11/18/21 - Compensation and Benefit Updates
SUBJECT: Compensation and Benefit Updates
DATE: November 18, 2021
SENDER: Sonya Williams, Vice President for Human Resources
Dear Staff colleagues,
Since I joined The New School in July, I have been impressed by the dedication staff has for our academic mission and your commitment to propel operational goals forward.
I am also keenly aware that staff members have made sacrifices over the past 20 months in support of university initiatives. In recent weeks, I have heard from many of you about your concerns and possible solutions. I'm writing to share several updates that hopefully will begin to address some of the work life balance pressures experienced by staff members. The initiatives outlined below are the first steps towards creating greater balance in our daily work schedules and to recognize the contributions and accomplishments of staff across the university.
Please scroll down to read more about the following:
- Compensation: salary increase for eligible staff
- Winter Break integrated into the university holiday calendar
- Commitment to snow days, not remote work days
- University-wide meeting guidelines
Compensation: Salary Increase for Eligible Staff
A long time has passed since the university provided salary increases for non-union staff, and inflation is on the rise. This is why we ensured that your healthcare contributions did not increase this year—the university absorbed all cost increases.
Effective January 3, 2022, eligible non-union staff will receive a 2.5% across-the-board increase. Staff who were active employees as of July 1, 2021 or prior, and who have not received a base salary adjustment this calendar year greater than the approved increase, are eligible. Union employees will receive an increase in accordance with their collective bargaining agreement.
Winter Break
With the holiday season quickly approaching, I’m pleased to let you know The New School will formalize Winter Break in the university’s holiday calendar. The university will be closed on Friday, December 24, 2021 and reopen on Monday, January 3, 2022. Moving forward, winter breaks will appear in the published university holiday calendar. This change means that employees will no longer be required to use vacation time during the winter break week.
I also recognize that some employees work in areas that remain open during university holidays, including the week of Winter Break. Current practices are in place to ensure that those employees are able to enjoy time off at a later date
(Re)Commitment to Snow Days
As you may be aware, the New York City Department of Education has done away with snow days and has instead opted for remote learning days when there is heavy snowfall or extreme weather. Remote instruction and services are not always preferable or even possible for caregivers, and the university is recommitting to our pre-pandemic practice of closing the university campus, including canceling classes and staff meetings, during severe weather emergencies. Our emergency response team will continue to evaluate and recommend the appropriate actions if a potential closure scenario arises.
New Meeting Guidelines
I am aware of the growing personal and professional demands placed on employees, and the challenge of effectively managing people, time, space and workloads. Feedback collected in the Staff Needs Assessment survey found that over 77% of staff supported the idea of establishing a university-wide meeting-free time. In addition, the majority of respondents reported that they spend more time in meetings since the pandemic began. These sentiments were also reflected in the recommendations we received from the Hybrid Work Group.
With this in mind and with support from senior leadership, I am introducing two new practices to improve quality of life by providing employees with greater control of their workday.
Designated “No Meeting” Times
Starting in the spring semester, the university will designate Wednesdays between 9:00am – 12:00pm as a “no meeting” time to enable productive work or for practicing self-care. Supervisors of staff who provide services during those hours should work with their teams to identify alternate times that support their department needs. Please begin rescheduling existing meetings scheduled for Wednesday, January 5, 2022 and beyond and encourage your colleagues to do the same.
Time Guidelines for Meetings
Also, starting in the spring semester, we will begin standardizing meeting times to avoid back-to-back meetings and help address Zoom fatigue. These new guidelines also help move meetings off the academic bell schedule and contribute to less elevator congestion as we continue increasing activities on campus.
- To the extent possible, meetings should begin on the :15 and last no more than 45 minutes with rare exceptions for strategic planning or extenuating circumstances.
- Please begin adopting this new model as soon as possible, with the goal of fully standardizing the new meeting times when we return from Winter Break on January 3, 2022.
- Additional tips for setting defaults in Google Calendar are available here.
I appreciate everyone’s willingness in advance to try out these new meeting guidelines. Over the coming months, I will seek your feedback and make adjustments as needed based on that input.
Looking Ahead
It is clear that staff members have gone above and beyond to help make the past year a success. I hope that these new initiatives provide immediate support for you in performing your work but, I acknowledge that they do not address all concerns. I have observed and heard from many employees about the imbalance of workloads that have increased over the past year. Addressing this is a priority, and Human Resources will partner with senior leadership and senior staff to resolve this issue.
As we approach the end of an extraordinarily demanding semester, staff deserve a personal shoutout. While we won’t have the opportunity to thank each other in person, we are creating an online space to collectively build a forum for public expression of gratitude. Soon we will launch a Kudoboard, an online forum to collect posts of thanks from the community, for the community. We have plans to share the final product at a virtual all-staff gathering in mid December. Be on the lookout for launch details soon.
Thank you again and best wishes for a wonderful break.