Human Resouce Management

Introduction

The University of Kentucky is the largest university in Kentucky, with 26, 682 students enrolledІ they are the top employer in Lexingtonі with over 10,600 employees and they are the ninth largest economic company in Kentucky, with an annual budget of over $1.4 billion.№ The Human Resource department at UK has approximately 110 employees.4 I decided to interview the top two HR Specialists: Kimberly P. Wilson, Associate Vice President of HR and Mary Ferlan, Operations Director of HR. These two women put aside some time with me to go over the University of Kentucky’s Human Resource Department, the Organizational Chart of HR, and answered some questions I had regarding their positions.

Background

Kimberly P. Wilson, the Associate Vice President of HR, has been with the University of Kentucky since 2002. She started her career at UK as the Human Resource Development Manager. She was in charge of three training groups: the Employee Development, Technology Training and Operation Educate. In August of 2003, she became the Chief of Staff to the Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration, performing special projects and assignments as instructed. Then in March of 2004, Mrs. Wilson became the Acting Director of Human Resources, which is responsible for all aspects of the HR operations, university wide.

Mrs. Wilson has an extensive background in human resource management. Between 1994 and 2001 she worked for Reuters Group, PLC, holding various HR positions. Her position was working as the VP of HR. She went on to becoming the Deputy Director of HR, based in London and then the Director of HR for the global sales and operations division, based in Switzerland. Before leaving Reuters, she was the Deputy Director and Director of HR Strategy and Development in London. Mrs. Wilson was also the Director of Human Resources and the Vice President of Human Resources for Knight-Ridder, Inc (Which owned the Lexington Herald Leader and currently owns the Bradenton Herald in Bradenton, FL.). She holds an MBA from Rockhurst College in Kansas City, MO and a BA from the University of Kentucky.

Mary Ferlan, the Operations Director for Human Resources, has been with the University of Kentucky since 1990. She started working as a Wellness Specialist, serving as an assistant manager and manager for the Wellness Program. Mary then served as a HR generalist and as the manager for employee relations and unemployment within the UK HR department. She then moved on to become the Operations Director of Human Resources. She received her Bachelor’s in Biology from Allegheny College in Meadville, PA and her Master’s in Exercise Physiology from UK.

The University’s Organizational Chart

Executive VP of Finance & Administration

Associate VP for Human Resources Support Staff

Clinical Enterprises Compensation & Records Benefits HR operations Director

Satellite Office Compensation Benefits Customer Service Budget

Records Benefits Data Group Communications

Health & Wellness Employee Relations/ FMLA

Worker’s Comp/LTD Employment

Unemployment

Make the Difference

Training & Development

Work-Life/ Elder Care

Education

The specific education that both Wilson and Ferlan suggested, if someone is interested in an HR career were classes in Business, Human Resources, HR Principles, and Industrial Psychology and even classes in behavioral based interviewing.

Responsibilities

The most important responsibilities for Wilson and Ferlan are to continue the UK Strategic Plan (the UK Top 20 Business Plan) to become a top 20 Public Research University by the year 2020. The University of Kentucky president, Lee Todd, Jr. stated, “The bottom line is simple: states with Top 20 universities are places where citizens are more educated, healthier, and more financially secure. Average household incomes are higher in states with Top 20 universities.”5 In order for UK to do so, it will need to do the following over the next 14 years (taken December 12, 2006 from: http://www.uky.edu/OPBPA/whytop20.htm):