Below are some common Questions and Answers regarding the Division of Residential and Hospitality Services’ Transition Teams and the planning process. If you don’t see the answer to your question here, submit a new question by filling out our Anonymous Form. Your question and answer will be added to this column.
To view past questions not listed on this page, please see our archives. Q: As long as we've been undergoing the transition, I've heard the department heads and Vennie state that we would remain position neutral and "use the bench we've got," meaning that we would fill open positions with our current staff. The one exception to this rule that has been communicated was for the new catering operation, where we were told that since it would generate new revenue, they could hire new staff. Given these parameters, please help me understand why it is acceptable for the Kellogg Center to hire a new State Room manager from outside the University. If the reasoning is that they need someone with a specialized skill-set that none of our current staff have, I'm not buying it. The very next staffing announcement that came out of the Hospitality Group touted the fact that the successful candidate previously managed a restaurant. I know for a fact that many of our other staff members have that experience as well. A: Thank you for your question regarding the hiring of staff. It is a question on many staff members' minds. As you recall, we announced that during the transition we would remain FTE (Full Time Equivalent) neutral, except for our new business, the new Spartan Signature Catering. During the January and April Town Hall Meetings, we announced to the Division which positions would be posted as new transitional positions. Subsequently in Transition Talk, we made the decision to include all new hire positions regardless whether it related to the transition or back-filling positions. We have hired positions in other units that were part of our new staffing pattern and not part of the transition. For example, in Brody Dining Services, Culinary Services added a complex chef that reflects our commitment to culinary excellence and our renovated restaurants. The previous State Room manager accepted a position with Spartan Signature Catering. The State Room manager position was not identified as part of the transition process. The vacancy was posted, but only one current member of our staff applied for the position. In previous communications, we failed to mention that each new department would end their transition on a different timeline. The Spartan Hospitality Group had completed their transition as of mid-April. Auxiliary Resources and Culinary Services will be completed by the end of this month. Campus Living Services is scheduled to complete their transition by Aug. 15, 2009. As we have new vacancies, we will continue to evaluate openings. Q: How does an employee volunteer to serve on an implementation team? A: Department heads will identify their implementation teams. Employees wishing to serve on an implementation team should make their interest known to their department head. Q: Regarding the "Housing Services Assistant" position, in the Guest Services area of Residential Services, exactly "how much housing will be done in that area"? Or will most of the housing be done in the central area? Will a variety of other services be provided? A: The RMS housing transactions will be handled at the central area. Systems for getting information between HAO and the units will be developed. We anticipate that once we begin using the central "Live On" phone number, many of the calls will go to that office. All that being said, the housing staff should see themselves as key players on Team MSU. Our goal is to serve the students. Being able to track the types of issues and realities in the units and in the HAO will allow us to refine our staffing models. Naturally, we will need to transition between the current and the future system. Getting students to the right area of support will likely be a big change as we are used to handling a variety of student housing related issues and problems. Q: As a Payroll Clerk I am feeling slighted because I can't pick an area now. What if once the centralized payroll is sorted out, and I see what the job duties will be, I would rather be in one of the positions being offered right now? A: Thank you for your question. We did consider this possibility when we discussed our strategy of balancing the needs of the staff who are most impacted with the needs of the organization. There are many other CT positions that do not have the opportunity for placement in other positions, at least at this time. With a total of over 50 CT positions, there are a variety of options. Again, we do have more positions than we have people right now. Other CT positions may open up due to changes throughout the Division. As always, we encourage you to consider those opportunities as they arise. Q: Can the May 11 Town Hall Meeting with 1585 staff be rescheduled to later in the week? That day is the first Monday of summer and is a very busy day in the residence hall buildings, as our staffs get their new summer crews going that day. It is a day with a lot of starts and stops and the meeting would add yet another to an already very busy day. A: Thank you for bringing this to our attention. After reviewing several more dates, an alternative date has been selected. The new date for the Town Hall Meeting with 1585 staff will be Tuesday, May 19 at 10:30 a.m. in the MSU Ballroom. Please mark the change in your calendar. Q: I was under the assumption that a job posting and interviewing would take place for all new positions within the Division due to the realignment. Why were the Business Manager and Human Resources Manager positions not posted for Hospitality Services? Why were people from Kellogg Center just moved into those jobs? A: It is true that all new positions will be posted, "new" being defined as a position that to date has not existed in this Division (i.e. Director of Hospitality Sales). However, if there are individuals who already hold existing positions (i.e. Business Manager, Human Resources), as is the case with these two positions in the Hospitality group, defined criteria will drive whether or not a position must be posted. For an easy step-by-step guide to the process being used for determining which positions are posted, check out the process map. Q: We are hearing that the Division is switching from Groupwise to Outlook, and getting rid of Novell to go to an all Microsoft network. The Division is supposed to be cutting costs now, too. Why are we making a change for perceived preferences? This will costs us hundreds of thousands of dollars for little to no gain in performance or enhancement to the network systems and user operations. Additional staff will be needed, roughly twice as many servers will be needed in order to switch to and maintain the same level of service, extensive training of staff will be required, consultants will need to be hired to create the new active directory, and all this done without a formal project plan or budget prior to starting the project. Shouldn't this project wait until the Division has a better balance sheet, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars by using the software that is currently owned by the Division, rather than spending it on new infrastructure that does not give us any return on investment? Shouldn't a cost-benefit study be authorized to be done by an unbiased group, instead of basing a change on the preferences of two people and survey results? A: Any change the size and scope you are describing will come after serious consideration and weighing of all costs and benefits. While some of your assertions are detailed but unsubstantiated, all of these factors are being weighed. The decision to make the change will come from a focus on providing the best service to our customers and for providing the best value. It will not be ideological. Q: Why was the April 23 Town Hall cancelled? Morale is so low, I would think an opportunity to have Q&A in person would be warranted. Written answers are too canned. A: Thank you for question about the town hall meeting. The H&FS all-staff town hall meeting was replaced with separate departmental town hall meetings. As we have progressed in the realignment, it has become clear that staff want specific answers to issues and concerns that relate directly to them. The departmental town hall meeting best meets that need allowing more time for questions regarding any one department. We will still have a town hall meeting with members of the CTU Union in April and 1585 Union in May. Yes, we have to acknowledge that morale may be low for some. We knew early on that this transition wouldn't be easy. On top of that, negative things happening locally and nationally are adding to anxieties for all of us. To be fair, though, there are many with high morale who have expressed a great deal of excitement about the transition and the direction in which we are headed. It would be unrealistic to expect everyone to be of the same perception. We urge you, however, to remain resilient and positive. Q: With 1585 postings, why do hiring departments have two people to choose from when they are both full-time employees, yet when we have temporary employees who are on the list, there is only one candidate to choose from? A: The agreement reached with AFSCME Local 1585 regarding the filling of vacancies did not impact full-time temporary employees. Hiring departments have always received the name of only one temporary employee on their list of applicants when a full-time regular staff member did not apply, refused a job offer, or withdrew from the interview process. Q: Why do we state in the March 16th Transition Talk that all applicants for jobs related to the H&FS realignment must have experience within the Division? The Catering Operations Manager position that was posted was filled by someone from the Grand Hotel. A: In general, the desire for H&FS experience is true for positions affected by the transition. This allows us to best fill the posted positions with H&FS staff. However, you may recall that the catering operation is "new business" for the Division and while it is happening concurrently, is not part of the reorganization. We are moving from a vendor contract operation to self-operation. We are staffing to support a new business that will provide new revenues, thus the search was opened up to off campus candidates with appropriate experience in the industry. Q: I just heard about the Strategic Initiative Office getting a clerical support staff person at the 7 level. Why was this position not posted for all to be able to apply? It seemed to be hush-hush and hand selected. It appears that once again the clerical positions are being filled and then announced - seems to be backwards; especially after all the talk at town hall meetings of this being a great time to find a job that you are passionate about. For some of us it could have been an opportunity for a promotion. A: Careful consideration was given to the process of hiring the Strategic Initiatives Secretary candidate in accordance with the CTU collective bargaining agreement. CTU Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) on page 37, article 17, paragraph II A 2 states: "A bargaining unit member having sufficient years of service as specified below and who is agreeable to pre-selection for a position at a higher grade level may be eligible for certification to such a position upon proper application by the employing department." The CT candidate agreed to the pre-selection and to the promotion. The former position held by the candidate has been posted which represents an opportunity for another CT candidate to also venture into new territory if they so desire. Q: Now that our new departments are conducting their own individual town hall meetings, is it permissable for staff to attend meetings in departments other than their own? Encouraged? Discouraged? Thank you. A: All staff are welcome to attend any town hall meetings for the new departments and will be provided release time to do so. Staff should be mindful of maintaining service standards and attend only one session by any department. Q: If Gov. Jennifer Granholm's proposed cuts to next year's higher education funding are approved, Michigan State University would have to raise tuition by 8.9 percent or layoff 703 employees or find some solution in between, University officials said. What officials? We were told no layoffs, so who is speaking the truth? A: This question would imply that someone is NOT speaking the truth, which is simply not the case. It is true the University faces great financial challenges, and we have seen articles and discussion about budget cuts vs. tuition increases or a combination of the two. We have also heard about the tremendous liability facing the University in regard to employee/retiree healthcare benefit costs.
However, Michigan State receives money from multiple funding sources: general funds appropriated from the State; tuition from students; research grants from private corporations, state, and federal agencies; and private donation. The Division of Housing & Food Services is a self-sustaining auxiliary of the University. We receive no general fund money except for a very modest amount that supports the University Activities Board. Our revenues allow us to operate and are generated from the room and board paid by our residents, purchases made at our retail outlets (concessions, Sparty's, etc) and room, food and beverage sales at Kellogg Center or Brook Lodge.
As we have stated repeatedly, there will be no layoffs as a direct result of realigning the Division. However, we will need to continue to provide a value to our residents and customers so that they continue to choose to live with us and purchase our services. We have our destiny in our hands. It is important that we continue to work extra hard to provide the services our customers want; that we keep our residence halls full and we take the necessary steps to be good financial stewards and watch our expenses.
Q: What exactly is the purpose of the transition teams facilitators? And what will their responsibilities be when all these changes are put into effect? A: You may recall when Vennie communicated a Harvard Business Review statistic stating that 70% of strategic plans fail to be implemented. The purpose of the facilitators on each of the transitions teams is to assist the Department Heads and to keep the transition process moving forward and on time, and to make sure we are in the other 30%. Being named Strategic Initiative Managers back in November 2008, the facilitators, Jane Emery and Ken Horvath, lead this new function within H&FS. After the current transition, both will continue to assist the Division meet our strategic goals. Q: Are these organizational charts presented to us able to be changed or is everything set? I feel strongly that one of the positions is in the wrong area, or is unnecessary. How do I voice my opinion if I'm not on any of the Transition Teams? A: Thank you for your question which is a good one. You may submit your concern with your rationale using this Web site and we will forward it to the appropriate department head. Your suggestion will be given due consideration and review. Ultimately, the department head in question has the final say on the table of organization. Q: I would like to express my disappointment in the communication meetings that occurred the week of January 19th. I completely understand that our Division is not perfect at communication (what large organization is). That point was made over and over again. I was hoping that we would get some help with our communication, but all the session turned out to be was another lecture about how we do not communicate and that we need to get better. A PowerPoint presentation sprinkled with the word "DUH" is insulting to me and the rest of our staff. We are more intelligent than that. A: Thanks for your comment. Many people from last week commented that they appreciated the light-hearted approach to a subject that while seemingly easy in concept is much harder to execute. If you felt insulted, we apologize. It was not our intent. Q: I was reading the answered questions area on the Web site. I'd like to discuss the following statement "How will front line staff be affected?" Your Answer: "Front line staff, on average, should see the fewest impacts in regard to their daily work life. Some may be assigned into a different Divisional department than where they currently report." Many "front line" people were shuffled into office areas which weren't equipped so as to efficiently perform their jobs. They went from a large, busy office area to a busier, "high touch" office area with fewer or no co-workers. Their job duties changed and who they reported to changed (in many instances). The "front line" staff are just as affected than anyone else. This transition is affecting everyone from executive management, middle management, supervisors, clerical, facilities, cooks and food service workers to student employees. When I first read this I thought, "Do they not remember what happened in several of the residence halls? Do they not remember how people were moved around (sometimes 2 or 3 times) into new offices areas, with duties changed more than once, looking for the right combination to get the team working smoothly?" This transition affects every aspect of our business and every staff member within our division greatly. I don't mean this as a negative comment, I only want someone to please correct this statement which is on the Web site. Thank you. A: We understand that this transition comes on the heels of recent past moves and changes in assignments that are still impacting people. That being said, this forum is designed to answer questions relating to the current transition. In that regard, as Department Heads and the transition teams go about their work, the current deadline for identifying work processes and staffing patterns is March 30th. At that point, we'll have a much better idea of the staffing impacts. Q: When was a catering committee created and who is on the team? What have they been assigned to accomplish? A: Members of the Hospitality Services Transition Team are also working on the catering sub-group, which is comprised of Mark Simmons, Stacey Robinson, Chef Mike Clyne, Chef Jonathon Hughes, Barb Spearman, Jim Buckley and Joel Heberlein. Mark Simmons took the lead in creating a catering sub-group before the New Year, as the decision was made to build a self-operated catering organization. This catering sub-group is currently working on menus and the procurement of supplies / food / china / glass / silverware, with the help of Marta Mittermaier of Food Stores. Mike Clyne is leading the group to create opening menus until we have staff in place. Jim Buckley is leading our marketing efforts, developing a branding concept, name, etc. The Hospitality Transition Team is also working on determining the catering department structure, the contract and the standard operating procedures. With the catering vendor contract end date fast-approaching, we have decided that this collaborative approach is the best way to maximize our success. Q: Why this alignment? Why now? A: These changes are the result of the Strategic Planning process we’ve been engaged in for over a year. All changes being made address the major strategic planning themes of The First Year Experience, Integrated Dining, as well as Virtual or “Centralized” Hospitality Sales which has been a topic of discussion for many years. These changes not only support the Strategic Plan but also the University mission and expectations. Q: Which current H&FS Departments will be affected by alignment changes? A: All departments will be affected with system and process changes, however, most impacted by changes in reporting structure will be University Housing, Auxiliary Services, Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center, and Construction, Maintenance and Interior Design. Q: Will I be affected? A: Possibly, dependent upon which position within the Division you hold. The highest level professional positions will be most affected. Some staff will report to different managers with realignment, as well as reporting to a different Department Head. Q: How will front line staff be affected? A: Front line staff, on average, should see the fewest impacts in regard to their daily work life. Some may be assigned into a different Divisional department than where they currently report. Q: Are these changes a ploy to downsize or privatize? A: No. These changes, some of which have been discussed at least as possibilities for years, are an effort to best position this Division for long-term success in meeting customer expectations, as well as aligning with the University mission. We’ve been re-organizing H&FS functionally for almost 5 years. Why isn’t that sufficient? Functional alignment was not yet completed. The outcomes of the strategic planning process will guide us in building on current successes, aligning our people, facilities and resources with those of the University for long-term success. Q: Do I have a choice in the matter? A: Departmental or individual reporting changes will be made with the best interest of the Division in mind and are not optional. Some roles will change and other opportunities could be created. You should talk with your supervisor, manager or Department Head if you have specific questions about impacts and/or options. | 
