ATTENDANCE
Members in attendance:
Excused:
Guests:
PREVIOUS MINUTES
The minutes of the December 16, 2004 meeting were approved with minor corrections.
VICE CHANCELLOR'S REPORT
Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, Dennis Taylor, along with Margaret Buttrick, reported on the meeting with the legislature’s Subcommittee A: Higher Education at their January interim meeting. He distributed a handout of the reports which were shared with the legislators.
Responding to a request from the ACCE to have ad hoc HR reports to the legislature put on line, Mr. Taylor stated that they were not up yet but it was his intention to have them posted on the web. There was a concern expressed by several members that some of the employee numbers in the reports were inflated, especially the faculty numbers. Mr. Taylor agreed to take another look at the numbers reported by the individual campuses and make any corrections that might be warranted.
A discussion followed concerning the salary schedule and how far below market the schedule is now. Mrs. Buttrick suggested that Mercer can track how the market has moved since the schedule was developed for July 1, 2001. She estimated that the salary schedule now averages about 8% below market. Mr. Martinelli stressed that it is important to note that most of the dollars needed to fund the zero equity step would come from sources other than the state’s general revenue fund.
Mrs. Buttrick again noted that any salary increases given at the institutions are supposed to be in accordance with a salary policy adopted by the institutional Board of Governors.
Mr. Taylor reported that some legislators and the HEPC are very serious about the institutions complying with directives to develop various policies. Policy development will be tied to the compact reviews and institutions who fail to comply will stand to lose peer equity and sustained quality funds. He noted that his office will be reviewing policies in three phases: 1) Do they have a policy, 2) Does the policy comply with HEPC/CCTCE rules and 3) How good is the policy? Mrs. Pitzer noted that in order for institutions to be in compliance with Series 4, established notice and comment procedures must be followed. Mr. Harbaugh asserted that there needs to be more accountability and the HEPC and the CCTCE need to have the authority to assure that the policies which are adopted by the BOGs are true and valid policies.
Vice Chancellor Taylor noted that the classification system is based on the quality of work performed and does not address the quantity of work. He expressed a desire to look at ways to compensate staff who are forced to take on significant additional duties such as can occur due to downsizing.
Concern was expressed about institutional compliance with the 10% limit on non-classified positions and the 10% limit on non-classified "critical" positions. It was noted that one reason that the BOGs are required to rule positions as "critical" was to reduce inappropriate manipulation of the system.
Rules currently up for revision include the Personnel rule, the Travel, rule, the Capitol Projects rule and the Tuition and Fees rule.
Title 133: Series 8:
Mr. Taylor reported on the January 6th open meeting held at the Marshall University Graduate College to solicit input from constituent groups prior to drafting of the new legislative rule dealing with higher education personnel administration. He reported that a Series 8 web page will be created and linked to the HEPC web site. He assured the council that each draft of the new rule will be posted on the sight and reaffirmed his commitment to this being an open and inclusive process. Mr. Harbaugh asked if it could be noted on the web site why a suggestion might be omitted from the final draft. Mr. Taylor and Mrs. Buttrick affirmed that the treatment of each suggestion would be noted as to when and why issues are or are not incorporated into the final rule.
Mr. Taylor stated that the goal is to have some degree of consensus by the third draft. Before the rule goes to the legislature, it needs to have the approval of the HEPC, the CCTCE, and LOCEA. Mrs. Neal reported that she has received some very positive comments about the openness of this process.
Mr. Martinelli raised a question concerning Governor Wise’s proposed executive order giving state employees the right to "meet and confer" on personnel issues. Although the executive order is a dead issue, it was noted that some people around the state are discussing collective bargaining for state employees and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is making a serious effort to organize higher ed employees in West Virginia. Mr. Taylor noted that the HEPC lost two employees to the AFT: Robert Morgenstern and Marian Smith.
LIAISON REPORT
Margaret Buttrick shared a summary prepared by HEPC Counsel Bruce Walker of SB 103: The Ethics Bill which was passed during the special session. The bill is available for review on the legislature’s web site (www.legis.state.wv.us)
Mrs. Buttrick reported back on a question concerning sick leave. According to a memo from Barbara Beane, PEIA Membership Manager: 1) An employee who discontinues their PEIA health coverage but retains at least Basic Life insurance prior to retirement in order to use their accrued sick and annual leave benefit for employer paid insurance at retirement (if employed prior to June 20, 2001) and 2) If an employee resigns but returns to state employment within one year, they may be eligible to have their sick and annual leave reinstated but that does not apply to PEIA guidelines. In this situation there was a break in the continuity of coverage and so that would affect their benefit plan and their ability to convert to paid insurance at retirement.
Mrs. Buttrick encouraged staff to take advantage of the opportunity to submit their PEIA benefits enrollment changes on-line by returning their sign-up form before the February 15th deadline. All non-smokers will still need to submit their tobacco affidavit in order to qualify for the non-smoker discount. There will be no plan major changes this year.
It was noted that HR departments do not notify retirement plan providers of changes in employee’s personal information. Employees are responsible for notifying TIAA-CREF or others directly of any changes they wish to make.
Copies of §18B-6-5 governing Classified Staff Councils were distributed. Elections for staff representatives are to be held in April of this year. Once the BOG or BOA representatives, CSC Chairpersons , and ACCE representatives are elected for the 2005-2007 term results need to be forwarded to Mrs. Buttrick and Mrs. Neal.
ACCE members were advised to notify all staff at their respective institutions that the Series 8 drafts will be available for viewing on the Series 8 web site linked from the HEPC site. Mrs. Buttrick noted that the first draft may not incorporate all items but sections may be distributed in stages. The first priority will be to alphabetize the definitions and bring some standardization to the format or scope of the definitions.
A discussion was held concerning how FTE employment should be addressed in restructuring, downsizing, and bumping situations. It was noted that there were conflicting rulings from the courts in response to grievances filed at West Liberty. Mrs. Buttrick will ask for an update from Bruce Walker, HEPC Counsel.
CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
Mrs. Neal reported on plans for a leadership conference for classified employee leaders including CSC Chairs, BOG/BOA representatives and ACCE representatives. The tentative dates and location were set for June 15 to 17, 2005 at Stonewall Jackson Lake. Vice Chancellor Taylor has agreed to participate and Governor Manchin will be asked to share his vision for higher education. A planning committee was appointed including Barbara Neuman, Monica Shafer, Mary Igo, Sid Cooper, and Paul Martinelli.
It was suggested that one of the topics for the leadership conference should be a workshop on facilitating communication with classified employees across the state and between the various representative groups across the state.
UNIONIZATION
Several members present reported being contacted by, Bob Morgenstern, the new WV-AFT organizer and it was noted that the AFT will be opening offices in Morgantown and in Huntington with the intention of launching a campaign to organize higher education employees including both faculty and staff. A discussion ensued on the pros and cons of unionization and the possible pitfalls of having multiple organizations with separate agendas representing faculty and staff. The WV Education Association (WVEA) is also a player in addition to the ACCE, the ACF, and the CSCs.
GUEST PRESENTATION
Dan Frost, Classified Staff Council Chair at Bluefield State College addressed the council and led a spirited discussion on the issue of institutions not funding the salary schedule. It was noted that with the separate institutions being free to give raises or not and to address funding the salary schedule or not, the classification and compensation system is no longer fair and equitable. Members were advised to talk with their Classified Staff Councils about the merits of filing formal actions to force institutions to make significant progress toward funding the schedule as directed in code. Mrs Pitzer again raised the concern that the Compensation Review Committee, which is provided for in code, has never met, noting that if the Committee were fully functional many of these compensation issues could be resolved in a fairer and more timely manner.
LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
Chair Neal appointed Mr. Harbaugh to coordinate Higher Education Day at the Legislature activities for the ACCE and reported that Tim Haines, an employee at Shepherd University and former ACCE representative, has agreed to design the brochure. Bob Long, Sandy Shriver, Annette Schorr, Debi Cruse, Patsy Bee, Mary Altop, Bob McPhail, Barbara Neuman, Paul Martinelli and Johnna Beane volunteered to assist. Mr. Harbaugh announced that the group would meet immediately following the ACCE meeting to receive their assignments.
Mr. Harbaugh led a discussion to identify issues for the legislative agenda which included:
Mr. Higginbotham also requested that the ACCE pursue representation on the Governing Boards for the administratively linked CTCs. Mrs. Bee and Mrs. Beane reported that they do not have the opportunity to vote for their BOG representatives, only the main campus votes for the BOG representatives while the staff at branch campuses vote for Board of Advisor representatives.
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Britton played a recording of WV-AFT president Judy Hale’s interview on the Hoppy Kerchaval radio program regarding the AFT’s legislative agenda.
Mrs. Neal asked that ACCE representatives keep aware of union activities on the campuses and that we all keep one another apprized in an effort to monitor the issues which they intend to lobby for.
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting was tentatively schedule for Wednesday, March 16, 2005 at 9:00 a.m., in Charleston.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Mrs. Pitzer made a motion to adjourn which was seconded by Mr. Higginbotham. The meeting adjourned at 4:25 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted:
Robert A. "Zac" Wycherley, Secretary
with Amy Pitzer, Vice Chair
APPROVED: 15 March 2005