Advisory Council of Classified Employees

MINUTES of March 15, 2005, 10:00 a.m.,
Marshall University Graduate College, South Charleston, WV

ATTENDANCE

Members in attendance:

Excused:

Guests:

PREVIOUS MINUTES

The minutes of the February 2, 2005 meeting were approved with minor corrections.

LIAISON REPORT

Mrs. Buttrick reported that the Job Evaluation Committee (JEC) met via teleconference to review several PIQs for Bluefield State and one PIQ for HEPC. Several additional PIQs are expected to be submitted to the JEC by WVU soon. It was decided that with the number of PIQs to be reviewed, a face-to-face meeting would be needed but probably not scheduled until after the end of the legislative session. The JEC did approve an Outreach Coordinator position at pay grade 14 for the HEPC.

Mrs. Pitzer noted that the campuses are responsible for evaluating PIQs even if they do not have full time HR Directors. A concern was expressed concerning the quality of PIQ reviews for upgrades, reclassifications, assignment of pay grades, etc. if there is no-one on campus trained in point factor analysis. Mrs. Neal noted that personnel is the institution’s greatest asset and without trained HR professional on staff, that resource is in jeopardy.

THE PERSONNEL RULE

Mrs. Buttrick reported on progress with the Series 8 Review Committee.She distributed copies of the first draft. So far the definitions in the rule have been alphabetized and adopted to a consistent format. The various categories of employees will be addressed in a separate section. Sections added from other rules include leave, EEOC, Holidays, disciplinary process (for old 1987 Board of Regents Handbook), reassignment (old Series 39 language open for discussion), and some language changes to comply with recent changes in code. A section will also be added addressing non-classified employees. Faculty are addressed in a separate rule.

The HEPC also decided to request bids for a consulting firm to assist with the re-writing of the rule. Three firms have been interviewed but no contract awarded yet.

The plan is for the Review Team to work on the revisions section by section then go back for a total review once each section has been worked. The drafts will be posted as they are developed and can be reviewed on the Series 8 web site, which is linked from the HEPC site: www.hepc.wvnet.edu.

A lengthly discussion ensued concerning several aspects of the Personnel Rule and some issues which need to be addressed or clarified including:

• release time for staff to serve on Classified Staff Councils,
• equity and morale issues associated with non-classified employees starting with enhanced benefits such as number of days of annual leave earned per month from the time of hire,
• clarification of how temporary and casual employees can be employed,
• letters of appointment and change-of-status letters,
• use of student workers to displace full-time employees,
• budget restrictions imposed on classified employee groups such as CSC and ACCE inconsistent with budgets for other constituent groups,
• replacement of the 1993 salary schedule in the rule with the 2001 schedule,
• large numbers of temporary workers on the campuses and the need for a requirement that all employees fit within the scope of the personnel rule,
• inconsistencies in how grant funded employees are handled in the bumping and recall process,
• JEC classified representatives should be appointed by the ACCE rather than the Chancellor,
• need to make the Compensation Review Committee a functioning committee,
• refer to the grievance procedure in code rather than pulling it into Series 8,
• clarification of how to handle holidays for employees who are scheduled to be off on the holiday,
• work-from-home and non-traditional work schedules.

The next Series 8 Work Group meeting will be scheduled after the current legislative session.

A discussion was also held about the progress or lack of progress in institutional policy development. Some institutions still do not have a policy-on-policies. Although Series 4 must be followed in developing policies, it does not include specifics.

Mr. Martinelli raised the question of years-of-service increment for faculty. Legislation has been proposed to authorize the increment pay but it does not address the issue of 9-month employment vs. 12-month employment. Classified staff who are less than 12-month employees have their increment pay pro-rated.

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

Judy Hale, President of the American Federation of Teachers - West Virginia (AFT-WV) and Bob Morgenstern, Director of the AFT-WV Higher Education Division, addressed the ACCE. The national AFT has given a grant to the WV chapter to actively recruit higher education employees. Offices have been established in Huntington, Morgantown, and Charleston.

The AFT is currently lobbying the legislature to postpone any PEIA increases until after the session when pay issues are scheduled to be discussed during a special session. They provide a full-time presence at the legislature and can represent employees in grievance procedures. In answer to a question from Mr. Harbaugh, they estimated that the AFT-WV now represents about 200 higher education faculty and staff throughout the state. Mr. Harbaugh noted that the ACCE represents over 5000 classified employees.

It was noted that the AFT leadership was not well informed about the structure and the role of the ACCE or the ACCE’s accomplishments. Mr. Morgenstern did assert that it was not the intention of the AFT to replace the ACCE or the Advisory Council of Faculty.

Mr. Martinelli raised the issue of the steadily declining percentage of general revenue funds being dedicated to higher education, from 14.7% in 2001 to 8.6% in 2006.

RIGHT TO RUN FOR THE LEGISLATURE

A brief discussion was held concerning House Joint Resolution 10 which would grant higher education employees the right to run for the state legislature. It was noted that SB448 had changed §18B-2A-4 by defining faculty and staff as employees of the local governing board rather than employees of the state which sets the groundwork for the right to run for the legislature given the fact that K-12 public educations employees can run because they are officially employees of their county Boards of Education.

ZERO STEP FUNDING

A discussion was held concerning the HEPC guidelines which state that all classified employees must be brought to the zero step by June 30, 2005. It was noted that there is sufficient money on the campuses and that the increases in enrollment along with the increases in tuition and fees has more than made up for state revenue cuts. It is just a question of priorities. Mrs. Cruise urged that we need to be demanding a whole slice of the pie rather than settling for a piece of a slice. It was agreed that we need to agitate for adequate funding for the salary schedule on our campuses, but we need to be aware of the funding sources as some funds have restrictions on how they can be used.

CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

Mrs. Neal reported on the progress toward the statewide classified leadership conference. It is set for June 15-17, 2005 at Stonewall Jackson State Park. BOG, BOA, and ACCE representatives and CSC chairs elected in April from each institution are encouraged to participate.

APRIL ELECTIONS

Mrs. Neal reported that the electronic voting system used at Marshall was very effective and Mr. Martinelli reported that WVU would be going to an electronic election procedure also. Members were advised to review the code covering the April elections in §18B-6-5.

HIGHER ED DAY AT THE LEGISLATURE

Mr. Harbaugh reported on the progress of the ad-hoc Higher Education Day at the Legislature committee and distributed copies of the ACCE’s Legislative Brochure. Meetings have been scheduled with several members of the legislature and with Jay Cole of the Governor’s staff for Higher Ed Day (Thursday March 16th). An agenda for the day was established along with a clarification of discussion points which included:

• The ACCE represents over 5000 classified employees around the state.
• Enrollment in higher education institutions has been increasing while the number of classified staff who provide services to them has been decreasing.
• Nationally, the student to staff ratio is 1/8 but in WV the ratio is 1/12.
• West Virginia ranks 50th in the state’s funding for higher education.
• Classified staff salaries need to be moved up on the funding priority list.
• The ACCE supports HJR 10 re the right to serve in the legislature.

Mrs. Shafer agreed to track higher ed legislation for the ACCE as it moves through the legislative process.

The Chair formally thanked the members of the committee: Ken Harbaugh, Bob Long, Sandy Shriver, Annette Schorr, Debi Cruse, Patsy Bee, Mary Alltop, Bob MacPhail, Barbara Neuman, Paul Martinelli and Johnna Beane. The Chair also expressed the ACCE’s appreciation to Tim Haines and the staff at Shepherd University who helped design and produce the ACCE’s legislative brochure. Mrs. Pitzer expressed the ACCE’s appreciation to Debi Cruse for designing and producing name tags to help identify ACCE members at Higher Ed Day at the Legislature.

BUMPING AND THE PERSONNEL RULE:

All ACCE members were encouraged to seriously study the draft revisions to the Personnel rule as they are posted on the HEPC web site, and to get all comments, concerns and suggestions to Amy Pitzer, Zac Wycherley, or Terry Nebel. There was a discussion about the need for a clearly articulated bumping policy. There are particular concerns with bumping practices and rights during reorganizations. Bumping was addressed in the old Series 37 but it was never adopted. It was noted that SWVCTC has a well-drafted internal reduction in force policy which could serve as a model.

OTHER CONCERNS

Brief discussions were held concerning:

• Concern that the Governor’s proposed flexibility for WVU and MU might lay the foundation for a split system or for a two-university system in the near future.
• Concern that the proposed increased flexibility for WVU and MU might open the door for increased outsourcing of classified staff jobs
• Flexibility in the purchasing and accounts payable functions could save considerable time and expense by letting the institutions cut their own checks without going through the auditor’s office.
• There has been some talk in the legislature about cutting sick leave benefits, but nothing in writing yet.
• There needs to be some guidance about the rights of non-exempt staff bidding on internally posted positions between a CTC and its host institution.
• Some institutions are administering tests to staff who apply for internally posted positions. Mrs. Pitzer noted that this was permissible as long as the assessments being used are professionally developed instruments and validated to assure that they do indeed test the specific skill required for the position.
• The chair distributed copies of the State Auditor’s 2006 budget presentation to the Senate Finance Committee on February 16, 2005.

NEXT MEETINGS

March 16, 2005, 9:00 am at the rotunda of the State Capitol. ACCE members would then split up to meet with various legislators as scheduled by the Higher Ed Day at the Legislature ad hoc committee followed by a 3:00 pm meeting with the Jay Cole of the Governor’s staff.

April 9, 2005 at 2:00 pm the Capitol for the final day of the 2005 regular legislative session.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business, Mr. Harbaugh made a motion to adjourn which was seconded by Mrs. Pitzer. The meeting adjourned at 3:07 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted:

Robert A. "Zac" Wycherley, Secretary

APPROVED: 4 May 2005