In This Issue

If you would like to make any changes to your federal or state withholdings for calendar year 2004, you may obtain a new W-4 form by calling the Payroll Office at ext. 2885 or you may find these forms on our web site: http://ww2.wpunj.edu/adminsrv/hr/PayrollandBenefits/PayrollandBenefits_Forms.htm.

Annual Service Award Luncheon

By: Guinera Curry

The annual Service Award Luncheon for employees who reached a benchmark of 20, 25, 30, or 35 years in 2003 has been scheduled for February 6, 2003 at 12 noon. If you are one of the employees who reached that benchmark in 2003, please be on the lookout for your invitation. The President and Provost will be hosting an event to recognize your dedication and years of service. The event will be held at 1600 Valley Road Café. If you have not received an invitation thus far, please give Ms. Curry a call at ext. 2887.

Professional Staff Evaluations

By: Allison Boucher

It is time for the annual evaluation of professional staff on multi-year contracts. Please visit:

http://ww2.wpunj.edu/adminsrv/hr/EmployeeRelations/Reappointment_Performance_Appraisal_Page7.htm.

to access materials and web links for the Annual Evaluation of AFT Professional Staff employed on Multi-Year contracts.
These materials include the Annual Evaluation of AFT Professional Staff Employed on Multi-Year Contracts policy & procedure; the lists of those undergoing assessment; the calendar; and the Non-Teaching Professional Staff Appraisal form. Please note that this evaluation is for professional staff who are not being considered for reappointment during this fiscal year.

Perfect Attendance 2002

Congratulations to non-faculty employees who did not use a sick day for calendar year 2002:

During the annual Service Award Luncheon, there will be formal recognition. The date is February 6, 2004 at 12 noon, 1600 Valley Road Café. If you have not received an invitation, please give Ms. Curry a call at ext. 2887.

Doing Business with Physical Plant Operations

By: Lou Poandl

The Physical Plant Operations (PPO) organization performs functions that touch everyone in the University community. We have prepared the following list of 10 things you need to know so that PPO can respond best to your needs. You may want to retain the list for reference.

1. What we do:

• Operate, maintain, and repair buildings and their physical, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and alarm systems.
• Maintain the Athletics fields and landscaping throughout the campus.
• Clean halls, classrooms, conference rooms, lavatories, common areas, and offices (for security reasons, by appointment only), and remove trash and recycle materials.
• Maintain the University's vehicle fleet.
• Prepare event set-ups in support of Hospitality Services.
• Pick up and distribute the mail.
• Deliver parcels.
• Maintain and repair elevators.
• Retain Records.
• Review Health, Safety, and Environmental compliance with codes and regulations (including Fire Code).
• Pick up and remove litter.
• Remove snow and ice from roads, parking lots, and walks.
• Administrate trash-hauling contract.
• Administrate electric, natural gas, water, and sewerage contracts.
• Maintain the utilities infrastructure throughout the campus.
• Coordinate on-campus moves and relocations. If the move is discretionary, your department may receive a charge.

2. What we don't do (but are frequently asked):

• Install, operate, replace, and maintain materials and equipment owned by other departments.
• Provide additional drains and utility services for equipment purchased or owned by other departments (Although we have technical capability and may be able to help if your department can fund it).
• Perform capital projects.
• Administrate space allocations.
• Provide roadside assistance, repair, or maintenance for private vehicles.

3. How to contact us:

• Our office telephones are ext. 2142 and 2144, fax 2493. Staff are present from 7:30am till 5:00pm. For most communication, telephone is the best first contact.
• After office hours and on weekends, on campus staff can be contacted through Public Safety ext. 2300.
• Managerial and administrative staff have email accounts.
• We may be contacted via interoffice mail.
• You may want to visit our central offices located in the Maintenance Building across from Public Safety. You may also arrange for a meeting; face-to-face is often the most complete form of communication.
• Our US Mail address is the University's with attention to Physical Plant.

4. The Work Order

• Instructions are available on our departmental web site. Most department secretaries are familiar with the process and may be able to assist.
• Work Orders are your way to notify us of your need for service, to give special instructions, give us contact and location information, provide a tracking mechanism.
• We have initiated Weblink, an electronic work request system, in Residence Life. We are expanding it to other segments of the campus. If your area has Weblink, it is the preferred way of entering a request.
• You need not enter a separate order for work you have requested in a Hospitality Services contract.

5. Who we are:

• Lou Poandl is the Director of PPO.
• The Assistant Director is Raj Vohra. Besides assisting the Director, Raj oversees the Plant Operation and Maintenance functions; Mail Distribution; and Health, Safety, and Environmental issues.
• Our Office Manager is Adriana Blauvelt. Adriana supervises the office staff and administrates the Work Order system, departmental purchasing, time keeping, customer contact, and official correspondence. Her staff also maintains office files, invoice processing, and charge back accounts. As of this writing, Adriana is on leave and Carol DeGroat is the acting Office Manager.
• Frank Sommo is the Custodial and Logistics Manager. Frank manages Custodial Services, the Warehouse, On-Campus moves and relocations, and oversees repair and replacement of common area (not departmental) furniture, carpeting, and window treatments.

6. Capital vs. Operations:

• Capital Planning, Design, and Construction performs site capital projects.
• PPO operates, repairs, and maintains existing facilities-related assets and systems.
• The construction, reconstruction, installation, or replacement of a building, structure, sports field, roadway, parking lot, pedestrian walk, or a major component of these constitutes a capital project.

7. Our schedule:

• PPO employees are present on campus around the clock Monday through Friday. We have some, reduced coverage on Saturday and Sunday.
• We support classes, Residence Life, and special events on the weekends.
• Our office hours are Monday through Friday from 7:30 AM until 5:00 PM with adjustments for summer and some holidays.
• We will arrange for hours of operation to fit your needs.

8. The work schedule:

• Personnel are dispatched to handle emergencies as soon as we become aware of them and continue until each emergency is over. We define emergencies as unscheduled occurrences that imminently endanger life, health, or property.
• We handle urgent requirements as soon as we can contact personnel who are not on an emergency. To the extent we can, we try not to pull workers who are assigned to previous planned work, but the level of urgency will prompt our decision.
• Most work orders are started within two weeks of receipt.
• Special arrangements will be made to accommodate your schedule.

9. Follow-up:

• The workers who provide service that you request will make a reasonable attempt to contact you when they have completed the work.
• If you have additional information or needs concerning a job, we welcome your follow-up.

10. Feedback:

• We survey a significant sample of work order contacts to measure customer satisfaction.
• We welcome any praise, criticism, comments, recommendations, or other feedback.

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New Performance Evaluation System for Classified Staff

By: Denise Robinson-Lewis

The Department of Personnel announced that effective October 1, 2003, the 3- tiered rating system known as Performance Assessment Review (PAR) will be converted to a new 2-tiered rating system known as Performance Evaluation System (PES) for specific bargaining unit employees subject to the provisions of the Department of Personnel rules and regulations.

This change is a result of recently negotiated labor contracts between the State of New Jersey and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE). Employees represented by other labor unions or those who have confidential status shall continue to use the existing PAR program.

Program differences include:

• Ratings on a pass/fail basis.
• Elimination of supervisory level rating form.
• Changes in terminology.
• Changes in performance factors on which to be rated.
• Assignment of 1 point for a passing rating on promotional exams (both PAR and PES).

The University will implement this program in two phases, beginning with Facilities and Maintenance operations staff in accordance with their existing evaluation cycle, January through December. All others affected will utilize the new system beginning with the start of the next rating cycle in July, 2004.

Those with responsibility for conducting assessment reviews will be afforded the opportunity to attend workshops providing an overview of the program. In addition, affected employees will also be afforded an opportunity to become familiar with the elements of the new evaluation system. Specific information regarding those sessions will be announced in the near future. If you have questions please call Debbie Ferraro at ext. 2123.

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Employee Paid Benefits for Part Time Employees

By: Lou Szucs

The Governor has recently signed off on Chapter 172, P.L. 2003, the law which allows part time employees and part time faculty members to purchase coverage in the State Health Benefits Program.

Part-time employees and part-time faculty are eligible to employee-paid coverage in the State Health Benefits Plan if they are members of a State-administered pension system.

The Division of Pensions and Benefits has notified us that the month of January 2004 will be the open enrollment period for this program with coverage effective March 1, 2004.

Please visit our web site: http://ww2.wpunj.edu/adminsrv/hr/PayrollandBenefits/Chapter172.htm, for monthly rates and enrollment applications. All applications must be in the Payroll and Benefits Office by 12 noon on Friday, January 30, 2004.

Please call Debbie Zayas at extension 2624 or Ramzi Chabayta at extension 2835 if you require further information.

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Make the Rec. Center your "Resolution Solution"

By: Karen Hilberg

This year, make the extra effort to develop your body, mind, and spirit. Get organized, stop smoking, eat a balanced diet, drink more water and add some exercise to your life! Exercise is an important component to improving your overall health and wellness. Regular, moderate exercise such as walking helps reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes, improves cardiovascular health, gives you more energy, improves sleep, reduces stress, helps to regulate weight and makes you feel good!

The Recreation Center, located in lot 6, offers a variety of services and activities for students, faculty, staff and alumni. Low-cost memberships are available to all employees and their immediate families. Annual memberships begin each September with rates pro-rated in January and May. There are a variety of activities available, whether you are interested in working out in our full-service weight/fitness rooms or catching a pick-up game of basketball, volleyball or racquetball. Also available are a wide variety of intramural sports activities and organized exercise classes such as Nice & Easy Aerobics, T'ai Chi Chuan, and yoga. The swimming pool, located in Wightman Gymnasium is also open to employees and their families. Whatever activity helps to put more exercise in your life, make the Rec. Center your Resolution Solution!

If you would like more information about our services call the Rec. Center at 720-2777. To take advantage of the Rec. Center and all of its services, please be sure to bring your William Paterson University ID card. Daily hours of operation during the academic year are Monday-Friday 8:00 am-11:00 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays 9:00 am-9:00 p.m. Hours of operation during winter break, spring break and summer are Monday-Friday 8:00 am-8:00 p.m. Open recreation swim hours of operation are Monday-Friday 11:00 am-2:00 p.m. and 7:30-10:00 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays 12:00-4:00 p.m. Summer hours are based on the availability of lifeguards and are generally posted during Summer Session I. Please be aware that all workout areas close 15 minutes prior to the closing of the building. Don't forget that the Recreation Center is also a Ticketmaster Outlet.

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Healthy Eating Support Network

Need help keeping that New Year's resolution? As we try to lose weight or simply make healthy eating choices, it makes sense to get together with others who want to do the same. In the interest of employee wellness, the Professional and Organizational Development unit of Human Resources will host an informal, friendly round-table discussion group on the challenges of making eating choices in 2004. You won't have to "weigh in" or divulge any deep, dark secrets; simply come to exchange success stories, talk about hurdles, and share recipes, restaurant recommendations, and other tips for healthy living and eating. If you have an interest in meeting biweekly or monthly during break or lunch periods, please contact Rachel DeJesus at x2233 or Professional Development at x3555.

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Editor: Jeanie Robertson, Director
Professional & Organizational
Development
Program Assistant: : Jackie Carney