ATTENDANCE
Members in attendance:
Members excused:
Guests:
PREVIOUS MINUTES
The minutes of the August 19, 2004 and the September 23, 2004 meetings were approved as submitted.
LIAISON REPORT
JOB EVALUATION COMMITTEE:
Mrs. Buttrick reported that there has been one change in a job title in the classification system approved by the Job Evaluation Committee due to restructuring at the Central Office. The Executive Secretary to the Chancellor title has been changed to Executive Secretary to the Chancellor or Vice Chancellor to allow for administrative support for the new Chancellor and Vice Chancellor positions without creating an entirely new position since the job duties and functions are similar.
SERIES 8: THE PERSONNEL RULE:
Mrs. Buttrick noted that she has been working with Vice Chancellor for Administration Dennis Taylor to begin organizing the advisory committee to work on the revisions of the personnel rules. They are also drafting a time table with the intent of having a revised rule to submit to LOCEA in August 2005 in preparation for the 2006 legislative session. It was emphasized that the new personnel rule would not be written by committee and that there would be ample opportunity for broad input from all concerned constituencies. Mrs. Buttrick also noted that they would begin with a clean slate rather than from previous drafts.
HUMAN RESOURCES ISSUES:
There has been ongoing discussions about job postings and classifications. Mrs. Buttrick reported that some institutions are routinely using education/experience equivalencies when screening for new employees while other institutions are not. She noted that since 1994, every ad posted for a classified position is supposed to have the education/experience equivalencies included.
Mrs. Neal expressed concern that at a recent statewide EEOC/AA conference there was very poor attendance by Higher Ed HR offices while other state agencies were well represented.
Concern was again expressed about the lack of any reporting requirements or enforcement related to the declaration of non-classified positions as "critical". Code (18B-9-1) requires that no more than 10% of an institution’s retirement eligible employees can be non-classified and a separate 10% can be non-classified if the Board of Governors determines that those positions are "critical" to the operation of the institution (§18B-9-2). The critical 10% non-classified is a separate population from the administrative non-classified population. During the discussion it was suggested that some institutions have used the "critical" non-classified status to promote incumbents, to avoid the restrictions of the salary schedule, or other non-critical reasons. It was also noted that some non- classified appointments do not go through the HR Departments but are hired directly by managers. Mrs. Buttrick noted that HRs are required by the federal government to report hiring related stats of applicants such as race, gender, age, etc.
Concern was also expressed about the bumping rights between component community and technical colleges and their host institutions. There is still much confusion around the state in relation to the division of personnel and services between the components and their hosts.
ACCE BYLAWS
Mr. Long presented the final draft of the ACCE Bylaws which have been revised to reflect changes
from HB 2224 and SE 448.
Upon a motion by Mrs Cruse and a second by Mr. Martinelli, the
Bylaws were accepted on first reading and will come back for a second reading at the December
meeting.
The Chair formally thanked Mr. Long and the Bylaws committee for their dedication and work.
EMERGENCY LEAVE
A discussion was held concerning how emergency leave is processed at various institutions. The Council was advised to review Series 38 which addresses emergency leave. The policy is available on the HEPC web site.
CC&TCE and HEPC REPORTS
It was noted that items of interest on the October agendas of the CC&TCE and HEPC meetings included reports on outsourcing and progress toward funding the zero equity step on the salary schedule as well as a report on progress toward institutional compliance with recent legislative mandates.
GRIEVANCES
The WLSC rep reported that employee grievances filed by staff at WLSC due to handling of their recent downsizing were appealed to the state Supreme Court and the staff prevailed. Mrs. Neuman noted that the employees prevailed at the Level IV hearing and at the Circuit Court hearing but the institution appealed at the taxpayers’ expense. The Supreme Court ruled that the Circuit Court decision would stand. The Concord rep also reported that their physical plant staff filed a grievance relating to outsourcing skilled trades jobs without paying prevailing wages as required by code and they also prevailed. These cases should be available for review at the Grievance Board’s web site. Mrs. Pitzer noted that these are precedent setting rulings and have the potential for significant impact.
ACCE PRESENTATION TO HEPC/CC&TCE
Mrs. Neal reported that the ACCE, with the help and support of Marshall University’s technical staff, made a video for presentation at the joint meeting of the HEPC and the CC&TCE. The video includes vignettes of classified staff and highlights the history of our current classification and compensation system, beginning with the legislature’s commitment in 1985 to develop a fair and equitable personnel system, and highlighting some of the Council’s concerns relative to the personnel rule and the upcoming legislative session.
ANNOUNCEMENTS and CONCERNS
The deadline for comments on proposed changes to the travel rule is October 30, 2004.
The deadline for comments on proposed changes to the performance indicators is November 1, 2004.
Mrs. Shafer expressed concern that at the recent Community College Association conference, there were no agenda items addressing classified staff issues.
NEXT MEETING
December 16, 2004, Thursday, 10:00 a.m., at the Marshall University Graduate College in South Charleston.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Mrs. Pitzer made a motion to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 11:45 a.m. so that the Chair could give the annual ACCE presentation at the HEPC/CC&TCE joint meeting at West Virginia State University.
Respectfully Submitted:
Robert A. "Zac" Wycherley, Secretary
APPROVED: December 16, 2004