Academic Staff Committee statement on adjusting goals for staff on annual reviews

The Academic Staff Committee appreciates all of the UW-Green Bay employees and what each has done during this COVID-19 pandemic. The ASC has made a statement on adjusting goals for Academic Staff on our annual reviews. We have received support and endorsement from Interim Chancellor Van Gruensven, Provost Alexander and Human Resources. 

Statement on adjusting gold during COVOD-19 pandemic

COVID-19 has put many staff members in a bind in relation to their goals for annual review. On the one hand, the pandemic has ramped up the workload. Many staff members have taken on additional responsibilities to assist with the University’s shift to remote working and distance learning. On the other hand, the pandemic has made many performance goals difficult, if not impossible, to meet. Staff members are often in the position where they are working hard, but not toward the goals they – and their supervisors – set for this year. As a result, annual reviews must account for the unprecedented disruption caused by COVID-19.

Additionally, while staff may take FMLA during the pandemic, work and life circumstances for staff may have altered dramatically. For example, many budgets have frozen, which leaves staff without the financial resources they counted on for their work. Others do not have access to the human resources (ie. student workers) and physical resources (ie. equipment) they require. Moreover, the added labor of caretaking for family members, adjusting to an alternative work schedule, setting up a home office, and the overall stress of working and living during a global pandemic undermines the ability of staff to complete their goals.

Recommendations

For all these reasons, we would like to advise that supervisors and campus units take the following steps when considering work performance and goals for annual reviews.

1) All goals not completed before March 13, 2020 should transfer to next year’s (2020-21) review cycle, unless the supervisor and employee agree that the situation surrounding the pandemic has obviated the goal.

2) Supervisors should encourage employees to write about the new tasks they undertook, outline any temporary increases in workload/responsibilities, and summarize how priorities shifted in light of the COVID-19 pandemic on their self-evaluations.

3) Supervisors should consider new tasks that employees undertook, temporary increases in workload/responsibilities, and how priorities shifted quickly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in their assessments of the employee’s performance.

4) Supervisors and employees should not merely add new goals onto the carryover goals from 2019-2020 so that employees have twice the goals. Rather, employees and supervisors should work together so that employees have roughly the same amount of goals for 2020-21 as they did for 2019-2020.

This recommendation and proposed action is endorsed:

Sheryl Van Gruensven, Interim Chancellor

Michael Alexander, Chancellor Elect

Lynn Niemi
2019-20 Academic Staff Committee Chair, Director of Disability Services