ADVISORY COUNCIL OF CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES

Minutes of Meeting

September 13, 2002

Marshall University Graduate College

S. Charleston, West Virginia

The Higher Education Advisory Council of Classified Employees meeting was held on the campus of Marshall University Graduate College, S. Charleston, WV, on Friday, September 13, 2002. New representative Evie McPherson, Glenville State College, and Verne Britton, WVNET, were introduced to the council.

MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE:

MEMBERS ABSENT

GUESTS:

Classified Staff BOG representative, Linda Martin, Concord College and Margaret Buttrick HEPC Liaison were in attendance.

Approval of Minutes: The July 2002 Retreat and August 1 Minutes were not available for approval. They will be distributed along with the Video Conference video tape to all ACCE members by Secretary Neal upon her return from Virginia.

Overview of August 1, 2002 Video Conference: All ACCE members who participated in the video conference reported that their campus employees who attended the conference made favorable comments. An estimated 19 sites participated in the conference originating from the Marshall University Drinko Library. Recommendations from many of those at these sites were made to schedule another conference, as early as January 2003, prior to the start of the Legislative Session. Considering the amount of work required to make all the necessary arrangements for another conference, it is not feasible to schedule another one until later in 2003. August was tentatively scheduled for the next conference.

In response to a request from Verne Britton, WVNET, to solicit a campus total in attendance, it was estimated that approximately 200 participated in the video conference.

The only negative comments received were referenced to the poor reception and video at some of the sites. Some of the locations were unable to hear the questions/answers and had difficulty in feed back clarity on the site screen.

Chairperson Amy Pitzer reported that she sent thank you cards to all the conference participants as well as the list of IT personnel who were contacted to help bring on board each institutional site.

Liaison Report: HEPC Liaison, Margaret Buttrick, reported that Cathy Sizemore, Human Resources Assistant is serving in an interim position until a replacement is hired for Peggy Stamper, who resigned to manage a clothing shop in Charleston.

Margaret distributed an updated copy of the ACCE members’ mailing address, email, and telephone numbers. She also distributed a copy of the HEPC Retirement Vendor Study that was an agenda item for September 12, 2002 HEPC regular meeting. Attached to this document is a Retirement Committee Feasibility Study Recommendations approved in January 2002 by the Joint Committee on Pensions and Retirement.

The HEPC is recommending action on Retirement Program §401(a) plan to conduct a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) process to select up to two additional vendors. Under the proposed plan, new employees and participants will only be permitted to select as a vendor TIAA-CREF or Great-West for any retirement program. These vendors are scheduled to visit campuses after January 1, 2003, and may visit each campus up to twice yearly.

The ACCE has been encouraged to discuss with their staff council and campus classified employees the subject of presidential salaries and contracts. Comments should be sent to HEPC no later than October 1, 2002.Chair Amy Pitzer requested that comments be sent to her no later than September 26.

A question was asked regarding the policy on holidays and how it affects part-time classified employees. Series 8, Section 5, states that when a part-time classified employee is required to work on any designated board or institution holiday, that employee has the following options:

1. Receive regular pay for that holiday plus substitute time off
2. Additional pay at the rate of 1 ½ times the number of hours actually worked with the requirement that time off must be used within a six-month period following the holiday.

Margaret reported that no additional information is available regarding the position evaluations for the Physical Plant Job Family. The review reports were given to the Chancellor in September for review and possible distribution to the HEPC for their approval. ***

Overview of the Workshop for HEPC, Boards of Governors, and Institutions: The second annual workshop was held on September 12, 2002, in Charleston that included members of the HEPC, BOG, and Higher Education Institutions. Agenda items included an overview by Thomas Jones, HEPC Chair, Assessment Report by Peter Ewell, Senior Associate, National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NECHEMS), Budget Discussion by Chancellor Mullen and Jim Winter, Director of Finance and Facilities, and keynote address by Dr. Stephen Portch, Chancellor Emeritus of the University System of Georgia. Three members of the ACCE, who are BOG staff representatives, participated in the workshop. They were Jenny Fertig, Paul Martinelli and Evie McPherson.

Presidential Salaries/Contracts: It was noted that a number of institution’s Board of Governors approved substantial salary increases for their campus Presidents. As noted in Margaret Buttricks’ report the ACCE is being requested to respond by October 1, 2002 regarding presidential salaries. She also suggested that we solicit comments from campus Staff Council.

Discussion of ACCE Legislative Brochure: Members were requested to submit their ideas and suggestions for a 2003 Higher Education Advisory Council of Classified Employees Legislative Information Brochure. A copy of the 2001 brochure was circulated for review and as a guideline for a current one. It was suggested that campus publication services are asked to provide their printing services shop to print approximately 1,000 brochures, similar to the 2001 model. With limited ACCE funds, the goal is to have the brochures printed at no cost.

September 24, 2002 Meeting with Governor Wise: Plans have now been finalized and confirmed for a meeting with Governor Wise on Tuesday, September 24, 2002, at the State Capitol. Members of the ACCE Legislative Liaison Committee, consisting of Zac Wycherley (WV Northern Community College), Stephanie Neal (Marshall University), Amy Pitzer (Concord College), Jenny Fertig (WV State College) and Paul Martinelli (WVU) will meet with the Governor. A classified employees “White Paper” developed by the ACCE will be forwarded to the Governor prior to our meeting, thus providing background information on classified employee areas of concerns.

Discussion of Recent Newspaper Articles on Sick Leave: A number of State newspapers have articles regarding the recent issue of the public retirement program sick leave being accumulated by state employees. During the late 1970’s, under the Rockefeller administration additional sick leave and other benefits were implemented in lieu of salary increases. This benefit was also seen as a way to encourage higher education employees to not abuse the policy. An extensive review of past records did not document that additional sick leave benefits was a substitute for pay increases. Council was encouraged to monitor our sick leave benefits closely during the 2003 Legislative Session. HEPC Liaison, Margaret Buttrick, reported that she would provide the ACCE a copy of the sick leave report article that recently appeared in the Charleston Gazette newspaper.

Form Outline to Begin Working on Annual PowerPoint Presentation to HEPC: Chairperson Amy Pitzer advised that we should begin planning for the ACCE presentation before the HEPC. She suggested that a two day meeting be scheduled in conjunction with one of our regular meetings to complete a PowerPoint presentation, similar to the one presented to the Legislative Oversite Commission on Education Accountability (LOCEA) during the 2002 session.

Announcements: The next ACCE meeting will be held on the campus of Glenville State College, Thursday, October 17, 2002.Glenville ACCE representative, Evie McPherson, will coordinate the logistics for our meeting. The HEPC will hold their meeting on Friday, October 18, 2002.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 3:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted

Paul R. Martinelli
Acting Secretary

Amy Pitzer
ACCE Chair

*** NOTE: Page 3, Paragraph 2 – Chair Pitzer, as a member of the JEC, noted that the JEC has not completed its final review of the Physical Plant job family.