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New program will help fund staff career development

By Kathleen Phillips Satz

08 May 2002 | Campus employees will soon be able to apply for career development funds under a new program designed by the Staff Infrastructure Steering Committee and the Office of Human Resources.

The goal of the program is to help employees move into new careers or to grow in their current ones by funding external classes, workshops or programs to supplement those currently available on campus.

Using funds assessed against departmental payrolls under a universitywide program to support staff employees, the Career Development Opportunity Program will provide funds for individual career and professional development. The funds cannot be used for training that is required for an employee’s current job.

“This program will support employees who want to explore new career possibilities or build on the careers they already have,” said Assistant Vice Chancellor for Human Resources David Moers. “Many employees can’t afford outside classes, and now they’ll be able to apply for funding to pay those fees.”

Classes offered by UC Extension and local colleges, as well as external apprenticeships, web-based training, career counseling and certification programs can be funded by the new program. Employees will choose the development opportunity that interests them and then apply for funds through their control units. Employees may receive funds up to the IRS limits for tuition reimbursement, which is $5,250 per year.

Control unit committees, including staff at all levels, will administer the funds based on campuswide guidelines. Temporary campus funding will support a program manager, who will help identify appropriate classes and advise staff and managers.

The new program builds on recommendations made last year by the Compensation Advisory Committee, which studied staff compensation and classification programs and a wide range of issues affecting staff. Last September the Chancellor appointed the Staff Infrastructure Steering Committee, co-chaired by Moers and Vice Chancellor for Research Beth Burnside, to carry out the advisory committee’s recommendations. The new Career Development Opportunity Program was designed based on campus feedback on previous award programs, and it is similar to professional development programs at UC Davis and UC Irvine.

In response to other recommendations by the Compensation Advisory Committee, a working group is currently looking at job evaluation and compensation models. By the fall semester, another working group will take up performance management and career development initiatives.

All nonacademic career employees with satisfactory job performance, with the exception of those in the senior management group and per diem employees, will be eligible to apply for Career Development Opportunity Program funds. Employees may use up to 40 hours of paid time off each year for professional and career development, subject to management approval.

For represented employees, unions have been notified, as required, regarding this pilot program. Look for details on how to select development opportunities and apply for awards later this summer in campus publications, web sites of the Office of Human Resources and the Staff Infrastruc-ture Steering Committee, and campus e-mail networks. The pilot program will be evaluated next spring.

Comments and questions about the Career Development Opportunity Program may be sent to hrweb@uclink.berkeley.edu or to the Office of Human Resources, communications coordinator, 207 University Hall, MC 3540.

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