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Trammell Crow: Offers to 80%...Some Jobs Return to Penn

Trammell Crow has offered positions to 83 members of the Facilities Management and Residential Operations staff, Executive Vice President John Fry said Sunday. In addition, 39 positions were offered to University City Associates staff, bringing the total number of Trammell Crow job offers to 122, or 80% of the 152 people who interviewed. The actual percentage of jobs offered well exceeded the 70% target to which Trammell Crow was contractually obligated, Mr. Fry added. The offers were sent to staff members' homes as part of a schedule Mr. Fry had announced at the University Council last Wednesday, where checkpoints were:

-- December 5, all affected staff to be given notices of discontinuation of position.

-- December 6, those receiving job offers to be notified of the offers at their homes.

-- December 8, Human Resources to begin individual meetings with those not offered positions, to counsel them on pay continuation, available inplacement and outplacement services, and benefits under the Position Discontinuation policy adopted in 1995*.

-- By December 12, those who received offers to accept or decline the positions offered.

-- December 17 and 18, individual meetings to be facilitated by HR for any staff who elect not to accept the Trammell Crow offer; again, they will be counseled on pay continuation, inplacement/outplacement services, and Position Discontinuation benefits.

In a refinement of numbers announced in October--which had indicated a total of 175 to 180 would be affected--Mr. Fry said the total affected is now 160, of whom 126 came under facilities management and residential operations and the remainder under University City Associates, which is already administered by Trammell Crow. The change in total numbers of staff impacted was the result of removing about 20 functions in housing services from the Trammell Crow contract, he said, because they were deemed to be more student service functions (e.g., room assignment).

Of the 126 University positions impacted, 104 people were interviewed. The remaining 22 included some chose not to interview, but in other cases included posts for which a decision had been made to keep the function within the University. Such ongoing functions include:

  • A small organization of 12 to 15 people will carry out strategic facilities planning in certain areas, such as the campus master plan, and will oversee and administer the Trammell Crow contract. For this organization a senior officer to be named, along with a capital planning position, and contract management and financial administrative posts along with various support positions. Four present University members have so far been named to positions in this new unit. Titus Hewryk, former director of facilities planning, becomes University Architect, with James R. Mann providing graphic design and support. Juan Suarez, who has been associate director of utilities and engineering, becomes University Engineer, with responsibility for planning of the long-term utilities infrastructure, establish University-wide standards and interface with Trammell Crow on conformity with those standards; and Nanette McAdams, who has been office manager of facilities management, continues in her present role with the new organization.
  • Fire and Occupational Safety, which had been part of Physical Plant, will continue in its entirety as University sub-unit, though its reporting lines are still to be determined.

Revised Turnover Date is April 1: At Council, Mr. Fry said the transfer of Facilities Man-agement has been moved from March 1 to April 1 "for a smoother transfer of services and staff," and that a new structure for delivery of services is being developed. "Right now," he said, "services are delivered through functional departments--a maintenance department, a housekeeping department, a grounds department. We're rethinking that and organizing services basically around the clients--the schools, the centers and the residences--and we're designing physical geographies or zones in which to deploy people." Facilities managers will be assigned responsibility and accountability for groups of buildings, and will be increasingly housed in the field for closer client contact and teamwork, he said.

Mr. Fry also described a comprehensive set of monitoring operations for Trammell Crow performance, including the monitoring of staff turnover. He then presented information on other University operations that are now in progress--including food services, research administration support, purchasing, telecommunications, and staff skills development. A report on these initiatives is scheduled for publication.

State of the University: Also being prepared for publication is Council's December 3 highlight, the Provost's State of the University report, which drew prolongued applause as Dr. Chodorow sketched plans and progress in undergraduate living and learning. The President and leaders of Faculty Senate and staff and student constituencies praised Dr. Chodorow at his final Council meeting as he leaves the University December 31.


* Last published in Almanac 12/5/95, this document was revised effective October 17, 1997, and is on PennNet at http://www.hr.upenn.edu/penninfo-new/Position_Discontinuation_and _Staff_Transition_628.html.


Return to:Almanac, University of Pennsylvania, December 9, 1997, Volume 44, Number 15