MSU Administrative Professional Association

Interview with APA member Christina Swick
Executive Assistant, Dean’s Office  |  MSU College of Human Medicine

How long have you been at MSU?
I have been with MSU for over 11 years now total.  I left the University for a brief period in 2008-09 when I relocated out of state and was fortunate enough to obtain a new position at MSU when I returned last year.

Have you been a member of APA the whole time?
I have been an AP for almost 4 years.  I was originally hired in a part-time CT position that later expanded, and I spent many years as a full-time CT employee before transitioning to an AP position.  I have held five different positions during my career at MSU, including my current one as an Executive Secretary in the Dean’s Office at the College of Human Medicine.

Can you tell me a little bit about what you do?
This is always the toughest question for me because every day is unique and I wear many different hats.  My primary purpose is to provide administrative support with the operational activities of the Grand Rapids campus.  This includes human resources, security, information technology, facilities, and communications.  I jokingly tell people that I herd cats for a living — in reference to all of the various people I work with and how challenging it can be trying to support these busy individuals.

What brought you to your job at MSU?
I have considered myself a Spartan for as long as I can remember.  I grew up in East Lansing near campus and took a lot of bike rides to the MSU Dairy Store or to feed the tadpoles in the pond at the Horticulture Gardens when I was young.  My dad had a long career at MSU and my mother worked here a few years as well.  After graduating from East Lansing High School it was a natural choice for me to work at MSU and to continue my education at State as well.

What do you love about working at MSU?
I love that MSU has always supported my continuing education.  My supervisors have always been understanding of my class schedules and encouraged me to keep at it.  It took me eight years to get my Associates and Bachelor’s degrees while working full-time but it was worth it.  I am currently enrolled in an MS program at Grand Valley State University.

Can you tell me a little about the benefits and challenges of working at MSU’s Grand Rapids campus?
Grand Rapids is a really exciting place to live and work.  There is such an atmosphere of philanthropy here and it’s nice to feel the outpouring of support from the community and know how invested they are in the success of our College.  There are also so many great events we are able to participate in; for example we served as a venue for two ArtPrize exhibits this year.  The biggest challenge for me was (and still is) adjusting to a more formal working atmosphere.  I was accustomed to a certain kind of dress, casual communication style, and a more informal way of doing business when I worked in East Lansing.  Here it is more of a corporate environment and the expectations are a little different.

What do you like to do when you are not at work?
I enjoy taking my dog Watson for long walks and going up north to visit family on the weekends.  My mom, grandparents, aunts, uncles and I will go fishing together or go to farmer’s markets, grill out, play euchre, etc.  Even though I like living in Grand Rapids, I’m a country girl at heart.  There is something to be said for being able to go outside in your pajamas in the morning and not having to worry about your neighbors!

Does your job require you to be available after work hours? Or work beyond your scheduled work day?

As a professional, you may be required by your supervisor to be on standby or called into report to work if your job duties include after hour emergencies. In this round of bargaining (fall 2011), it was a priority of the bargaining team to address these issues since you should be compensated for all work. New language was bargained to provide compensation if you are required to be on standby or called in to report to work.

If you are placed on standby by your supervisor and are a grade level 8-11 APA member, you shall be guaranteed at least (1) one hour pay at straight time or equivalent in compensatory time for every 24-hour period scheduled for standby. Upon reporting to work, APA members shall be paid for the actual time worked at the rate of time and one-half or a minimum of two (2) hours, whichever is greater.

APA members, grade 8-11,  who are required to report for emergency duty at the employer’s request, outside regularly scheduled working hours shall be guaranteed at least (3) hours of pay at the rate of time and one-half.

The reason standby and call in compensation is only provided to grade level 8-11 members is because the University insisted the benefit reflect the current overtime qualification. Those APA members who qualify for overtime are grade level 8-11.

For those who do qualify for overtime, you have a right to overtime if you work in excess of 40 hours in a work week. Compensatory time can be used instead of payment of overtime by mutual agreement. The APA member must agree that the time will be compensated by compensatory time not payment. If the APA member does not agree, the overtime is automatically paid as overtime wages at the rate of one and one-half hours of pay.

There were additional changes for what is counted as time worked for computation of overtime. Leave time such as vacation, sick, personal, jury duty, military leave, compensatory time or bereavement leave will no longer will be counted in a hours worked. Holiday time will still be counted in hours worked to reach the 40 hour a week maximum prior to the payment of overtime.

Members grade level 12 and above are not eligible for overtime pay. However, where unusual staffing and work requirements exist, the unit administrator may approve compensatory time off equal to the number of overtime hours worked.

For more information on overtime provisions visit: https://www.msu.edu/~msuapa/apacontract.pdf
For the new call in and standby provisions visit: http://lay.wyz.mybluehost.me/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/APA-2011-2015-Tentative-Agreement.pdf

If you have further questions, don’t hesitate to ask for assistance by contacting the MSU APA office at (517) 353-4898 or email [email protected].

It is important to be aware of some changes to the MSU Retirement Plan vendors and fund choices that will become effective January 1, 2012:

• MSU will consolidate retirement plan vendor options from six vendors down to the two most widely used choices — Fidelity Investments® and TIAA-CREF.
• StraightLine also will continue to be available for third-party investment advice.
• A new simplified core investment menu will be implemented that will provide diversified and well-researched investment choices from multiple investment managers selected by Michigan State University with guidance from Hewitt Ennis Knupp, MSU’s retirement plan consultant.
• For those investors who wish to continue investing outside of the new simplified core investment menu options and are comfortable assuming greater risk, there will be a self-directed brokerage account option that gives investors access to thousands of additional mutual funds from hundreds of available fund families.

These changes will apply to all new contributions that occur on or after January 1, 2012. You will have the choice to leave your existing contributions with your current vendor or to transfer those account balances to the new investment options that will be available starting in January.

As a result of these changes you may want to take some action during the month of November to review and potentially change your retirement plan vendor and fund selections.  A lot more information is available on the Human Resources website, including the new core investment menus that will be available through Fidelity Investments® and TIAA-CREF, information about seminars that will be held on campus throughout the month of November and contact information for vendors.  You can access this information and more at http://www.hr.msu.edu/benefits/retirement/consolidation.htm

And one final note: the University retirement contribution is NOT changing.  MSU will continue to match the eligible employee’s 5% contribution with a 10% University contribution.