Author: Administrator

Petrino Rehiring Furthers ‘Employer of Choice’ Goal

The Executive Board of UA-Fayetteville Education Association/Local 965 welcomes the return of Coach Bobby Petrino because it demonstrates the possibility of a fresh flexibility in campus and UA System administrators.

Petrino was head football coach from 2008 until his April 2012 firing for cause, with offenses including deception of superiors and improper hiring practices. At the end of November 2023, he accepted a lower position, that of Razorback offensive coordinator, in a 27-month contract paying $3.45 million in salary and “other compensation.”

Under the UA System policy 405.6, “Termination of Employment and Eligibility for Rehire,” any eligibility for rehire comes from the statement, “Any exception to this policy will require the approval of the President.”

UA System President Donald R. Bobbitt approved the return of Petrino to the Fayetteville campus on Nov. 28. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Nov. 30 in “Coach’s Hire Took Bobbitt’s Approval” (and alternate link): “Writing on behalf of football Coach Sam Pittman and Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek, UA Chancellor Charles Robinson requested the exception to be made in an email to Bobbitt [Nov. 27].”

Petrino’s return would seem unfair because it’s a different standard than what staff and faculty face, Local 965 President Hershel Hartford said.

“Any former employee fired for cause who falls under the ban would not receive the chance to address the UA System president because the Workday employee management database would automatically kick out their application with no notice as to why it was not accepted, before ever having a chance to get through the system red tape. As many of these employees did not commit prosecutable offenses, this is a discriminatory employment practice,” Hartford said.

Local 965, the labor union of UA staff and faculty, see this as an opportunity for better and more fair treatment of all employees, and not just in matters of workplace discipline, as the leadership of the Fayetteville campus and UA System continue to work toward elimination of any sort of discrimination, not to mention of favoritism toward the athletic agenda.

Petrino is eligible for union membership.

President’s Message

By Hershel R. Hartford

Over the past year we have heard the phrase “Employer of Choice” on campus. It refers to one of the pillars of Chancellor Charles F. Robinson’s vision for the University of Arkansas. He has mentioned it in almost every speech he has given and every visit he has made with various groups on campus. Yet we still have people asking, what is an employer of choice?

I have heard what the chancellor has said and agree with many of his ideas. I am hoping, waiting and watching to see if this effort will bring about a change that may hearken back to another day and time, some 22 years ago, when quality prospective job candidates seeking employment were told, “Go to the University of Arkansas. It is the place to work!” That is a phrase not heard in a very long time. Perhaps we need this help-wanted ad for an Employer of Choice:

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Wanted: An EMPLOYER OF CHOICE, which provides a workplace that respects every employee regardless of their occupation and treats them with the dignity and respect they deserve.

Required conditions include:

Fair, equitable and livable wages for all employees that provide:

• All workers with the ability to have quality housing in the community where they work
• Wages that will not require them to make use of food banks to make it through the month
• Engagement by Upper Administration with supervisors to end a culture that denies or attempts to quell any raising of ideas or concerns that are contrary to “the way things have always been,” or demands work from international graduate students holding visa status over their heads
• A restructuring of compensation for instructors, adjuncts and graduate assistants that reflects the workload they shoulder
• Healthcare benefits that meet the needs of employees (including graduate assistants) without breaking their budgets with unreasonable policy exclusions or sky-high premiums
• A commitment to support — by example and by codification in personnel document and university policy — a work/life balance that requires supervisors and departments to respect and guard employees’ time away from work, be that hours before and after a workday, vacation, sick time or university holidays
• A true sense of Community that comes from a culture that promotes Respect, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• The opportunity to retain representation that can be present in all grievance/ disciplinary processes
• Safe working conditions, always including compliance with OSHA safety standards
• Continued upgrades to facilities to be more accessible to all persons with ADA accommodation needs
• Parking, which does not draw wages back to the University that the worker has earned
• The clear communication that while we live in a right to fire state, employee organizing is not prohibited nor is it a reason for firing

Preferred conditions include:

• Transparent communication at all levels of administration
• Increased hiring of support staff to match the growth rate the institution has achieved over the past number of years on a trajectory similar to the increases in upper administration areas. Growth would include office workers, custodial, labor shop and maintenance workers
• Greater compensatory recognition for employees instead of speeches wishing you could do more, and telling staff how we could not do this without you
• A return of reduced rates for opportunities to engage in the university cultural, sporting and other events.

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This President’s Message first appeared in the November 2023 newsletter of UA-Fayetteville Education Association / Local 965. Hershel Hartford, a UA administrative support supervisor, is president of Local 965.