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   from the issue of January 25, 2007

     
 
Regents propose 280-hour vacation time cap

 BY KELLY BARTLING, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

A revision of university policy and bylaws on vacation and sick leave was presented at the Jan. 19 meeting of the NU Board of Regents. The revision - which proposes a 280-hour cap on vacation time accumulated by individual employees - will be on the agenda again for the March 9 regents meeting.

The proposed revision is in response to a Nebraska Supreme Court decision made Oct. 20, 2006 in Roseland v. Strategic Staff Management. According to the regents' agenda, the ruling makes it no longer possible to limit the number of accrued vacation hours an employee of the university can carry over from one calendar year to the next.

Current university policy limits the number of vacation hours that one can carry over as of Jan. 1 annually to 192, even if the employee has earned and accumulated more than that total.

Under the policy and bylaw revision, 280 vacation hours will be the maximum that an employee can earn and carry over.

"Once an employee has accumulated 280 hours of unused vacation, he or she shall not earn or receive additional vacation until his or her accumulated and unused vacation is less than 280 hours," the draft revision states.

The board agenda and policy revision are available online at www.nebraska.edu/board/board_agendas.shtml.

In other action Jan. 19 the board approved naming the planned plaza at the west entrance of Andersen Hall "Richard and Margaret Holman Plaza."

Richard Holman is a 1969 journalism graduate from McCook, who later worked as a columnist and editor for the Wall Street Journal and now is a vice president in equity research at HSBC Holdings of London. Margaret Holman is a 1973 journalism graduate and president of Holman Consulting, a New York City-based fund-raising firm. The Holmans have established an endowed scholarship fund. Plans for the plaza, to incorporate an outdoor gathering area, are under development.

The regents also approved two name changes for UNL programs on Jan. 19.

The environmental soil science major in the School of Natural Resources has changed to environmental restoration science. The change more accurately reflects the major's emphasis on rehabilitating the environment rather than the previous focus on soil.

Also, the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences is now the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies.

"The old name no longer fits the programs within the department," said Julie Johnson, chair of Child, Youth and Family Studies. "We believe the new name better describes the department. And students who are interested in the areas represented in the department will be able to find us more easily."

Johnson said the department would immediately transition to the new name.


GO TO: ISSUE OF JANUARY 25

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Regents propose 280-hour vacation time cap

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