Job Analysis and Handbook Unit

At UT, I have access to a university-wide handbook, in addition to a "code book" and a password-protected central staff web site for library employees that is more specific to my department and position. UT's university-wide handbook - the Handbook of Operating Procedures and Policy Memoranda - is an online document (link here) that is divided into the Revised and Original editions of the handbook, as well as the original policy memoranda. The revised edition covers 12 sections, plus a glossary: University Administration, Campus Services, Environmental Health and Safety, Standards of Conduct, Faculty, Financial Management, Human Resources, Information Technology, Intercollegiate Athletics, Public Affairs, Research and Students. The section on Standards of Conduct includes the university's sexual harassment and nondiscrimination policy, while the section on Human Resources includes or refers to sections about work hours, pay rates, rest periods/coffee breaks, vacation and sick leave policies, performance evaluations, illegal drug use, and the university's promotion and dismissal procedure. There does not appear to be a disclaimer at the beginning or at the end, however the glossary includes the definition of the terms "exempt" and "non-exempt employees" as well as the definition of a standard workweek. It is a fairly comprehensive handbook (with a few exceptions that will be discussed later), and while it may seem long, the length is probably appropriate for an organization of this size. (Most of the sections are also fairly short, so in actuality, the entire document itself is not that lengthy.)

The revised edition of the handbook makes several improvements to the original edition. The revised handbook's organization makes more sense in that it does not put the section on faculty first as in the original edition, since this is a handbook that is intended for the entire university community. It also consolidates several sections into one (for example, the sections on General and Classified Personnel into Human Resources) so that employees have only one section to go to, instead of several. The addition of a glossary is also welcome, as it provides clarification of some commonly used terms as understood by the University that may not be defined within the sections themselves, as are the links referring to certain sections in the original handbook that are still relevant (for example, the sections on General and Classified Personnel in the original edition).

It is also useful to have the handbook available online, both for viewing and editing purposes. If the handbook is available online, all of the employees in essence have a copy of the handbook, without the organization having to provide an individual print copy for each employee. It is also easier to update the handbook as an online document rather than as a printed one, and to provide references to sections of the original edition that are still relevant without having to re-write them into the new edition.

Although it is a useful resource, the UT handbook is not perfect. As mentioned earlier, there is also no disclaimer that I can find, and the lecture notes mention that without a disclaimer, a handbook can be construed as a contract. There are also several sections for which there is no information - Information Technology, Intercollegiate Atheletics and Public Affairs - and it is not clear when any information about them will be added. (For that matter, there is also no date that indicates when the handbook was last revised or when the original handbook was first written.)

I would like to see a disclaimer added, and I would also like to see the sections that I mentioned fleshed out, in addition to having a revision date added to the revised edition. I would also like to have more definitions added to the glossary, such as a definition for "classified" personnel, as well as a definition of "full-time" and "part-time employee," which it does not currently have. I can't remember if I had to sign a statement acknowledging that I received a copy of the handbook or not when I was first hired, and I am not quite sure how this would be done with an online edition, but it seems that it should be included as part of orientation. Perhaps an organization that has an online handbook can have employees sign a web form that certifies that they have received the URL to the handbook on their first day which can then be printed out and placed into their personnel folders.

Unlike the official UT handbook, the code book that I received for my job position is a set of handouts placed in a binder. It contains a directory of the bibliographers that I would need to contact, as well as the codes that I need to enter in our automated library system, and the procedure for entering data into the systems that we use. However, by now, this code book is badly outdated in terms of contact information and even job procedures, due to all of the changes that haven taken place since it was written. Even the central staff web site, which includes the library's mission and goals, organizational chart, policies, forms and statistics, as well as information unique to each division, contains information that is obsolete, as well. For example, the sections for each individual division are hardly used because they are so badly outdated, and for the most part there does not seem to be much interest in updating them on a regular basis, due to both lack of time and manpower (and perhaps, apathy).

It would be my preference to have both an institutional handbook as well as a departmental one, but the problem of maintaining the currency of a handbook applies to both. In fact, most of the workplace policies in my department exist primarily as passed down knowledge, rather than as written documentation. (For instance, I just found out this week that we are not supposed to microwave popcorn at work because the smell travels, although this is not written down anywhere, and was passed down by word-of-mouth by a manager to my department.) This is a problem, since when the person or persons who possess this knowledge move on, unless they document what they know, their knowledge will go with them. There is a great need for the different divisions in my department to create departmental handbooks that contain information about current workplace policies and job procedures that is relevant to each section, in addition to the university-wide handbook. (In fact, eventually I will probably need to write down what I do in my position when I leave.) It would be best if these handbooks were made available online, but they must be updated regularly to reflect all of the changes that take place within the department and the library, or else they will become as obsolete as the documentation that we currently have.