UCLA Administration Town Halls

Departments in Administration will determine the extent to which working remotely will continue into the future depending on the nature of job responsibilities. These efforts have been successful so far and are likely to continue for some time, whether or not distance to campus is an issue. Rotating schedules are also an option for departments to consider.

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Departments in Administration have been asked to ensure that all employees whose job responsibilities can be carried out remotely are approved to do so. Telecommuting will continue into the future depending on operational needs and the safety conditions of the campus. All of us are continuing to learn how to make working remotely successful. Tools are available online for managers to continue developing their skills in managing remotely.

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The timing of returning to campus is difficult to predict and will depend on efforts to ensure a safe work environment. In the meantime, departments are continuing their efforts to be effective in supporting the remote work environment and this will continue for the coming months.

All UC campuses are currently reviewing a proposal from the Office of the President regarding an extended curtailment period of five days during FY20-21. Feedback is currently being gathered and no decisions have been made at this time. This is unrelated to pay raises and is intended to support the University in addressing the financial impact of COVID-19 and to help avoid the need for staff reductions to the extent possible. We do not yet know if this systemwide proposal will coincide with the plan for the proposed UCLA campus Winter Closure.

There is no established date for layoffs. Departments are assessing their financial circumstances and will provide the required notice if any layoffs should become necessary in the future.

We are currently awaiting feedback from the UC Office of the President on whether the available 128 hours of Paid Administrative Leave can be utilized after the end of December.

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The HR service centers were combined as of October 1, 2020, with consistent standards being used. It is important for department managers who are acquiring new or re-assigned employees to ensure that care is taken to provide the necessary information and resources to support the employees.

All departing employees are encouraged to complete an anonymous exit survey through the HR/Payroll Operations Center. The aggregate information is shared with department heads.

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Per the UCLA Community Screening Protocol (stage 2 expansion effective 10/26) and the Campus wide Bruin Post (issued on 10.22), all members of the campus community, excluding the Health System, who are living, learning or working on campus — and are present on campus at least once per week — will be tested for COVID-19 on a regular schedule, most weekly. If there are individuals who are working on campus at least one day a week, and they haven’t received any communication from ASHE/SummerBio with testing instructions, the department can send ASHE the name, UID and email address of those missing and they will be added to the system. UCLA affiliates can also walk up to either test site and be tested by scanning a generic QR code and registering on-site. The ASHE team is coordinating now on how to accommodate staff who have work shifts outside of normal business hours. More info available on the ASHE COVID-19 Testing Webpage.

This is being monitored by the UCLA Exposure Management Team in partnership with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, Housing and Hospitality, and Student Affairs. Students living in fraternity and sorority houses that are not coming to campus for work or learning are not required to be tested since they are living in private housing, however it is strongly encouraged.

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How are we holding accountability for wellness checks? How do we know who needs them and how are we maintaining accountability? A: Symptom screening is required under the UCLA Summary of COVID-19 Public Health Requirements and non-compliant behavior will be addressed per the UCLA Procedures for Enforcement and Compliance of COVID-19 Mitigations. As there is no standard process that would be feasible campus wide, departments are establishing internal procedures as part of their COVID-19 Resumption Plan. Public Health Ambassadors have also now been deployed across campus to support these efforts.

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Staff do have access to voluntary testing. This would fall under “Group 3 – Voluntary” in the UCLA Community Screening Protocol.

The Campus is diligently working to adjust with changing requirements and needs as the pandemic continues. We appreciate this feedback and will commit to doing better at communicating with Unit Heads prior to implementation of significant changes to our protocols.

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UCOP issued an Executive Order mandating a flu vaccine for those present on campus and that remains in effect. Please see discussion in UCOP FAQ 21.

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It is premature to speculate about a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine availability or application. We will provide information at the appropriate time.

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I'm curious to know: why are health system employees not included in the UCLA community COVID-19 cases count?

What would you say to employees who are telecommuting and have a normal or increased workload, yet other employees are being allowed to telecommute and they have nothing to do? How do you balance the need to keep people employed with the need to maintain basic fairness? Is there a fiduciary responsibility to ensure the University isn't giving away money to people who aren't working?

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Accounting and marketing are often at opposing ends when it comes to the budget - accounting says cutbacks and marketing says create value. How are we creating new value for funds in our auxiliary units? Now is the time for creativity, so how are we opening the floor up to new, innovative, crowdsourced ideas?

Administration is focused on various initiatives to create value, deliver new revenue, and lower expenses. Many of these initiatives are highlighted in the Strategic Work Plan. Many new and exciting initiatives will also be explored and launched to meet our objectives. Please don’t hesitate to share your ideas with your team, supervisor, and leadership on how we may improve the organization.

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Campus safety is a key priority for the campus. It is critical to continue to support the department and officers that are here to provide safety on the campus. We do acknowledge that policing has evolved over the last decade and has even more evolution to occur. We believe the UCPD continues to improve policing to make sure everyone feels safe as a result of the presence of officers. We realize that not all people feel that way today and this is work for us to do. We are proud of the people who serve with UCPD at UCLA and have the utmost confidence in their professionalism and commitment to safety of everyone on campus and how we can hopefully become the model for policing in the future.

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These are all great suggestions. Administration will continue to seek ways to communicate effectively across the organization including the use of News and Views quarterly newsletter, direct email updates, Virtual Town Hall, and open office hours with the Vice Chancellor. We intend to conduct quarterly Town Halls to provide the latest updates and highlighted our progress towards strategic goals and objectives. All town hall sessions will be recorded and made available at the Vice Chancellor’s webpage with links to the presentation materials, Q&A, and YouTube link for video playback. In the future, we will explore other communication channels including a slack space to capture and share this information.

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While UCLA Events & Transportation recognizes and greatly appreciates the contributions essential employees have made during this time, we are unable to cover the cost of parking. In accordance with California State Assembly Bill #1129 (1960) and Regents’ policy, the parking system is entirely self-sufficient and is prohibited from the use of state or university funding. Additionally, these policies require that vehicles parked within University of California campuses be subjected to fees sufficient to cover the cost of the parking system. As such, parking fees are necessary and revenues collected through parking fees continue to be the only source of funding for: the operation and maintenance of parking structures and lots, parking lighting, safety, and seismic upgrades, department staffing, alternative transportation subsidies, and newly added sanitation protocols as recommended by Cal/OSHA and the Centers for Disease Control.

There are courses related to change that are shared regularly with the Training & Development LMS listserv. To receive the CHR Training Newsletter on a regular basis, please send an email subscription request to: chr-training-news+subscribe@lists.ucla.edu or contact Jewel Powell at jewelpowell@chr.ucla.edu.

This is an excellent suggestion and one that we did indeed think of early on in the pandemic. This past summer, we (in partnership with our colleagues at the Center for the Advancement of Teaching or CAT), installed cameras that function with Zoom in 80 of 192 (42%) of our General Assignment Classrooms. We’ve gotten some utilization this Quarter and expect even more during the Winter Quarter.