Coming Soon to CUNY:

A New Time and Attendance System 

 

As Chancellor Matthew Goldstein steps down after a remarkable fourteen year tenure, it seems appropriate to take stock of the many changes he has brought to our University.  The raising of admissions criteria and rededication to high academic standards, the hiring of more than 1,700 new full-time faculty, the creation of new schools and colleges, and his signature "Decade of Science" initiative emphasizing research and study in the STEM disciplines, are hallmarks of his visionary leadership.  We owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for these and his many other achievements.

 

For me, the Chancellor's enduring legacy to CUNY is embodied in his notion of the "integrated University."  That concept, applied in practical terms to human resources management, underlies my Office's efforts to streamline and standardize HR business processes and improve customer service system-wide through initiatives such as the centralization of University payroll operations.  That project, which has proven both cost-effective and process-superior, will be completed for all campuses by the end of this year.  It will be followed by a similar initiative to centralize University benefit operations and services, including the creation of a call center for employee inquiries.  But nowhere is the need to integrate our business practices around CUNY more critical than in the area of time and attendance.

 

Currently, each College maintains its own practices for capturing and recording time and attendance.  There is no systemic integration of these records, which has particular ramifications with regard to employees who work at more than one campus.

 

That's why I'm pleased to tell you that this past March, the University entered into a contract with SumTotal to create a system that will track time and attendance for each of the nearly 200 payroll titles that comprise our workforce.  Different employees will access the system in a slightly different way:  a dean may record his or her time on a computer, while laborers whose duties don't normally include using a computer may swipe their badges on an "Impulse Clock."  Each title will have codes built in so that only the policies that apply to that classification will apply.

  

The SumTotal system will be customized to interface with CUNYfirst.  Employees and their supervisors will be able to track their time and leave balances online, viewing accruals and scheduled absences.  The screen will include views such as Today's Attendance, Daily and Weekly Schedule, Reminders and Summaries.  Employees will be able to attach documentation for approved absences, such as a jury summons.  FMLA requests will be automatically processed to ascertain that the employee has the requisite 1200 hours of service before being routed to HR.  And importantly, HR will be able to track the time of employees working at more than one campus, so that appropriate policies can be applied.

 

My staff has spent a great deal of time defining the scope of this initiative, and we'll be sharing more about it with you as the project progresses.  We plan to roll out the first phase of the pilot project in the next 24 months.  I look forward to working with you as we continue to integrate the University's HR operations in the service of our more than 41,000 employees.

 

 

 

 

 


Gloriana B. Waters

Vice Chancellor

In This Issue
BRAVO! at John Jay
Retiree Email
New Director of HR Investigations
Everybody Asks Raymond
The New TAM
New Central Office Onboarding Website
CUNYfirst Training to HR Personnel
OHRM "Spotlight on Achievement"

BRAVO! at John Jay


On June 7th, John Jay College of Criminal Justice held its sixth Bravo! Summer Employee Institute, which brings members of the Colleges' faculty and staff together for a day of personal, professional and community development.  The theme of this year's program was Manager and Employee Relations:  How Are We Managing? and featured workshops, seminars, recreational activities and entertainment, food and fellowship. Read More >> 

Retiree Email 


OHRM understands that many faculty and staff who retire from CUNY would like to maintain an email address that recognizes an affiliation with the University.  Unfortunately, the University's IT policy doesn't permit the use of an active CUNY email address by these individuals.  However, the University has agreed to allow instructional staff (teaching and non-teaching) represented by the PSC, as well as those in excluded functions and in the Executive Compensation Plan, who retire on or after September 1, 2013, to be given a one-time opportunity by their respective College[1] to elect a retiree email account at the time of retirement. Read More >>

OHRM Welcomes Director of HR Investigations 


Pinar Ozgu has joined OHRM as Director of HR Investigations. Pinar worked previously as an Assistant Corporation Counsel ("ACC") in the Labor & Employment Division of the New York City Law Department, where she represented the City of New York and its agencies in state and federal courts, successfully litigating a broad range of labor, employment and civil rights matters. Read More >>  
Raymond O 'Brien
Everybody Asks Raymond

About the New Non-Teaching Instructional Staff Timesheet

and Summer Faculty Salaries 

   

This summer, the University will begin implementing a new timesheet for Higher Education Officers, College Laboratory Technicians and other non-teaching instructional staff.

Q.   How and when is the new timesheet being implemented?

A.   The timesheet is not really new; it has been in use at the Central Office for some time. It is now being phased in University-wide. In July, Lehman College, New York City College of Technology, and Kingsborough Community College will begin using the timesheets. Some additional colleges will implement in September and the remaining colleges will implement at a later date.

Q.   Are any time and leave rules being changed?

A.   No. What is being changed is the way these employees record their time.

Q.   Why is the University implementing the timesheet University-wide?

A.   The City University of New York is migrating to an integrated human resources management structure with centralized payroll and benefits. In the future, the University will install a time and leave system that will interface with CUNYfirst and payroll and provide for the electronic recording of time, approval of leave requests, and maintenance of leave balances. Instituting this uniform timesheet for employees in the Higher Education Officer series, College Laboratory Technician series and Research Assistants and Research Associates is a step in this process.

*****

Every summer I get questions about the proper mechanisms for paying full-time teaching faculty additional compensation during the summer annual leave period. Here are some answers. 


Q.   What is the summer annual leave period for full-time teaching faculty? 

 

A.   Article 14.1 of the PSC/CUNY collective bargaining agreement defines the annual leave period for teaching faculty. It states, in relevant part: "[T]he period of annual leave for full-time teaching members of the faculty shall be from the day subsequent to the spring commencement of each college until the third day, excluding Saturday and Sunday, preceding the thirtieth of August that follows such commencement, or an equivalent consecutive period." For summer 2013, the beginning of the annual leave period is dictated by the date of each college's spring commencement; the last day of the annual leave period is Monday, August 26, 2013. The University uses June 1 for the purpose of calculating teaching faculty summer compensation.

  

Q.   Is there a limit to the amount of additional compensation a teaching faculty member may earn over the summer from CUNY sources?

 

A.   The Board of Trustees' Statement of Policy on Multiple Positions limits a teaching faculty member's additional compensation from all CUNY sources during the annual leave period to an amount equal to no more than 3/9ths of the faculty member's annual salary.  There is a small exception for money provided from the college foundation for special projects that may cause the faculty member to exceed the 3/9ths limitation.  The salary used in this calculation includes the stipend a distinguished professor receives, as well as any salary above base.  Read More >> 

The New TAM 

Colleagues from throughout the University's HR, IT, Training and Diversity communities have been working together to design, implement, and support changes to the CUNYfirst Talent Acquisition Module (TAM).  This work has gone beyond changing the software to assuring that the most is gotten out of out of this upgrade.  One of the most exciting changes is that the application experience will be a more positive one for candidates.  But there are many other new changes for the rest of us, which attests to the immense amount of work that has gone into this project.  Here's a sample:

 

For All Users

  • Improved "plain English" instructions and error messages on TAM screens.
  • Extensive user documentation customized to different roles, such as Chief Diversity Officer and Search Committee member.

For Search Committees

  • Search Committee members will be able to directly access information about the searches to which they are assigned - most importantly, candidate applications and interview schedules.
  • An "interested party," such as a department administrator, will be able to access search information to assist with activities such as scheduling.
  • Search Committee members and interested parties will be able to see only information from the searches to which they're assigned.

For HR Administrators and Chief Diversity Officers

  • Campus HR representatives and Chief Diversity Officers will be able to see only information from searches on their campus.
  • HR Recruiters will be able to screen candidates automatically using screening questions tailored to the job title (initially for HEO series).

For Candidates

  • An updated cuny.edu employment page with detailed candidate instructions, as well as, for the first time, general advice on finding and applying for a CUNY job vacancy.
  • Ability for candidates to upload multiple documents in a single job application.

With the new TAM, you'll have a system that provides a better experience for the applicants, search committees, and the HR Community. And, we will have a better platform with which to implement further improvements in the future.  

 

OHRM Launches Onboarding Website for Central Office New Hires 

 

This summer OHRM will launch a virtual onboarding program for new employees at the Central Office.  The "New Employee Resource Center" on the CUNY website will allow new hires joining the Central Office to access HR forms and policies, get required training, and review benefits and payroll information weeks before they actually sit down at their desks.

 

Designed by OHRM in collaboration with Central Office Web Services and the University's Office of Communications and Marketing, the new website features a welcome video and a "subway stop" theme to guide new employees through the onboarding process.  

 

The pilot Central Office program will be reviewed and refined over the next few months with a view towards eventual implementation of a University-wide application.

 

You can visit the new site at www.cuny.edu/newemployee.

Onboarding Site Image

PDLM Offers CUNYfirst Training to HR Personnel  

OHRM's Professional Development and Learning Management unit coordinated two CUNYfirst training events this year to support campus Human Resources Offices.

In July and November of 2012, PDLM provided training in three introductory Human Capital Management (HCM) modules HR personnel. The courses, CUNYfirst Basics for Human Resources, Introduction to Workforce Administration, and Introduction to Position Management, consisted of an overview and demonstration of each module's features and functionality. Attendees were either new campus HR employees or HCM users wanting to learn more about the integration of HCM modules. 65 campus human resources office employees attended twelve training sessions.

The second offering was a TAM "Train-the-Trainer" course for campus Human Resources Recruiters. The course consisted of an overview of changes in the recruitment business process and a step-by-step review and demonstration of enhancements to current TAM functionality. Attendees participated in class discussions and feature demonstrations, and received hands-on practice in the new TAM functionality. Campus Chief Diversity Officers and their assistants were invited. A total of 80 professionals from campus Diversity and Human Resources Offices attended seven training sessions in March 2013.

"Spotlight on Achievement" Shines on OHRM Staff 

On Tuesday, May 7th, Vice Chancellor Waters recognized twelve OHRM staff members who were nominated by their supervisors or colleagues for making significant contributions to the operations of the Office of Human Resources Management, and whose work exemplifies OHRM's core values and goals, including customer C.A.R.E. (Courtesy, Attention, Responsiveness, Empathy), strategic partnership with the campuses, teamwork, leadership, integrity, initiative, innovation and cost savings.

 

Those recognized included Natasha Ayiemohtsoh and Shakira Smith from University Payroll, Yvonne Rodriguez from University Benefits, Jim Davis and Susan Haggerty from Campus HR Advisory Services, Katherine Isaacs from Central Office HR, Sheraine Gilliam from the Executive Unit, Colin McGrath from HR Strategic Planning & Technology, and Jackie Womack-Worrell from Professional Development & Learning Management.  A special group award was given to Yana Rozenfeld, Crystal Rocque-Seraphin and Ali Bodden for their collaborative work on for HCM client support and training.
spotlight on achievement
Front row, from left: Ali Bodden, Natasha Ayiemohtsoh, Jackie Womack-Worrell, Crystal Rocque-Seraphin. Top row, from left: Katherine Isaacs, Yana Rozenfeld, Vice Chancellor Waters, Shakira Smith, Jim Davis, Yvonne Rodriguez and Sheraine Gilliam. Not shown: Colin McGrath and Susan Haggerty.
About Us
The CUNY Office of Human Resources Management is responsible for developing the University's human resources guidelines, standards, rules and regulations. We enforce federal, state and local employment laws, and ensure compliance with the CUNY Board of Trustees' policies and procedures regarding employment, including affirmative action and equal opportunity employment. OHRM administers employee benefits and professional development programs for University staff, and oversees the administration of Civil Service examinations. 
 

Our Mission:  To provide strategic, consultative and effective human resources services that promote organizational success, individual achievement, inclusiveness and excellence.

 

Our Vision: OHRM will serve the University community by embracing the dual roles of transaction and transformation in response to the current and emerging needs of the University and its workforce.  It will become a model for human resources as internal consultant and problem-solver; it will provide expertise and leadership to enable the campuses and the University to achieve their goals while complying with pertinent HR policies and regulations.  In all matters, OHRM will carry out its duties in a manner that is respectful, knowledgeable, and that reflects the highest standards of inclusiveness and excellence.   

 

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Send your comments or suggestions to [email protected].