Employer of Choice Town Hall; Leaders to Discuss Key Projects, Address Employee Questions

Artwork by Eric Pipkin

The U of A will host its third campus-wide 150 Forward town hall from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Friday, March 17, at the E.J. Ball Courtroom in the School of Law. The event will also be streamed on YouTube.

A panel of campus leaders will discuss how the university is enhancing its status as an employer of choice. Updates will be provided on a wide range of employee-focused topics and initiatives, including the classification and compensation project, the development of an employee value proposition, flexible work schedules and process enhancements that save time and money.

Additional topics and questions submitted to feedback@uark.edu will also be addressed during the meeting. Leaders will answer questions asked during the event as time allows.

Classification and Compensation for Staff Roles

The university announced the classification and compensation project for staff roles in 2022, introducing it as a foundational project to becoming an employer of choice. Since then, the U of A has partnered with Huron Consulting Group and sought feedback from stakeholders across campus to revamp the university's job classification architecture for staff roles and evaluate the university's compensation structure.

The project team recently began working with a variety of subject-matter experts across campus to establish job families for staff roles that more consistently represent responsibilities and ultimately create clearer paths to development and career advancement. The team is also refining the U of A's compensation philosophy to better attract, inspire and retain talent.

Employee Value Proposition

As part of the overall strategic planning process, the U of A and EAB, a higher education research group, are in the process of defining an employee value proposition (EVP). This work will describe the characteristics and environment the university wants to foster among both current and potential employees.

Flexible Work Schedules

Throughout the hybrid and compressed schedule pilot over the past year, the flexible work task force has captured valuable feedback from members of the campus community to inform permanent recommendations. More details will be shared at the town hall and leading up to the next academic year.

Making Your Day Work

The U of A User Solutions team is actively enhancing the user experience for enterprise systems like Workday through process improvements, system optimization and increased training. The team has started to host on-campus roadshow events to receive user experience feedback, share wins and generally help people save time that they can re-invest in student success and research excellence.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.