Some employees voiced concerns over health benefits. Other employees expressed unease over retirement plans. Still more employees inquired about salary increases.
While University faculty and staff said they realize the administration has their best interests at heart, questions remain unanswered about how the University's potential charter status could impact their status.
"I would expect that [as a result of charter status] our employees would have more reliable and more consistent compensation," said Leonard Sandridge, University executive vice president and chief operating officer in a Monday night briefing with employees. "The benefits would be appropriate to the kind of industry that we are a part of."
Staff Union President Jan Cornell said she was pleased the University held a briefing in response to employee concerns, but she said she was not content with the information presented.
"I felt a lot of questions were evaded," Cornell said.
Many faculty and staff members remain confused about how specifically the charter legislation will affect employees, said Tim Eckert, chair of the student affairs employee council.
"Employees feel out of the loop," Eckert said. "Some departments do a good job [of providing information], but the information does not always go through."
Employees are primarily concerned with whether they will continue to receive regular wage increases under the proposed charter, Eckert said.
"As a state employee, I know what I can expect," he said. "People are not really informed and are scared about what direction U.Va. will take."
At present, the Board of Visitors only has the power to impact faculty compensation, Sandridge said, however, charter status will permit the Board to influence the compensation offered to classified staff as well.
Another pressing employee concern, according to Cornell, is the distribution of paid leave. Though faculty and staff have expressed concerns about the current allocations of sick, personal and vacation days, many said they fear charter status could further complicate the matter.
In all of these cases, if the charter legislation is passed, current employees will be grandfathered into the new system, Sandridge said.
Still, the Staff Union is concerned about how new employees would factor into the University's benefit plan as a chartered institution, Cornell said.
"I think there will be a two-tiered system of old employees and new employees," Cornell said. "I cannot believe new employees will be as lucky as old employees."
Sandridge said the charter legislation will grant the University some ability to expand existing benefit programs, which could provide new employees with more options to meet their particular needs.
Another chief concern voiced by employees focuses on how the University will package benefit plans, Cornell said.
"I think they will do experiments with different retirement plans," Cornell said. "I am afraid we will have the haves and the have-nots."
The charter status legislation will bestow the University with the ability to run itself like a business, Cornell said, transforming the status of state employees into that of public employees, a subtle difference.
"People go into civil service for security," Cornell said.
Faculty Senate Chair Marcia Childress, who is helping to communicate information about the proposal from the administration to faculty members, said she believes University employees and administrators need to have a sustained dialogue about this issue to ensure a common understanding.
"It is important for people to learn and talk about it and not react in a knee-jerk way," Childress said.
In response to its continuing concerns, Cornell said the Staff Union will hold a rally Oct. 1 to inform employees and the public about the proposed charter legislation.
"We need staff to get up and not be afraid to ask 'How is this going to affect me?'" Cornell said.
In the coming months, the University will hold as many briefings as needed to make certain employees are aware of the evolution of the charter, Childress said.
"It is important for faculty and staff to hear about this as a mixed group and hear how other categories of employees are seeing and understanding the prospect of change," she said.
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