ADVISORY COUNCIL OF CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES

Minutes of Meeting

April 18, 2002

West Virginia University Institute of Technology

Montgomery, West Virginia

The Advisory Council of Classified Employees met at 9:19 a.m., Thursday, April 18, 2002 at West Virginia University Institute of Technology, Montgomery, West Virginia.

MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE:

MEMBERS ABSENT

GUESTS:

WVU - Institute of Technology: David Lord and Karen Skaggs. WV HEPC Chancellors Liaison: Margaret Buttrick.

The Chair, Ms. Pitzer, called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone.

ACCE List-Serve: Ms. Pitzer informed everyone that we have been experiencing problems with the marghepc@wvnvm.wvnet.edu list-serve. Kelly Pryor is working on correcting the problems.

Retreat Update: The ACCEs annual retreat is scheduled to be held July 30 - 31, 2002 at a location still to be determined. Location options include Glade Springs, Snowshoe, Stonewall Jackson, and Lewisburg. Ms. Pitzer asked everyone to review carefully information that had been distributed via the list-serve concerning these options and that next week she will send an email to everyone asking them to vote on their location of choice.

PEIA: David Lord, Director of Human Resources at WVU - Institute of Technology, brought to the ACCEs attention the fact that a number of classified employees at WVU - Institute of Technology have tentatively been denied access to Carelink as an insurance option because of their mailing address. Their county of residence is one where Carelink is available but because their mailing address is one where Carelink is not available, they are being denied this option. Ms. Buttrick encouraged those employees to submit a letter of appeal to Tom Susman, Director of PEIA. An employee should not be denied this option solely based on the mailing address rather than the actual place of residence.

Another area of concern in reference to PEIA is that employees questions at PEIA Benefits Fairs are not being adequately answered and they are being told that their questions should be referred to their respective campus Benefits Coordinator. Ms. Yerbury asked if it would be appropriate for the ACCE to send a letter to Mr. Susman expressing these concerns. The ACCE unanimously approved of this suggestion and appointed Ms. Yerbury to draft a letter for submission.

Liaison Report: Ms. Buttrick announced that the annual increment cap for years of service was removed during the 2002 Legislative Session for non-classified employees of higher education but not classified employees. Because SB115 is silent with reference to non-classified employees, they will be covered under this bill and, therefore, their annual increment cap will be removed. Because Section 18B-9-5(a) stipulates that the annual increment cap shall not exceed the maximum of twenty years of experience for classified employees and this was not changed, the cap will not be removed for classified employees. Mr. Martinelli asked Ms. Buttrick who classified employees should be talking to in order to have this change made next year. Ms. Buttrick suggested the best option for classified employees might be to have the section of code dealing with our increment moved from 18B-9-5(a) to Chapter 5.

The JEC met April 8 - 10, 2002 to continue the review of the Physical Plant Job Family. The committee will probably meet three additional days in May and then in June to complete a factor by factor review. It is possible that titles will be condensed. If so, this change will be in line with the national trend. Ms. Buttrick distributed a hand-out which stipulates the number of classified employees by EEOC, at each higher education institution. She pointed out the Physical Plant Job Family includes 518 employees in the Skilled Craft category and 1,184 employees in the Service/Maintenance category for a total of 1,702 positions or approximately 32% of all classified employee positions. Ms. Buttrick reminded everyone that once the JEC has made its decisions concerning the Physical Plant Job Family, the recommendation for changes will be forwarded to the Chancellor for approval and implementation. Mr. Martinelli questioned what would happen if the campuses did not have the funds to implement the changes. Ms. Buttrick indicated this would have to be discussed with the Chancellor. Mr. Hardee asked that if position titles are compressed, will that mean supervisors can make employees perform additional work with no additional compensation. Ms. Buttrick indicated that would not be so. Ms. Buttrick indicated this is the second time since 1994 that the Physical Plant Job family has been reviewed while there are other job families that have never been reviewed, the Office Support Job Family being one of those which includes 1,629 employees. Technology has had a significant impact in these positions since implementation of the Mercer Classification System.

A draft RFP is being prepared by the Retirement Feasibility Committee. Should additional retirement vendors be selected, an open enrollment period is being considered for employees to have the option of changing systems if they choose to do so.

Handouts were distributed stipulating the amount of funds needed to fund the salary schedule for all classified employees and for classified employees who receive all or a part of their salary from state funds. Ms. Buttrick indicated state code requires each institution to develop a salary policy and that do date, she has not seen one. The Human Resource Administrators are scheduled to meet in June 2002 and Ms. Buttrick will work with them at that time to develop guidelines for campuses to follow when developing a salary policy.

Ms. Fertig asked how much money has been paid to Mercer for the development of the classification system and salary schedule and are Mercers services currently being retained. Ms. Buttrick indicated she did not have a dollar figure but could check in the HEPCs files or with Scott Cook of Mercer. She also indicated that we do not have a retainer with Mercer.

Ms. Fertig asked if there were any higher education items of interest to classified employees scheduled for discussion during upcoming Legislature Interims. Ms. Buttrick replied that next month could possibly include Fairmont and WVNETs Severance Plans if approved by the HEPC prior to then but nothing else to her knowledge.

Salary Increases FY2002-2003: There was discussion concerning salary increases for classified employees during the 2002-2003 fiscal year. While most Institutional Governing Boards had not made a decision yet, a few had. The HEPC will be granting merit increases based on annual evaluations and Glenville State College will be giving an $804 across-the-board raise.

Announcements:Ms. Pitzer announced that the next ACCE meeting would be held May 16, 2002 at Marshall University beginning at 12:00 noon.

Adjournment:The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 p.m. to allow ACCE members time to continue work on their annual presentation to the HEPC.

Respectfully submitted,

STEPHANIE A. NEAL
SECRETARY

AMY PITZER
CHAIR