{"id":4531,"date":"2026-02-17T10:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T10:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/17\/sacua-discusses-work-connections-and-meets-with-grasso\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T10:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T10:49:12","slug":"sacua-discusses-work-connections-and-meets-with-grasso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/17\/sacua-discusses-work-connections-and-meets-with-grasso\/","title":{"rendered":"SACUA discusses Work Connections and meets with Grasso"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The University of Michigan\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/facultysenate.umich.edu\/sacua\/\">Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs<\/a> met in the Alexander G. Ruthven Building Monday afternoon to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/academics\/sacua-discusses-faculty-work-conditions-and-the-future-of-foreign-language-education\/\">continue<\/a> discussing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.workconnections.umich.edu\/\">Work Connections<\/a> \u2014 the University\u2019s illness, injury and disability management program \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/focal-point\/following-injury-and-illness-hundreds-of-u-m-employees-relied-on-the-university-to-facilitate-their-return-to-work-they-say-it-failed-them\/\">denying or reducing<\/a> faculty members\u2019 requests for medical leave. The committee met with Interim University President Domenico Grasso in closed session.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>SACUA Chair Derek Peterson opened the meeting by welcoming clinical pathology professor Dr. Lauren Smith, a new SACUA member. He briefed her on recent controversies, such as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/detroit\/news\/university-michigan-student-lawsuit-ai-disability-discrimination\/\">lawsuit<\/a> accusing the University of disability discrimination after disciplining a student for allegedly using artificial intelligence in essays.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Next, Peterson announced that Richard Arnold, interim executive director of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dpss.umich.edu\/\">Division of Public Safety and Security<\/a>, will join SACUA members at their next meeting on Feb. 23 to discuss campus surveillance cameras and address concerns about if data demonstrates these cameras actually reduce crime.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>SACUA members then planned which topics to bring up during their meeting with Grasso. Public health lecturer Kirsten Herold raised concerns about students\u2019 use of AI in class. Peterson advocated for speaking about diversity, equity and inclusion, while others suggested SACUA should discuss the surveillance camera <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/news-briefs\/dpss-to-install-security-cameras-at-most-campus-building-entrances\/\">use<\/a> on campus. Grasso then met with the SACUA members in a private room to talk over their concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>After meeting with Grasso, SACUA discussed a draft document co-written by Herold and information professor Kentaro Toyama that outlines the manner in which Work Connections has operated and should operate moving forward. SACUA members acknowledged discrepancies between the time off work recommended by employees\u2019 physicians and what Work Connections has recommended.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Herold said there were difficulties in judging employees\u2019 ability to return to work after an injury depending on the job requirements. She believes it is important for both employees and employers to trust primary care physicians over the independent medical examinations provided by Work Connections.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are those who do physical work, and then those of us who sit at a computer all day,\u201d Herold said. \u201cI\u2019d trust my regular doctor\u2019s opinion more than someone I\u2019ve only seen once.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>SACUA members expressed concerns regarding language within the drafted document that may suggest Work Connections should provide additional or substitute recommendations in place of health care providers\u2019 advice. Peterson said doctors who are unfamiliar with patients\u2019 jobs may not be able to provide reliable assessments of when employees should return to work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think it is in our collective interest for a non-expert primary care provider to make judgments for employees, not knowing the job,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cThere\u2019s no framework in this writing for an appeal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Toyama agreed, saying Work Connections is currently not a good appeals process for contested physician assessments. He highlighted the difficulty of condensing their grievances into the one-page document to send to the University\u2019s Board of Regents.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not going to trust Work Connections to run an appeal,\u201d Toyama said. \u201cThis is really meant for the regents, the document is only one page and it\u2019s difficult to express everything within that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Herold questioned whether SACUA is capable of spearheading the initiative to improve Work Connections\u2019 processes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSACUA seems to think they should be in the driver\u2019s seat,\u201d Herold said. \u201cThis issue is very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Daily News Contributor Josephine Velo can be reached at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/academics\/sacua-discusses-work-connections-and-meets-with-grasso\/mailto:velo@umich.edu\"><em>velo@umich.edu<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The University of Michigan\u2019s Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs met in the Alexander G. Ruthven Building Monday afternoon to continue discussing Work Connections \u2014 the University\u2019s illness, injury and disability management program \u2014 denying or reducing faculty members\u2019 requests for medical leave. The committee met with Interim University President Domenico Grasso in closed session.\u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[4261,854,3075,1039,660,1525],"class_list":{"0":"post-4531","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-connections","9":"tag-discusses","10":"tag-grasso","11":"tag-meets","12":"tag-sacua","13":"tag-work"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4531"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4533,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4531\/revisions\/4533"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}