Reflections on the University Career Architecture Project

Jan. 22, 2020
Division of Human Resources

This article first appeared in Lo Que Pasa.

After two years of preparation, mapping, remapping and calibration, the "university staff" employment category and career architecture created by the University Career Architecture Project will go live on Monday.

UCAP was launched in 2017 to support employee career progression, provide market-informed data for pay decisions and create a more cohesive culture for all employees by replacing the current Classified Staff and Appointed Professional categories of employment with a single employment category.

"UCAP was a massive project that demanded a lot of change across the University," said Helena Rodrigues, interim chief human resources officer. "But it was a truly collaborative experience, and I am thankful to so many people who contributed their expertise and feedback. The architecture that has been created will encourage employees to lead and navigate meaningful careers and help the University manage our talented workforce."

To mark the milestone, the Division of Human Resources invites the University community to reflect on the scope of the project, what has been accomplished and what is yet to come.

UCAP Highlights

  •  11,200 positions mapped to job descriptions in the career architecture:
  •  140 calibration sessions conducted in which the HR compensation team worked directly with University stakeholders to ensure Universitywide consistency across the mapped positions.
  •  1,700 jobs tied to the external market, with salary data from both higher education and general industry blended to create solid market reference points for updated University pay grades.
  •  More than 900 reassessments reviewed by the compensation team in response to requests from employees, supervisors and departmental HR and college/division approvers.

Important Implementation Dates

  •  Jan. 27: All in-scope appointed professionals, and those classified staff members who opted to join the university staff employment category, will transition to the new category. (Policies for University Staff employees are available online.) Classified staff who opted out of moving to the university staff category will have future opportunities to transition to University Staff after March 9. More information about this process will be provided soon.
  •  March 1: All employees who are below the minimum of their new assigned pay grade should be brought up to minimum, retroactive to Feb. 24.

Looking Ahead: Compensation Administration

UCAP implementation is just the beginning of revamped compensation practices at the University. The career architecture and pay structure created through this project will now begin to guide informed decisions about compensation and equitable pay across the University.

"UCAP laid the foundation, but our work with the career architecture has only begun," Rodrigues said. "We will continue to engage in dialogue, seek information and create tools to assist both managers and employees in making informed career decisions. The architecture will become a big part of the University's goal to attract and retain the most highly qualified workforce possible."

Toward these goals, the Division of Human Resources will focus on these projects in 2020:

  •  Position mapping and compensation changes. The newly drafted Compensation Administration Guidelines define and explain the processes for promotions, lateral moves and other compensation decisions related to position changes.
  •  Pay equity study. The University will begin a study to compare current pay for similar work across the University.
  •  Career Navigator tool. A new tool will soon be available for university staff to review job descriptions in the career architecture and map out where they would like to see their career progress.

Learn more at the UCAP website, which is continually being updated with resources and information as they become available.