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WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2019
volume
119,
issue
NEWS
OPINION
LIFE&ARTS
SPORTS
Students fear redevelopment of East Riverside will leave them without housing. PA G E 3
UT should help educate students on how to safely use ride share. PA G E 4
UT research team to explore colorism in Ghana over Summer. PA G E 8
Longhorns begin Big 12 Tournament play against Oklahoma State. PA G E 6
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WEST CAMPUS
CAMPUS
Workday switch causes issues
Taller West Campus buildings add affordable housing By Jackson Barton @Jackson_Brton
emma overholt
| the daily texan staff
UT officials call the change a success, but some employees call it a ‘nightmare.’ By Chase Karacostas & Brenna Hinshaw @chasekaracostas @brenna_hinshaw
t’s affected every corner of campus, and few people have anything good to say about it. But for once, the grumbling isn’t about construction. It’s about UT’s switch to a new payroll system, Workday. Last November, UT completed its switch to Workday, a cloud-based Enterprise Resource Management system. Simply put, Workday is an online program UT now uses to manage things such as payroll, travel reimbursement, research grants and more. The cost to implement Workday was $72 million, according to UT officials. The switch from the last system, which was first built in 1972, was more than necessary, UT
faculty experts say. But it hasn’t been easy or mistake-free. Some employees have even called it “a nightmare.” The complaints have been widespread, from being paid late or underpaid to simply not understanding how to use it. Both students and faculty have been affected, and while UT offered Workday training, students and faculty complained about the timing of the trainings and being asked to attend them off-the-clock. The training was also not mandatory. Despite the problems, Dana Chapman, associate vice president for enterprise business Information and technology solutions, said the transition to Workday has mostly been a success, and her team meets daily to address problems they are constantly tracking across the entire University. An independent firm, KPMG, has also been evaluating UT since 2016 and called the switch
CAMPUS
Jewish centers increase security after San Diego on campus. “Judaism stresses the importance of each individual soul,” Robinson said. Texas Hillel and Chabad “Chabad and Hillel bring the Jewish Student Center, community together to feel both Jewish campus orgacomfortable in these times nizations, are reassessing of distress.” security measures followRobinson is on the execing a shooting on April 27 utive board at Chabad and in a synagogue in the San is a campus engagement inDiego area. tern at Hillel, Specific secuan international rity precautions Jewish campus are not shared organization. with the public He said he reas a safety meaWe want to pro- members the sure in order vigil honoring to prevent the vide them with individual Pittscenters from beshoota place to talk burgh ing targeted, acing victims six about what it months ago. cording to both organizations. Maiya Chardmeans to be a Zev Johnson, Yaron, execuJewish student tive director for the Rabbi for UT’s Chabad, on campus and UT’s Hillel, said said Chabad, an Hillel trains its in the world orthodox Jewstudent leadish organization ers to prepare today.” with chapters for emergencies at 500 campussuch as active es, is in contact shooter situations. M A I YA C H A D - YA R O N with the UT Po“When we UT HILLEL lice Department, think about seEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Austin Police curity, the safeDepartment and ty of our stunational security agencies. dents is our top priority,” Johnson said Chabad values Chard-Yaron said. facilitating conversations Chard-Yaron said stuas well. dents also reached out “I have been available to her to discuss the San for counseling with stuDiego shooting. dents,” Johnson said. “A “When there is rising anlot of students have wanted tisemitism and hate, it’s a big to express themselves and concern for our students,” their sentiments.” Chard-Yaron said. “We want Ethan Robinson, supply to provide them with a place chain management sophto talk about what it means omore, said these centers are crucial to Jewish life S E C U R I T Y page 2
“highly successful.” “Of course, they also say ‘Here are some things you can do better,’ because their whole purpose in being here is watching us,” Chapman said. “So yes, we think it went smoothly, but so did this independent group.” That doesn’t mean the transition has been simple. The Daily Texan previously reported complaints from students and faculty about the transition. Students working for RecSports reported issues that included having to approve time sheets several times, needing to badger managers when a time sheet was submitted and having several pay periods that had to be corrected with additional pay in the following cycle. For some, the problems with Workday have ceased but only after several months.
PAYROLL
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New housing units in West Campus could soon rival the UT Tower and the State Capitol in terms of height, as long as developers add more affordable housing. Allie Runas, electrical and computer engineering senior, is a member of the The Central Austin Neighborhood Planning Advisory Committee. The Central Austin Neighborhood Planning Advisory Committee unanimously approved a plan to nearly double the allowed building height in inner West Campus Tuesday night. If developers reserve 10% of their housing units to anyone making less than 50% of the median family income in Austin, they can build up to 300 feet in inner West Campus. These housing units would be rented at approximately $603 per bedroom. The University Neighborhood Overlay, which went into effect in 2004, is a development plan giving West Campus developers incentives to provide affordable housing. Currently, the plan allows developers to build higher if they reserve 10% of their units for “low-income” tenants making less than 60% of the median family income in Austin. CANPAC’s amendments to the plan add another layer of affordability for tenants. The amendments would require 10% of their units to be reserved to people making less than 60% of the median family income and an additional 10% of units for people making less than 50%. Developers usually must provide a certain amount of
BUILDINGS
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CAMPUS
UTPD monitors campus protests to ensure safety, protect free speech
By Libby Cohen @libbycohen211
angela wang | the daily texan file UT Police Department officer talks with two UT students during YCT’s rally in support of Brett Kavanaugh on Oct. 2. UTPD officers go through deescalation training, and UTPD will not engage unless there are security concerns or threats to student’s safety.
By Mason Carroll @MasonCCarroll
Four Texas State students were arrested last Wednesday during a protest on their campus. Similarly, UT saw multiple protests last week, and each time, the UT Police Department was standing by. UTPD does not engage at these protests unless there is a real security concern, Captain Chris Bonnet said. Each UTPD officer
participates in mandatory and supplemental training on de-escalating situations using verbal skills and active listening, Bonnet said. Officers will not step in unless there is a critical threat to safety or a security concern. “We really only get involved after individuals will disregard the instructions of University officials,” Bonnet said. “It comes down to us interacting with the students on a daily basis. That sets the tone for
how we interact with the students during a peaceful assembly or some kind of protest activity.” Bonnet said UTPD is content-neutral. Regardless of what a group is saying, as long as it is not illegal, they are there to protect students who want to peacefully protest and observe the event. “We’re just there to make sure that everyone has a right to engage in protected activities,” Bonnet
said. “Chief (David) Carter — one of the parts of his mission for us on these things is to defend the (First Amendment). The Constitution applies to everybody equally, whether they’re a student or not.” Police officers in Texas are known as Peace Officers. Bonnet said they take the job seriously of keeping the peace, so it’s important to start with the officers who are part of their team.
POLICE
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