Dialog, UA Faculty and Staff News

HRD Training
HR Development lists current announcements, training resources and schedules on its Web site at http://bama.ua.edu/~hr/st-dev/index.htm.

Building Community
Continuous Quality Improvement
Computer Workshops
Employee Assistance Workshops
Policy and Procedures
Job Openings
Miscellaneous

RSA Sends Monthly Newsletter, Investment Information, More

RSA-1 Deferred Compensation Affected by Tax Bill

Payroll Reminder: Renew Exemption Claims

Building Community

Building Community - Human Relations for the 21st Century is designed to develop human relations skills, heighten awareness of others and foster a sense of community throughout the UA campus. Workshops that bear the Building Community logo are available to UA employees.

Effective Affirmative Action Recruiting Strategies - Shirley Darr/Auxiliary and Support Services, scheduled by request.

Continuous Quality Improvement

CQI Leadership Seminar Series. CQI workshops are part of the Leadership Seminar Series designed for people in academic and administrative organizations, such as deans, department chairs, directors, managers, assistant and associate directors and faculty who lead projects, or plan on moving into leadership roles. All workshops will be facilitated by John Dew, director for Continuous Quality Improvement. Contact the CQI Office at 348-9831 to schedule workshops, which are designed for 2-4 hours. Workshops include Leading Participative Meetings, Leading the Strategic Planning Process, Consensus-Based Decision Making, Planning Skills, Building and Sustaining Teamwork, CQI Leadership for Administrative Staff, Leading Continuous Improvement and Creative Thinking.

Computer Workshops

E-Course - HRD Team, Jan. 30 and 31, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., G-54 Rose Administration
Windows for E-Course - HRD Team, Jan. 30 and 31, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., G-54 Rose Administration
Web Page Production I - Jaclyn Whitehorn, Date TBA, A-342 Seebeck Computer Center
Advanced Web Topics - Jaclyn Whitehorn, Date TBA, A-342 Seebeck Computer Center

Employee Assistance Workshops

Teamwork: Remember the Titans - Dr. Emily Smith, DCH Employee Assistance Program, Jan. 24, 3-4:30 p.m.

Policy and Procedures

On-Line Purchasing System Procedures - Tina Dorroh, Accounts Payable, and Julie Shelton, Accounting and Reporting. Level One Courses are recommended for employees just beginning to use the Accounting/Reporting/Payable System. Level Two Courses are recommended for employees responsible for maintaining departmental accounts. Date TBA.

Job Openings

The University of Alabama is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. For the latest job update, call the UA job line, 348-7780. For a full line listing of available positions, visit Employment Office web site. Remember that office, technical, clerical, maintenance and service positions stay on the Job Line only five days. Faculty positions are listed under the appropriate college or school.

Miscellaneous

New Employee Orientation introduces all new UA employees to campus life and provides them and employees with a status change (regular, part-time or temporary) an opportunity for benefits advisement and enrollment. New employees and employees with status change must pre-register and attend a New Employee Orientation session within the first 30 days of employment to be eligible for health insurance. Sessions are offered every Monday.

Three ways to register and to check out training manual:

Call 348-7125
Fax to 348-2072
Email mkarrh@fan.ua.edu

Human Resources Development training sessions will be conducted at G54 Rose Administration building unless otherwise stated. Persons with special needs should contact Margie Karrh.

The Training Resource Center (TRC) offers videos for a staff development "lunch and learn" program. The TRC accommodates six to eight people.

The Web site for Human Resources Development training offers the current Staff Training Calendar.

RSA Sends Monthly Newsletter, Investment Information, More

The Retirement System of Alabama sends its monthly newsletter, The Advisor, to the home address of each member. Membership in the Employees’ Retirement System of Alabama (ERS) applies to all regular UA employees working at least 50 percent FTE.

Members of RSA contribute 5 percent of their gross salary through payroll deduction. If your address has changed since you began contributing to RSA and you have not received issues since August, you must provide a new address. On the Web site at www.rsa.state.al.us, RSA members can read current issues and get instructions and a form for notifying RSA of your address change. Members may also submit a written request, including full name, current home mailing address, Social Security number, employer, and home phone, to P.O. Box 302150, Montgomery, AL 36130-2150. For more information, call 1-800-214-2158.

The current issue reports that RSA’s last fiscal year, ending Sept. 30, 2001, was a tough year. However, RSA ended up in the top 15 percent for investment performance for public pension funds: The Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) ended at -6.36 percent; the top 10th percentile was -4.81 percent; the top 25th percentile was -9.36 percent; the median was -12.43 percent.

RSA-1 Deferred Compensation Affected by Tax Bill

President George W. Bush’s tax bill directly impacts the RSA-1 deferred compensation plan, which is available to all University employees. The provisions of the plan subject to change took effect Jan. 1. In the plan, a portion of employees’ income may be paid into RSA-1 (separate from the employees’ or teachers’ RSA contributions) to be invested, and the amount is not subject to federal or state gross taxable income. Payment to investor employees is deferred usually to retirement. Public officials and employees of the state of Alabama, including UA employees, are eligible to participate in the RSA-1 plan, which has no administrative or membership fees. Primarily, the changes to the plan increase the portability of funds between retirement plans and increase deferral limits. The changes were outlined in the August issue of RSA’s newsletter, The Advisor (see the above item). For more information, call the RSA at 1-800-214-2158 or, on the Web, go to www.rsa.state.al.us.

Payroll Reminder: Renew Exemption Claims

The payroll office reminds UA faculty and staff who claim exemption from federal and/or state income taxes that it is time to renew exemptions. The deadline is Feb. 18. If the exemption claim is not renewed by the deadline, the University is required to withhold taxes based on being single and claiming zero withholding allowances from any pay received after that date. To renew your exempt status, go to the payroll office in 330 Rose Administration Building to complete new W-4 forms for federal and/or state withholding taxes. For more information, contact the payroll office at 348-5221.