Annual Report to the Provost 

Amidst the planning going on for the upcoming year, I submitted our Annual Report for 2014-2015 to the Provost last week. It was a wonderful reminder of the good work that you all continue to do on behalf of the UConn Libraries. Included in the report are three goals for the Library in 2015-2016. These are based on our Purposeful Path Forward as well as the goals that the Provost has set for the Libraries.  I hope you will take some time to read through the report, which can be found here.

Role of Special Payroll

I have been asked about the use of special payroll in the Library and I wanted to take a moment to address this. The use of special payroll across campus comes with specific criteria for use and regulated by Human Resources, but in general is designed for short term, temporary services that fill critical needs.

The funding often comes from one time funds, primarily salary savings although we have used grant funds as well. I know we use the term ‘salary savings’ quite a bit so let me be a little more specific. When we have an open position, for example after a retirement, the University takes back 40% of the yearly base salary and fringe as a management vacancy tax. The difference between the give back to the University and when the position is filled again is what we call salary savings. As for the open position itself, refilling it is not guaranteed. Instead, we are tasked with making the case for a refill as is or reconfigure it for a different job or skill set. The plan to refill that position is then vetted by VPC against the libraries priority job openings and the result is sent to the Provost’s office for approval or denial.

As we work through that process, it is the role of Vice Provost’s Council to identify projects that need to be done outside of current staff responsibilities and find ways to manage this in both the short term and long term. Often the short-term is done through special payroll. The process required is quite different from a permanent hire because of the temporary nature. There is an assumption that you have a qualified candidate in mind so you are asking for HR approval of the person and the work, not just the work as you would when sending through a permanent job description. Special payroll positions may also be advertised if necessary.  HR checks the job duties, the salary range and duration. A special payroll hire has no job benefits, including sick time and vacation, or health insurance.

The nature of special payroll allows for a mutually beneficial relationship – we can make progress on some short term projects or fill gaps, and a special payroll employee can work to gain skills and still have flexibility to find permanent work. We have seen a significant amount of benefit from the hiring of special payroll in the past few years, moving forward some high value projects and priorities including specialized cataloging, temporary desk staff, collections maintenance, service reviews, financial services support, bridging the gap between the scholars’ collaborative and Digital Media and Design, and implementing lynda.com. As we navigate our budget constraints, including the challenge of trying to adapt to new kinds of work, we will continue to strategically hire temporary employees through this process when appropriate.  If you have any specific concerns, please let me know.