University Restructuring - HR Update
Updated December 20, 2007

On July 1, 2006, Virginia Tech began operating under the provisions of the Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act. As President Steger noted in his June 2006 letter to the university community, “This effort stemmed from our belief that we can operate more effectively and efficiently with a greater degree of authority and autonomy than we had as a regular state agency.  Our mission, our focus, and our commitment to our stakeholders will not change.  What has changed is our ability to control our future and manage normal operations.  We expect that we can improve the overall educational experience of our students, make greater progress toward institutional goals, and improve the quality of your work experience.”   Under the Restructuring Act, the university was granted the authority to develop and implement new human resource systems for staff employees hired after June 30, 2006; and we will also continue to administer the state’s HR system for classified employees.

   

 
How are employees involved in determining how the new HR system will be implemented?   A  Steering Committee and an Employee Advisory Committee were formed to provide recommendations and goals for the HR systems and strategies to create linkages with the university’s mission, values, and strategic plan.  The Staff Senate coordinated the application process for the Employee Advisory Committee (EAC).  Approximately 100 staff employees volunteered to serve on the EAC.

What are the latest HR Restructuring updates? The three design teams, Compensation and Rewards, Performance Management and Employee Relations, and the Staff Benefits and Work Life team met on November 15, 2007 for an orientation program that reviewed the purposes of restructuring, clarified their role, and provided them with a project timeline. After the orientation, the teams are meeting regularly to focus on specific human resource policy areas and practices. For a description of the teams and their membership, click here.

Who will be affected by the recommendations?  The primary focus of the teams will be on policies and practices that affect University staff, however, in some cases, there may be opportunities to make recommendations that will affect all employees. Additionally, there will be an opportunity for classified employees to “enroll” in the new system.

When will this project be complete?  The project serves as a catalyst for continuous improvement and review of human resource policies and practices, thus does not have a completion date per se. The project does have several phases, however, and this initial phase will be completed by October 2008. The design teams will work on drafts of their proposals throughout the winter and then submit to the Employee Advisory Committee, the Steering Committee, the Commission on Staff Policies and Affairs, the Staff Senate, the University Council, The Executive Vice president and Chief Operating Officer, and the Provost for review, comment and approval. The Board of Visitors will provide final approval of recommendations in June 2008. The enrollment period will begin in July 2008 and the new HR system will become effective in October 2008. For an overview of the timeline, click here.

For more information and updates on the Human Resources efforts supporting Higher Education Restructuring, got to www.restructuring.hr.vt.edu or contact Brian Gittens, Human Resource Restructuring Project Manager at bgittens@vt.edu or 1-3294.