ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
SENATE ASSEMBLY
Consulting firm or not, faculty want a say in AST NICHOLAS WILLIAMS/Daily
Business junior Sumana Palle speaks during the Student Union of Michigan’s protest against the Administrative Services Transformation project at the Fleming Building Monday.
Protest voices staff qualms Students march with staff across campus against shared services By JENNIFER CALFAS Daily Staff Reporter
Through bitter winds and the frigid snowfall, echoes of “chop from the top” and “no AST cuts” resonated across the Diag. Marching from Rackham Auditorium to the Fleming Administration Building, almost 50 students, faculty and staff gathered Monday to deliver a letter to Rowan Miranda, associate vice president for finance. Miranda is one of the administrators involved in the implementation of the proposed Shared Services Center — but has come under fire because of his previous rela-
tionship with the consulting firm that designed the initiative. The center, a component of the Administrative Services Transformation project, would consolidate some University departmental staff members into a central location on State Street near the University’s Wolverine Tower, creating an estimated savings of $5 to $6 million per year. The transition would move almost 300 clerical employees to the new location and would require that they re-interview for their new positions. While University administrators announced that they will delay the transition due to a slew of faculty concerns and a 1200-signiture strong petition, the group assembled Monday to demand a full rollback of the AST initiative. Rackham student Brian Whitener, a member of the Student Union of
Michigan, said the letter delivered to Miranda includes a job application for him to fill out to be evaluated by the group of protesters. The gesture comes after staff members affected by the Shared Services Center were required to re-interview for their jobs with the University. Along with the Student Union of Michigan, members of the Graduate Employee’s Organization and Lecturers’ Employee Organization also participated in the march. Whitener said the mixed group of student and faculty participants reflect the importance of halting the AST initiative by demonstrating how it negatively affects the majority of the campus population. “We think that the University should be run in a different way and it should be run with the priorities of students, See PROTEST, Page 5
Senate Assembly discusses concerns over faculty involvement in staffing decisions By STEPHANIE SHENOUDA Daily Staff Reporter
The last meeting for the Senate Assembly’s calendar year brought about 60 faculty members to Palmer Commons Monday afternoon. Ultimately, the group decided to endorse two resolutions related to the Administrative Services Transformation initiative that the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs drafted at their meeting last week. To start off the meeting, SACUA chair Karen Staller provided a timeline for the University’s actions leading up to the AST, beginning with the use of Hackett consulting company in 2009. Hackett conducted a survey and analyzed data before suggesting the AST and IT Rationalization as potential cost management strategies by consolidating staff positions found to be redundant. Discussing AST, Staller acknowledged that the University is experiencing “tough times of belt tightening”
PA N C A K E PA R T Y
EMPLOYEE UPROAR
RESEARCH
Study: Even normal noise exposure can be dangerous
LSA faculty, staff hope to suspend project until 2016 Faculty debate AST at special meeting called by interim dean By ALICIA ADAMCZYK Daily News Editor
In a special forum called by interim LSA Dean Susan Gelman at last week’s regularly scheduled faculty meeting. About 250 LSA professors and faculty members met in Rackham Auditorium Monday evening to debate the controversial Administration Services Transformation project — which would consolidate some University staff in a central location and save the University an estimated $5 to $6 million per year. The group of faculty passed a motion that calls for AST to be delayed for two years. Its implementation would then be reevaluated pending “a more thorough” examination of alternatives, determination of costs and benefits, and consultation with the affected schools, colleges, faculty and staff members. American Culture Prof. Gregory Dowd, the chair of the American Culture Department, brought forth the motion. He hopes it will open further discussion on the consultation between faculty and top administrators, negating any consequences of a rushed implementation. Additionally, faculty members hope to increase the transparency of the decision-making process between administrators and the rest of the campus community, a common complaint of the administra-
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 22 LO: 8
tion’s handling of the project thus far. A copy of the resolution will be sent to University President Mary Sue Coleman; University Provost Martha Pollack; E. Royster Harper, vice president for student life; and Timothy Slottow, executive vice president and chief financial officer. AST was developed through an $11.7 million contract with Accenture, a major consulting firm, signed earlier this year. Since the University announced the plan, it has garnered criticism from diverse campus constituencies. Almost 1,200 faculty members have signed a petition against the transition, and multiple departments have sent letters directly to top administrators. Earlier Monday, about 50 students, faculty and staff delivered a letter to Rowan Miranda, associate vice president of finance and one of the leaders in implementing the proposed Shared Services Center initiative, demanding that Miranda should resign and reapply for his position. Miranda previously worked for Accenture’s higher education practice — which some have viewed as a conflict of interest with his current position. University administrators announced last week that they will delay the transition to the Shared Services Center until after April and continue to reevaluate the extent of the initiative in the wake of faculty outcry. Astronomy Prof. Sally Oey, a member of the Senate Assembly Committee on University Affairs, brought forth an amendment clarifying that the implementation would be reevaluated See PROJECT, Page 5
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and that the painless parts of budget cuts, or “low-hanging fruit” like consolidating information technology, have already been implemented. She added that even after the administration officially postponed any ASTrelated action until April of next year, the faculty still has concerns about the program’s transparency and who makes the final decisions. “Last week the provost told the deans of all the schools to talk with their faculty (about AST), and we had our meeting in Social Work on Wednesday,” she said. This comes after department heads were originally told not to discuss changes with affected staff members—characterized by some as a gag order—which caused rumors and fears to grow about the AST initiative. The first resolution addressed the AST process, criticizing the use of an outside consulting firm — Accenture LLP — and claimed there was not “a meaningful participation of and evaluation by the faculty, resulting in inadequate consideration of the consequences and effects of this program.” The Senate Assembly endorsed the “suspension of the implementation of AST until its impact on the educational and teaching missions of the University can be fully considered and See CONSULTING, Page 5
Researchers link loudness to high blood pressure and heart problems By IAN DILLINGHAM Daily Staff Reporter
NICHOLAS WILLIAMS /Daily
Engineering senior Stacie Desousa makes a pancake for the Pantanal Partnership at the Duderstadt Center Monday.
HOSPITAL
Affordable Care Act could be costly for ‘U’ Young adults will have big impact on future of health law, experts say By IAN DILLINGHAM Daily Staff Reporter
Come Jan. 1, many Americans will receive health insurance — some for the first time — under the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. However, as the Dec. 23 enrollment deadline for health coverage in 2014 approaches, questions and NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM The Feminine Critique: Valuing women’s work MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS
uncertainty abound, both at the University and around the nation. Of particular concern for healthcare providers are reimbursement rates — the amount of money a hospital receives from insurance companies for providing care — which will likely change as individuals enroll in or switch insurance plans. In preparation for these impending financial adjustments, the University of Michigan Health System has been performing extensive sensitivity analyses, which allow administrators to estimate potential shifts in coverage within the population it See ACT, Page 5
INDEX
Vol. CXXIII, No. 55 ©2013 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
Does danger lurk in your iPod? Thursday, Public Health Assistant Prof. Richard Neitzel and a team at the School of Public Health published findings related to the dangers of prolonged exposure to noise. Neitzel said noise is often overlooked as a potential health hazard, both in occupational settings and daily life. While people often associate loud noises with hearing loss, prolonged exposure to even moderate noise levels may have other serious health consequences, including high blood pressure and heart attack. Following his research appearing in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, Neitzel said he hopes the paper will reenergize the conversation about noise as a health hazard — a topic that has seen little research over the last several decades. “(Noise) is something almost no one thinks about, compared to something like air pollution,” Neitzel said. “In a way, it’s like the wild west of exposures in that we tolerate it being there and haven’t looked into it much, really since the 1970s.” Neitzel conducted the first portion of his research in New York City, where he studied environmental factors that contribute to hearing loss. Surprisingly, he found that most people were “driving their own exposure” through See NOISE, Page 5
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 SPORTS......................6
ARTS....................7 SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6