Although both Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are now history, they were still among the topics of discussion during this week’s University of Houston Staff Council Fall Forum.

The forum, which is held each fall and spring, offered staff members a chance to discuss policies, procedures, facilities and other UH-related issues with UH President Jay Gogue and his cabinet.

Before answering staff questions, Gogue thanked the faculty and staff for welcoming and assisting all of the students who enrolled at UH after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

“It’s been a tremendous effort,” Gogue said. “After seeing how appreciative these students were during this transition, I felt even more proud to be a part of this organization.”

In addition to commending those who helped Katrina evacuees, Gogue applauded the staff members who remained on campus during Hurricane Rita. He also addressed a question from the audience regarding whether UH could provide accommodations for the families of essential personnel who were required to work during weather crises.

Gogue said that he strongly supported such a plan, but there were several issues regarding safety and legal concerns that needed to be researched before the university could officially open its doors to staff families during a severe storm.

On the topic of salary increases, Gogue answered a question regarding the administration’s inclination toward possible merit raises in the future as opposed to across-the-board raises.

Gogue acknowledged that he accepted the recent recommendation from Staff Council regarding this year’s four-percent across-the-board raises, but he said he favors raises that incorporate both cost-of-living increases and percentages dedicated to merit. He also said that UH was reviewing its employee evaluation system and making efforts to update it.

John Rudley, vice president for administration and finance, added that the Department of Human Resources was working to enhance this process by developing a new personnel evaluation document and providing evaluation training for supervisors. He also said that a market study would soon be conducted to assess the salaries of UH staff members.

Gogue also discussed how UH can become an employer of choice, saying that quality institutions always draw top professionals. As long as UH maintains its identity as a top metropolitan teaching and research center, it will continue to employ superior faculty and staff members.

“People want to be associated with winners,” Gogue said. “Every day, we should ask, ‘How can we make UH a better place?’ If we all follow this train of thought, we can attract the very best employees to this university.”

Mike Emery
memery@central.uh.edu