Heuer takes vice presidency in Human Resources division

Jack Heuer, a long-time veteran of Penn's Human Resources Division, took over as the department's vice president last week, filling a post that has remained vacant since June 1996. Heuer served as its director of staff and labor relations for the past two years. He has worked in the division since 1982, holding positions in personnel and benefits and staff-labor relations. Heuer's familiarity with the division will help him adjust to the job, Executive Vice President John Fry said. "He's already started working and he already knows what to do," Fry said. "He's very skilled and has a lot of respect on this campus." "Human Resources deserves to have someone who's as experienced and credible as he is," he added. In his new position, Heuer will manage the division's 57 employees. He said he intends to focus on improving communication between several of its subdivisions, including training, compensation, employee relations and information management. Although officials considered candidates from both within and outside the University for the post, Fry said Heuer's experience in the department was a critical factor in his selection. "We wanted some stability and felt Jack would be effective because he knows what to expect," Fry said. Heuer -- who describes himself as "hard-working and honest" -- stressed that knowing the way the division interacts with the entire University community gives him an advantage from the outset. "I know the campus, I know the customers -- I don't have to re-invent Human Resources under a new vision," he said. Fry said Heuer's experience with staff and labor relations is also important given widespread "concerns about restructuring." In the past few years, University employees have had concerns about job stability after administrators restructured departments in efforts to cut costs and improve efficiency. These moves included the restructuring of the Purchasing Department last spring and the recent decision to outsource facilities management to Trammell Crow Co. Heuer said he intends to provide the Dallas-based company with "the best possible services" when it assumes the management of all on- and off-campus buildings this spring. Heuer's new post has seen much transition in the past several years. The last vice president, Clint Davidson, resigned in June 1996 to take a job at Duke University. Previously, the position was vacated in the summer of 1994 when William Holland left the University after two years in the office. John Gould held the interim position until Davidson's appointment in August, 1995. Heuer graduated from the University's Organizational Dynamics Program. He received his bachelor's degree in business administration, industrial relations and organizational behavior from Temple University in 1983.

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