Members of Employee Advisory Councils from 15 UT System institutions, including UTMB, met at UT Dallas June 11-12 to discuss issues of importance to employees across the UT System.

UT System Associate Vice Chancellor Dan Stewart provided an overview of issues tackled during the 84th Texas Legislative session that could impact UT System employees, including:

  • Concealed gun carry legislation – In general, the legislation would allow concealed guns to be carried on campus, although university presidents will have some discretion on areas where guns will be prohibited. At UTMB, President David Callender stated: "The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, working with the UT System administration, has begun a careful review of the legislation. When the legislation is signed by the governor, UTMB will work with the leadership of the UT System and other UT institutions, and will seek input from our faculty, students, staff and patients, before proposing policies and procedures that comply with the intent of the law. The law is not scheduled to become effective before August 2016."
  • Positive higher education funding: (1) $3.1 billion increase in construction projects (for all public university systems within the state); and $40 million of that is earmarked for research-related projects and (2) $138 million seed money in matching grants for research – this will bring more research into our Texas higher education community.
  • No changes were made to the Hazlewood Act, a state benefit that provides qualified veterans, spouses, and dependent children with education benefits at public institutions of higher education in Texas.
  • No substantial changes were made to the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) retirement plan which serves many of our employees/retirees. UT System employees covered by TRS are fortunate to have this coverage extended into retirement for those who meet vesting requirements.
  • Any increase in insurance premium costs to UTS employees is expected to stay under 10 percent; probably closer to 7.5 percent. UT System Chancellor William H. McRaven will make that decision.
  • Under the federal Affordable Care Act, employees working more than 30 hours a week are eligible for full-time benefits. UT System officials are in the process of identifying employees at UT System institutions who fall into that category. State lawmakers did NOT appropriate any additional money to cover those benefits, so those dollars will come out of existing budgets.

UTMB representatives Julie Cantini and Mary Ann Hellinghausen also worked at the UTS EAC committee level on ways to enhance communication efforts between local EAC groups and The UT System (Cantini is co-chair of One System One Voice Committee); and on opportunities to promote career development for employees across the UT System (Hellinghausen is a member of the Career Development Committee).

Two other committees also addressed bullying in the workplace issues, and expanding a culture of wellness/exercise throughout The UT System. Final recommendations from each committee will be made to the Board of Regents at their November 2015 meeting.

The UT System is one of the largest public university systems in the United States, with nine academic universities, six health institutions and an enrollment of more than 214,000. The UT System confers more than one-third of the state’s undergraduate degrees, educates two-thirds of the state’s health care professionals annually and accounts for almost 70 percent of all research funds awarded to public universities in Texas. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $15.6 billion (FY 2015) including $3 billion in sponsored programs funded by federal, state, local and private sources. With about 90,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.

For more information about The UT System Employee Advisory Council, visit
www.utsystem.edu/sites/employee-advisory-council.