The University of Idaho Argonaut

After three years of employment, the University of Idaho will lose its assistant vice president of human resources.

Paul Michaud has been working in human resources for 27 years. He oversees many aspects of campus, including employment, job classification, compensation as well as employment relations and grievances. Michaud is the voice of appeals between the university and state. If an employee from any of the cooperative extension centers across the state is not happy with the workings of the university, he is the go-to guy.

Vice President of Finance and Administration Lloyd Mues will lead the evaluation to decide how the empty position will be filled. Michaud said he has supplied Mues with recommendations as well as his overall outlook for the department.

With the hiring pause, Mues said a “worst-case scenario” would mean the position could be filled by an employee already working in the department. Mues said he does not discount a “best-case scenario” in which a new employee could be hired to take the job.
“The sky is not falling,” he said.

The evaluation began once news arrived of Michaud’s departure. Mues said he hopes to have the evaluation completed before Michaud’s last day, Oct. 17.
Michaud is one of nine employees who make up the human resources department, including those working in compensation, employment, job classification and helping international visitors. The department hired two new faculty this year, and Michaud said the university is in the middle of hiring another body to assist in employee compensation.

Michaud said he spends about 40 percent of his day in meetings. He said a typical day is difficult to describe. Although his morning starts with a specific plan of action, more pressing issues soon arise, he said. No matter the problem, he said the main goal is to supply employees with all available information.
“I never say, ‘This is the policy,’” he said. “I say, ‘These are the options.’”

The human resources department no longer oversees employee benefits — the task is now headed by UI Payroll Services. Michaud said the move was an administrative decision made to place all payroll data in one area.
“It’s a good combination,” Michaud said.

On top of his job, Michaud is the chair of the Benefits AdvisoryGroup and adviser to the Staff Affairs Committee. He said over any other employee at the university, he believes he has made the most presentations to the faculty council – especially involving recent benefit changes.
“It was my responsibility to explain any changes in hopes to get their endorsement,” he said.

Michaud will be working at Georgia Southern University in Statesborough, Ga. Although the school houses some 19,000 students, Michaud said his past experience has prepared him for the job.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity,” he said. “I like a smaller institution, and (at a bigger institution) you just get more of the same. It’s nothing different.”
Michaud said he hopes to leave UI with the knowledge that the university is headed down the right path. He said he believes the university has gained stability over the last few years.

“Hopefully I (will leave) the institution a little better than when I got here,” he said. “Maybe I was able to plant the seed and hopefully it is germinating here.”