary Halliday, Fisheries  and  Marine Institute; Patrick Hannon, Chemistry; Gary McManus, Geography;
and Harold Squires, Budgets and Audits.

1997: Carolyn Emerson, Biology; David Kirkland, Council of the Student's Union;
Steve Milway, Psychology; Shirley Moulton, Comptroller's Office; and Judith Smith, Sociology.

1998: Christine Burke, Faculty of Business Administration; Monty Green, Human Resources; Vera Griffin, Faculty of Medicine; Gerard Hayes, Student Affairs  and  Services; and Nora Kennedy, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College.

The award includes: a citation which is presented at a president's reception, a personalized framed scroll, an award of $1000 and permanent recognition in a university display.

If there's one task that can be frustrating for students these days, it's cutting a path through the red tape of student aid. That's where Linda Carroll comes in. As Sir Wilfred Grenfell College's only student affairs officer, Linda is responsible for helping students get the best and quickest service possible when dealing with student aid issues.

"I help the students through the maze of bureaucracy and make student aid seem a little less daunting," says Linda, who moved to Corner Brook about 16 years ago with her husband, David, the chair of Grenfell's environmental studies program. Linda began her career at Grenfell in 1989 as a high school liaison officer, and remained in that position until 1991, when she took up her current post. She holds an education degree and is now completing the final course toward
her MA in education leadership.

"The best part of my job is getting to know the students and watching them grow and develop over the years, especially now that they stay here longer," says Linda, referring to the 11 full degree programs that Grenfell offers.

A mother of two, Richard, 18, and Joey, 15, Linda has also immersed herself in the activities of the community around her. Like many west coast residents, she recently took on the task of becoming a volunteer for the 1999 Canada Winter Games.

"Grenfell played a significant role in the Games," she says, noting the facilities provided to the 1999 Canada Winter Games Host Society for sport venues, team meeting rooms and sleeping quarters. "I thought it was important to get involved in an event of this magnitude. It was really exciting to be a part of it."

Linda was the co-chairperson of the Games' entertainment unit for the Athletes Village, as well as an enthusiastic participant in the opening and closing ceremonies.

"The highlight for me was to be a part of (west coast composer) Ged Blackmore's group," she says, adding the group was responsible for the music and dancing portions of the ceremonies. "It was a major endeavour for a small community like ours to take on. I was glad to represent
not only my province and region, but also the Grenfell community which has become a meaningful and challenging part of my life."

The university's senior executive has approved a new policy on vacation entitlement. Up to now new employees appointed to permanent positions were not entitled to annual leave based on service with Memorial or with the provincial government. This meant that most new employees began accruing annual leave at the rate of 15 or 20 days per year even though Memorial employees who accepted positions with the government had their university service recognized. Raelene Thomas, leave management and quality improvement co-ordinator, noted that the policy could conceivably benefit a number of Memorial employees by earning their vacation at higher accrual rates earlier in their career with Memorial.

The policy is applicable to permanent administrative employees only, including permanent sessionals, unionized and non-bargaining employees, management and senior administrators, including those at the Marine Institute and Grenfell College. The new policy does not apply to academic employees, employees of agencies, or academic administrators. The new policy has no effect on severance, redundancy payment or pension entitlements.

Employees with at least six months continuous service in a position with a government department, agency, board or commission, with less than a 30-day break between leaving employment with the government and beginning employment with Memorial, will have their provincial government service recognized. Employees with at least six months' continuous service in a permanent or sessional position at Memorial are not subject to the
30-day break in service.

The policy and an application form have been circulated to deans, directors and department heads and are also available on the Web at http://www.mun.ca/humanres/updates Reasonable proof of prior service must accompany all requests for recognition of service. The Department of Human Resources will process all requests and notify the employee of whether the prior service will be recognized. Adjustments, if the service is recognized, will be effective the first of the month following the date the request is received in the Department of Human Resources. There is no retroactive application of the policy or recognition of service.

The Department of Human Resources regularly issues a Statement of Vacation Entitlement to each employee, and this generates a number of questions from employees. The key to interpreting the statement is to remember that it is a "snap shot" of your leave balances as of the day the report is generated. Below is an explanation of each of the categories of leaves for a typical employee.

Assuming the following: Last fiscal year - 1998-1999; Current fiscal year - 1999-2000;
and, Next fiscal year - 2000-2001.

CARRIED FROM PREVIOUS FISCAL YEAR - the year prior to the year printed on the top line of the report. Current reports have been issued for fiscal year 1999-2000.

You will see:
•  a positive number if you did not use all
 of your 1998-99 entitlement,

•  a negative number if you used more
 than your 1998-99 entitlement,

•  a zero if you used all of your 1998-99
 entitlement.

ENTITLEMENT FOR CURRENT FISCAL YEAR - this is the leave that you earned in the past fiscal year for use in the current fiscal year.

ENTITLEMENT EARNED FOR NEXT FISCAL YEAR - this is the leave that you
are earning in this year for use in the next fiscal year.

VACATION TAKEN IN CURRENT FISCAL YEAR - this is the leave that you have taken in the period April 1, 1999, to March 31, 2000, inclusive.

VACATION PAID IN CURRENT YEAR - applies only to employees whose contracts have lapsed without being rehired or employees who have been laid off.

VACATION HOURS REMAINING IN CURRENT FISCAL YEAR - represents the amount of leave you earned last year for use in this year, minus the amount of leave you have taken in this year.

Performance management initiative will undergo further development

The Department of Human Resources has advised the campus community that based on feedback received about the performance management initiative, plans for the program are being reviewed and will undergo further development. The development process will continue until
at least spring 2000.

Dr. George Hickman, director of Human Resources, said that there has been a tremendous amount of feedback about the initiative. "This feedback has been invaluable in identifying key issues in the introduction of a formal appraisal system for non-academic staff members," Dr. Hickman said. "The responses are welcomed and appreciated."

He explained that a close analysis of feedback led the department to decide that the performance management process was going to take more time than was earlier anticipated. "We are going to slow the process and make the necessary revisions and bring it forward again when the timing is appropriate," he explained.

However, he also stressed that his department is committed to the concept of performance management. With this goal in mind, pilot projects pertaining to the initiative will continue and the draft policy, methodology for data collection and report writing process will be further revised and refined. Dr. Hickman also said that his department will increase the opportunities for related supervisory training.