Advisory Council of Classified Employees
MINUTES of January 15, 2004, Thursday, 10:00 a.m.
Marshall University Graduate College, South Charleston, WV
ATTENDANCE
Members in attendance:
Members excused:
Guests:
PREVIOUS MINUTES
The minutes of the December 4, 2003 minutes were approved with minor changes.
LIAISON REPORT
Margaret Buttrick reported on several items in response to previous inquires from the ACCE:
Overtime calculations for non-exempt classified employees:
Hourly rate up to 40 hours plus 1.5 x hourly rate after 40 hours. (Same for comp time.)
The employee has the option to choose comp time or overtime pay.
The HEPC central office has a form used to declare up front which will be given.
Working overtime must be approved in advance.
Exempt classified employees are given comp time when working a holiday. It is up to the supervisor whether or not an exempt employee gets comp time for working over 37.5 hours per week or over 7.5 hours per day.
Pay calculations for working holidays, non-exempt employees:
37.5 work week + 7.5 hours for working on a holiday = 45 hrs
therefore, the employee is entitled to 40 hours straight pay + 5 hours at 1.5 x hourly rate.
A discussion followed concerning pay for part-time workers who are scheduled to be off when the holiday occurs. Mrs. Buttrick offered the opinion that less than full-time workers get the paid holiday only if they are normally scheduled to work that day. There was disagreement on this interpretation among the Council members. For example, if a paid holiday fell on Monday, a 30-hour employee who works Monday thru Thursday would get the paid Holiday and would work 3 days that week, but the 30-hour employee who is normally scheduled for Tuesday thru Friday would not get the paid holiday and would have to work 4 days.
It was noted that the Institutional Boards of Governors should have a Holiday policy in place at each institution.
In response to questions about merit pay, Mrs. Buttrick noted that State code will not allow for bonus pay, therefore, merit pay would be added to an employee’s base pay and therefore would be a permanent pay increase rather that a one-year increase.
Mrs. Buttrick distributed a list of policies which have been totally or partially handed down to the local BOG from the HEPC indicating their implementation status. The list is available on the HEPC web site. She noted that BOG policies cannot be more restrictive than HEPC policies or legislation. A list of current HEPC rules is also available on the HEPC web site. (http://www.hepc.wvnet.edu)
A discussion was held about the Governor’s Efficiency Bill which had been introduced by the President of the Senate at the request of the Executive, but not yet numbered. Of particular note is a proposed proviso to be added to section 18B-7-1b:
If this were to pass, all classified employees in higher education would loose all seniority and bumping rights for two years.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
BENEFITS COMMITTEE
There was no Benefits Committee report.
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
Amy Pitzer reported that the priority for the committee is the legislative brochure. A draft was sent to the committee members. She reported that members of the legislative Education committees asked for a brochure listing staff concerns. There was a brief discussion of the staff to student ratios and how drastically it varies among the different institutions. She noted that a report on the progress being made toward funding the classified staff salary schedule is due to LOCEA in January. Mrs. Pitzer questioned the availability of Fall 2003 data. Mrs. Buttrick reported that it was due Jan 10th but they were having some difficulty with WVU’s data.
LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE
Stephanie Neal reported that the Governor has proposed a 2.5% reduction in the Higher Education budget. She also reported that the Legislative Oversight Commission on Educational Accountability (LOCEA) has requested a report from Chancellor Mullen addressing progress on issues addressed in SB653 and SB703. Mrs. Buttrick reported that information from the reports should be available today. Mrs. Neal requested more information on the equalization of retirement contributions.
HIGHER-ED AWARENESS COMMITTEE
Joe Taylor reported that the Higher-Ed Awareness Committee did not meet as scheduled due to severe weather in December. The Advisory Council of Faculty (ACF) has produced a legislative agenda. The ACF made their annual presentation to HEPC in December. Among their concerns were: annual increment pay, faculty representation on the HEPC, and putting Faculty Senates in code. It was noted that public school faculty and staff have a yearly increment and an education increment built into their schedules plus a $2,500 bonus for 10 years for attaining national certifications.
POLICY COMMITTEE
Zac Wycherley reported that the committee did not meet but noted that there was still no final Council resolution concerning the make-up of institutional Classified Staff Councils.
The current make-up as defined in SB2224 works for some institutions, but smaller colleges are having trouble finding 2 representatives for every EEOC category while other categories of employees are under-represented. The majority of the Council expressed support for adding BOG representatives to the Classified Staff Councils as voting members.
CHANCELLOR MULLEN’S VISIT
Chancellor Mullen joined the Council to discuss issues related to the current legislative session and issues relevant to classified employees. He noted that the Power Point presentation from his report to the legislature is available on the HEPC web site. He distributed handouts from the latest Higher Education Report card.
Chancellor Mullen shared statistics relating to retirement contribution inequities. About 900 employees are under a plan other than PEIA. It would cost an estimated $12 million to bring higher ed employees up to equity with other state. $350 million annually goes to pay down the teachers’ retirement liability. Governor Wise has proposed using tobacco settlement to help settle the past debts. The Chancellor also shared a spreadsheet with the estimated costs to fund the Staff Salary Schedule
The Chancellor reported on the 2.5% budget cut proposed in the Governor’s budget. Dr. Mullen reported that the Governor had met with the presidents and the BOG Chairs to discuss ways to make the state higher education system more fiscally efficient. Some suggestions for ways to raise revenue or cut losses included:
Dr. Mullen reported that compliance audits have been completed at three institutions so Far: Concord, WVU-Parkersburg, and WV State. The audits look at staff, faculty, and student files, policies, grievances, etc. He expects the audits to proceed on a three-year cycle. The results of the audits are reported to the Boards of Governors along with a request for the BOG to respond to the HEPC. Dr. Mullen noted that the purpose of the audits is to identify problems which need to be fixed rather than just give a seal of approval. The attitude should be to fix any problems and not to defend them.
Ms. Neal requested timely information on salaries across the various classes of Employees. Mrs. Buttrick noted that problems arise in gathering and reporting this type of information since different individuals are paid in different ways and from different sources. (i.e. full-time vs part-time vs temp vs casual; classified vs non-classified vs faculty; contract vs regular vs grant; etc.) However, a report should be available Monday, January 19, 04.
Ms. Neal raised a question concerning the Compensation Review Committee’s inactivity Ms. Pitzer suggested that the CRC could facilitate a statewide system to address the compensation problem. Dr. Mullen suggested that legislative concurrence is needed to solve the compensation problem and without additional funding everyone concerned needs to make a decision about what they want and how it would be implemented, it is time to get on with this discussion.
Ms. Pitzer raised the concern about possible cuts coming from getting rid of persons verses eliminating positions. It was noted that systems are in place but are not being enforced.
Mr. Long asked about the possibility of creating separate boards for community colleges Dr. Mullen expressed belief that such a bill will be introduced this session.
Ms. Neal asked for clarification on how grant funded employees are treated in relation to regular, full-time employees. What staff rights do they have?
Mr. Britton raised concerns about the fact that the central office and WVNET have no student generated funding and WVNET is restricted from being able to raise rates. Chancellor Mullen noted that increased rates just push expenses down to the customers, i.e. the colleges etc. Dr. Mullen expressed support for developing VoIP (voice over IP) and enhanced teleconferencing services. In order to remain competitive with private providers, the system needs to move ahead of the curve and take advantage of opportunities for developing markets.
Chancellor Mullen indicated that he expected significant budget cuts at WVNET and the central office. Concern was expressed about the Governor’s flexibility bill which, if passed, would move the staff of WVNET and the HEPC office to non-classified and would remove the cap of 20% of employees being non-classified. The Chancellor responded that it came from conversations with Senator Prezioso.
TELECONFERENCE
Ms. McNeal suggested that the Council consider hosting a statewide video conference with the WV gubernatorial candidates in cooperation with the Advisory Council of Faculty and the Advisory Council of Students, possibly in late April after the current legislative session is over. With large number of candidates in the primaries the questions would have to be structured and response time limited. It was noted that if the Council were to undertake this project, it would be important to recruit a large number of participants at each site.
Motion by Bob Long and seconded Joe Taylor:
The ACCE Chair authorized to pursue the possibility of coordinating a statewide
teleconference with gubernatorial candidates and the Chair is directed to approach the
Chairs of the ACF and the ACS to solicit their participation.
Motion carried.
OLD BUSINESS:
A discussion ensued concerning the structure of institutional Classified Staff Councils.
Motion by Ken Harbaugh and seconded by Bob Long:
Request change in make-up of Classified Staff Councils to "a minimum of one
representative from each federal EEOC category".
Motion by Ken Harbaugh and seconded by Chris Gray:
Add the Board of Governors and/or the Board of Advisors representative to the
institutional Classified Staff Councils.
Motion Carried.
NEW BUSINESS
Verne Britton announced that a Technology Summit would be scheduled at the legislature. He also reported that Glenville State College has a new e-mail server and their ACCE representative’s new e-mail address is evie.mcphearson@glenville.edu
Mrs. Pitzer reported that Higher Education Day at the Legislative was scheduled for Tuesday, February 3rd. Members who could be in attendance were advised to schedule meetings with their local legislators. The Council was advised that this legislative session could be a tough uphill fight to preserve basic employee rights and so Council members need to keep abreast of what is happening in the legislature and be ready to respond quickly when warranted.
NEXT MEETING:
The next ACCE meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 26th, 10:00 at MUGC.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting adjourned 3:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Robert A. "Zac" Wycherley
Secretary
APPROVED: 26 February 2004