Academic professionals will soon have a new online community to help them enhance their careers and connect with other APs across campus. The new Web site is part of a comprehensive plan for fostering personal and professional development of APs at Illinois.
“The best way to describe the site is as an information distribution center for APs, providing resources regarding campus policies and procedures, compensation and benefits, general campus information, employment and career services as well as education and training,” said Rebecca McBride, chair of the AP Task Force Implementation Team, the group charged with developing a number of initiatives related to APs. “We see this as another way to build a stronger sense of community among the APs on campus. We want to make it easier for our staff to become more deeply engaged in campus and community life, and for them to really understand what they bring to the institution. From tips and resources for maintaining work/life balance to interactive discussion forums to a list of campus acronyms, we’re trying to put together a campus resource driven by some of the people who play such an essential role here at Illinois. It’s a one-stop shop, really, for anything related to APs, and we are confident that it will become a very popular and useful site.”
Bridget Jamieson, coordinator of marketing in Public Affairs, leads the Web Development Group that created the AP Web site. The group conducted an in-depth analysis of existing online campus information as well as Web sites at peer institutions to create a concept and tentative structure for the site.
“We’re looking forward to unveiling the site, but at the same time, we’re definitely considering the release to be the starting point,” Jamieson said. “We know that we’re going to be making plenty of adjustments and improvements in response to user feedback. We want to carefully consider the needs and wants of the AP population on campus. We want this site to be used.”
The new Web site is just one of several initiatives getting under way during the inaugural year of the AP Task Force Implementation Team. Provost Linda Katehi created the team, which comprised APs nominated by deans, directors and department heads. The team was given a charge of implementing the recommendations in a 2008 campus report on the status of academic professionals that was developed at Katehi’s request and examined key issues, such as salaries, position titles, promotional opportunities, policies for part-time workers and performance evaluations.
“The initial task force that compiled that report had many recommendations,” said McBride, who is senior associate director at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. “And Provost Katehi expressed support for all of the recommendations.”
The AP Implementation Team chaired by McBride, and the AP Steering Committee chaired by Elyne Cole, associate provost for human resources, were appointed to implement the recommendations outlined in the report over the next five years.
The implementation team’s Strategic Planning Group, led by Vera Mainz, director of nuclear magnetic resonance at the School of Chemical Sciences, is conducting a series of presentations across campus that target APs, communicating how their jobs tie into the campus strategic goals and how individuals can help their units achieve those goals.
“Many people knew there was a campus strategic plan, but the question that always arose was, ‘Where am I in it? Where’s my job? I don’t see myself in this plan,’ ” Mainz said. “So that’s what we’re trying to do – help people see themselves in it and how they contribute to it.”
Preliminary presentations were made to staff members at Krannert Center, the College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Business before the presentation was rolled out to the rest of campus. “It got very high reviews,” McBride said. “People understood their work better and more deeply. That’s been very positive.”
Another priority for the team has been preparing a draft compensation philosophy for APs – a work force with highly diverse skill sets that is influenced by a variety of market factors. The process has included researching peer institutions’ practices and reviewing awards given out at the college level as well as statutes, policies and practices that relate to APs, and tying performance reviews to strategic plan initiatives.
Karen Carney, associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, led the Compensation Philosophy Group, which focused on articulating the current philosophy, particularly identifying the factors used to determine compensation levels, such as specialized knowledge, education, experience and market dynamics.
The group drafted two documents for the Steering Committee’s review: “Principles of Compensation Philosophy,” which outlines the campus’s current practices, and “Recommendations for Compensation Philosophy,” which offers ideas for strengthening the campus philosophy. The Steering Committee has expressed support for various recommendations and asked that the AP Implementation Team create proposals for executing them.
