myHR Archives
myHR: April 16, 2014
Congratulations to the 2014 Model Supervisor Award Winner
When the Faculty Support Staff at Penn Law School saw the Models of Excellence nomination brochure, they quickly joined forces to nominate their supervisor, Silvana Burgese. Their group effort produced great results. Thanks to her great leadership and the powerful team spirit she’s developed as manager, Silvana was selected as the 2014 Model Supervisor.
Silvana supervises a staff that’s responsible for supporting over 50 full time faculty members and 84 adjuncts and lecturers in Penn Law’s highly challenging environment. Her staff of 10 full-time professionals and three work-study students handle basic administrative needs such as printing and uploading course materials, as well as complex projects such as research, manuscript preparation and event planning. Thanks to Silvana’s problem-solving skills, exacting standards, and over 20 years of Penn Law experience, her team meets this wide range of demands—including last minute requests—with ease. “Silvana thinks quickly on her feet,” says Jen Evans, Assistant Supervisor of Faculty Support Staff. “She has a way of organizing all the chaos.”
While each member of the Faculty Support Staff has a specialty, they work as a united team under Silvana’s leadership to provide more efficient service. Jen credits Silvana for the team’s smooth cooperation. “It’s her leadership philosophy that you’re going to help everyone and everyone is going to help you,” says Jen.
Silvana’s ability to connect with her staff on a personal level is another key to success. Whether it’s fostering professional development or being flexible when a team member faces personal difficulties, Silvana’s thoughtfulness and approachable style has created a strong sense of loyalty. “She trusts us,” says Kate Beers, Administrative Coordinator for Legal Practice Skill. “She has our back.”
Every day, Silvana manages multiple time-sensitive projects with a good humor that keeps her team pulling together. Michelle Martin, Administrative Coordinator for the Appointments Committee & Tenure and Promotion & Faculty Recruitment, says, “Somehow she rallies everyone and makes us work miracles.”
To learn more about Penn’s Model Supervisor Award and how you can nominate a supervisor, click here.
Benefits Open Enrollment is Here!
Now’s your chance to make changes to your healthcare elections. The 2014–2015 Benefits Open Enrollment period has begun.
From now through April 25, make changes to your benefits coverage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can:
- change your medical, dental, or vision coverage plan;
- increase or decrease your life insurance coverage;
- change how much you contribute to your Flexible Spending Account (FSA), or
- add and drop dependents from your benefits coverage.
How to Enroll
Visit the online enrollment system at www.pennbenefits.upenn.edu and use your PennKey and password to log on. If you don’t have online access, contact the Penn Benefits Center at 1-888-PENNBEN (1-888-736-6236), Monday through Friday, between 8am and 6pm EST and complete your enrollment over the phone. Or you can visit a number of convenient campus locations to manage your healthcare benefits online.
You can also use Penn’s online enrollment system to review your life insurance beneficiary information. Although you can change your beneficiaries whenever you like (not just during Open Enrollment), now is a great time to review all your benefits information to be sure it’s up to date and accurate.
Attend a Fair
Learn more about your healthcare benefits at this year’s Open Enrollment fairs. Penn’s healthcare providers will be onsite to share information about medical plans, prescription drug coverage, dental plans, vision coverage, flexible spending accounts, and the Penn Benefits Center. You can also get important health information at the Open Enrollment and Health Fair at Houston Hall on April 23.
| Date | Time | Location |
| Wednesday, April 23 | 10am-2pm | Houston Hall, Hall of Flags |
| Thursday, April 24 | 10am-2pm | New Bolton Center, Alumni Hall |
For complete details on this year’s Open Enrollment period, visit the Open Enrollment website.
2014 Performance and Staff Development Program
Open and effective communication is essential when it comes to enhancing performance and achieving goals. The Performance and Staff Development Program (the annual performance appraisal program) provides staff and supervisors with a formal process to open the lines of communication and promote a productive work environment.
The performance appraisal process provides benefits for both the staff member and the supervisor, such as:
- Providing documented feedback on job expectations, performance, and accomplishments from the past year
- Offering positive reinforcement as well as developmental feedback
- Allowing staff members to participate in goal-setting
- Setting performance expectations and goals for the upcoming year
- Encouraging open communication between staff and supervisors
- Promoting discussion of professional development opportunities
- Ensuring that job performance and accomplishment information is recorded in each staff member’s official personnel file
Performance appraisals for all eligible regular staff should be completed and entered into the Online Performance Appraisal System or Performance Appraisal Database (PAD) by June 2.
Most schools and centers use the Online Performance Appraisal System to complete their appraisals and self-appraisals. For a listing of these online system users, visit the Performance and Staff Development Program website. Here you’ll also find a variety of materials to guide you in completing quality appraisals and providing effective performance and professional development feedback.
For more information on the Performance and Staff Development Program, contact your school or center Human Resources professional or the Division of Human Resources at 215-898-6093.
Easy Ways to Start Saving for Retirement
If you’re like most people, you want to save more for retirement, but many obstacles seem to stand in the way. Maybe you don’t know much about financial planning. Maybe you’ve heard about the potential benefits of investing and power of compounding, but you’re focused on weekly and monthly expenses like transportation, student loans, and rent. With these things on your mind, retirement can seem like a distant or impossible dream, but it doesn’t have to be. Retirement may be off in the future, but you want to make retirement savings part of your life now. You can do it automatically with every paycheck. Penn makes it easy to get started.
Give Yourself a “Raise” Today
If you are eligible for Penn’s matching retirement contributions, Penn will match every dollar that you save through your Tax-Deferred Retirement Plan (TDR)—up to 5% of your salary or wages. That’s just like getting a major raise, only better because the extra money goes toward securing your future.
Saving 5% is great, but you can start by saving as little as 1% (that’s less than $6 a week if you make $30,000 a year). If 1% feels comfortable, upgrade to 2%, then work your way up until you get the maximum match!
To give yourself a raise today, visit the Tax-Deferred Retirement Plan web page. You can enroll and make changes to your enrollment choices online at any time, 24 hour hours a day, 7 days a week. You can also enroll by calling the Retirement Call Center at 1-877-PENN-RET (1-877-736-6738), Monday–Friday, 8am to 5pm.
Save for Retirement at the Open Enrollment and Health Fair
If you’re eligible for Penn’s TDR plan but not contributing, just stop by the “Saving for Retirement” table at the Open Enrollment and Health Fair on Wednesday, April 23. All you have to do is answer a few simple questions on the retirement enrollment form and sign on the dotted line. You’ll get started on the road to a secure future.
Get Comfortable with Retirement
If you need more information before you take the TDR plunge, you can get free retirement counseling from Penn’s investment carriers, TIAA-CREF and Vanguard. Their courteous and professional advisors can help you chose a retirement strategy that’s right for you. Contact:
TIAA-CREF: www.tiaa-cref.org/letstalk1, 1-800-732-8353
The Vanguard Group: www.meetvanguard.com, 1-800-662-0106 (x14500)
You can also call the Retirement Call Center: 1-877-PENN-RET (1-877-736-6738).
Remember, it’s never too early or too late to start saving for retirement. The important thing is that you act now.