Minutes of ACCE Meeting
October 22, 2009
Pierpont Community and Technical
College
Fairmont, West Virginia
ATTENDANCE:
Members in attendance:
Amy Pitzer,
Concord University
Mike Dunn, Marshall
University
Robert E. Long, West Virginia
Higher Education Policy Commission
Ellen L. Moore, Blue Ridge Community and Technical
College
Mary Alltop, Glenville
State College
Natasha Robinson, Marshall Community and Technical
College
Mary M. Igo, New River Community and Technical
College
Deborah Cruse, Potomac State College of West
Virginia University
Kenneth Harbaugh, Shepherd
University
Terri M. Wells, Southern West
Virginia Community and Technical
College
Mary Ann Edwards,
West Liberty University
Verne Britton, West Virginia
Network for Educational Telecomputing (WVNET)
Pamela Woods,
West Virginia Northern Community College
William H. Porterfield,
West Virginia State University
Paul Martinelli, West Virginia University
Excused:
Fred Hardee,
Bluefield State
College
Cathy Stevenson, Bridgemont
Community and Technical
College
Larry Bloom, Eastern West Virginia
Community and Technical
College
John Piscitelli,
Fairmont State
University
Lee Ann Porterfield,
Kanawha Valley
Community and Technical
College
Kenneth Moon,
West Virginia School
of Osteopathic Medicine
Timothy Beardsley,
West Virginia University
at Parkersburg
Barbara Boyd, West Virginia
University Institute of Technology
Johnna Beane, West Virginia
University Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center
Charleston Division
Unexcused:
Janene Seacrist, Council for
Community and Technical
College Education
Bo Sellers, Pierpont Community and
Technical College
Guests:
Thomas L. Krepel, President, Fairmont
State University
Harriet A. Bower, Library Tech
Assistant II, Fairmont
State University,
Classified Staff Council Chairperson
Derek T. Crites, Work Control
Assistant, Fairmont
State University,
Classified Employee
Beverly Jones, Program Assistant
I, Pierpont Community and Technical
College, Board of
Governors Representative
Mary Jo Rutherford, Administrative
Secretary Senior, Pierpont Community and
Technical College,
Classified Staff Council Chairperson
CALL TO ORDER
Chairperson, Ms. Amy Pitzer from Concord University, convened the meeting at 9:00 am. She expressed the appreciation of ACCE to Ms. Beverly Jones from Pierpont Community and Technical College for the willingness of the institution to host the meeting. Ms. Pitzer proceeded to introduce Dr. Thomas L. Krepel, President of Fairmont State University. President Krepel welcomed the ACCE members to the campus once again. He referenced the sense of community and collaboration on the part of employees at the institution. President Krepel reported that every employee has a vital role to play in the success of the institution and that all three categories of employees, faculty, non-classified and classified are involved in campus meetings. He especially singled out the significance of the contribution of classified employees in the success of the institution.
MINUTES
Ms. Pitzer asked Mr. Robert E. Long, Secretary from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, to report on the minutes from the September meeting that was held at New River Community and Technical College. Mr. Long distributed a copy of the minutes to the members. He reported that draft minutes had been distributed to the members via the ACCE LISTSERV on October 19, 2009 and that proposed changes were received. Mr. Long commented on those changes and stated the distributed version incorporated those changes. Mr. Kenneth Harbaugh from Shepherd University requested a change in wording be made as it related to the description of pay raises at Shepherd University. The revised wording, moving from Step 16 to Step 16 plus occurs in the last sentence of the second paragraph on page 6. Mr. Mike Dunn from Marshall University made a motion to approve the minutes with the inclusion of the recommended change from Mr. Harbaugh. Mr. Paul Martinelli from West Virginia University seconded the motion.
MOTION UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED
ACCE COMMITTEE REPORTS
LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE
Mr. Mike Dunn, Co-Chair of the Legislative Committee, reported that House of Delegates Speaker Mr. Richard Thompson had to cancel a recently scheduled meeting with the Marshall University Classified Staff Council but has rescheduled for December 2nd. He re-emphasized the critical importance of institutional Classified Staff Councils becoming pro-active in their effort to invite members of their local delegations, especially members of the various committees on the Personnel Study, to campus to acclimate them on the subject.
BENEFITS COMMITTEE
Mr. William H. Porterfield from West Virginia State University and Chair of the Benefits Committee encouraged members to access the following PEIA websites at peiawatch.wordpress.com and wvpeia.com in order to become familiar with potential changes in plan benefits. He reported that PEIA is proposing a plan that will increase premiums by 4 percent as well as increases in both co-payments and out-of-pocket maximums for next fiscal year. The 4 percent premium increase will apply to both employee and employers. Mr. Porterfield also reported on the scheduled public hearings that will occur to obtain feedback from both current employees and retirees relative to the Finance Board recommendations. The dates and places of those meetings are as follows:
The meetings begin at 6:00 pm with registration at 5:30 pm.
Ms. Pitzer reported that PEIA recently approved the full coverage for obtaining the vaccines for both the H1N1 and regular flu shots. Mr. Harbaugh suggested that each campus create a HR advisory group to address the benefit issues. Ms. Pitzer encouraged ACCE members to attend the public hearings and report back on the feedback given by current employees, retirees and affected parties.
RETREAT COMMITTEE
Ms. Ellen L. Moore from Blue Ridge Community and Technical College and Co-Chair of the Retreat Committee, reported that she has confirmed with Hawk's Nest State Park on both the availability of the facility for July 26 to 28 and the blocking of 25 rooms. She stated the room rate would be $80.00 per night and that she was waiting on the contract from them. Ms. Moore also reported that the handling of meals is negotiable (can handle a number of ways) and that a deadline date on rooms needs to be established so that unused rooms can be made available to the public.
WEB/COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
Ms. Pamela Woods from West Virginia Northern Community College and Co-Chair of the Web/Communications Committee reported that she has created an ACCE Facebook Group Account via www.facebook.com. She advanced the option of creating both a non-member group capability and a members' only group capability. Ms. Woods shared the entry mechanism to the ACCE Facebook Group Account and some basic features of it.
OLD BUSINESS
Mr. Harbaugh asked Ms. Ellen L. Moore from Blue Ridge Community and Technical College to explain the raises received by employees at her institution. Ms. Moore reported that employees received a 3.5 percent cost of living raise as of July 1, 2009. Ms. Pitzer asked each institution to update the status of raises as of this meeting date. Following are the current status of pay raises for this fiscal year as reported by those ACCE representatives in attendance:
NEW BUSINESS
MEETING WITH HUMAN RESOURCES STAFF AT WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
Ms Pitzer reported that she, Mr. Mike Dunn, Mr. Paul Martinelli and Ms. Jo Morrow, Classified Staff Council Chairperson and Board of Governors representative at West Virginia University met with various West Virginia University Human Resources personnel on Tuesday, October 20th at West Virginia University. The WVU HR staff informed the group of the various HR initiatives that are underway such as the apprenticeship program, the leadership program and the performance management system. The latter appears similar to what the Performance Management Committee devised. The WVU HR staff volunteered their services to other institutions should such institutions be interested in pursuing such initiatives.
MEETING WITH CLASSIFIED STAFF COUNCIL AT WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
Ms. Pitzer reported that she, Mr. Mike Dunn, Mr. Robert E. Long, Mr. Kenneth Harbaugh, Ms. Deborah Cruse from Potomac State College of West Virginia University and Mr. Verne Britton from West Virginia Network for Educational Telecomputing (WVNET) was invited to the meeting of the West Virginia University Classified Staff Council on October 21st. ACCE members interacted with Classified Staff Council members on a variety of issues not the least of which was the Personnel Study and its inclusion on the legislative priority list for the West Virginia University Classified Staff Council, the urgency of inviting local delegates to campus to encourage their support for the Personnel Study, salary/pay increase issues and other pertinent topics that affect classified employees.
Ms. Pitzer advised the Staff Council members that contrary to comments and statements that may be made to convince classified employees at the two major universities that their campuses should be removed from the Personnel Study that she believes the inclusion of classified employees from such institutions is in their best interests over the long term. Mr. Dunn reported that Mr. Jay Cole, Interim Chief of Staff, Office of the President attended the afternoon session of the meeting where continued interaction occurred on a variety of topics and that he intently listened to the issues and noted various points given. Mr. Cole advised the group that President Clements was supportive of personnel issues that improve employee performance. A sincere appreciation was extended to Ms. Morrow by Ms. Pitzer for both inviting ACCE members to the meeting as well as securing entrance for ACCE members to the Women of Color luncheon. At the luncheon various ACCE members met West Virginia University President James P. Clements.
UPDATE ON MEETING WITH PERSONNEL STUDY CONSULTANTS
Ms. Pitzer reported on the meeting that was held on October 16th at the Capitol involving ACCE members and Mr. Jerry T. Edge, one of the consultants hired by the Legislature to work on the Personnel Study. She stated the purpose of the meeting was to obtain input from ACCE members relative to their issues and concerns in the area of Classification and Compensation. The meeting lasted approximately two (2) hours in which Mr. Edge had about five (5) pages of notes. Mr. Edge reported that many of the issues and concerns noted by ACCE members were similarly expressed by other constituent groups but that two new issues surfaced during the discussion with ACCE members. Mr. Edge reported that he is to meet with the institutional Human Resources personnel later today and that he and Mr. James R. Beatty, the other consultant working on the project, with meet with the institutional presidents of the Community and Technical Colleges on October 23rd and with the institutional presidents of the Higher Education Policy Commission on November 19th or 20th. He indicated that they have already met with a number of the Personnel Sub- Committees and Committees as well as with legislative leadership. Mr. Long reported that Mr. Edge was emphatic in his total support for inclusion of proper accountability and subsequent enforcement consequences for any indiscretion in the maintenance of the system. He also reported that the consultants may recommend that a Human Resources guru be hired and that person be housed at the HEPC Central Office with possible reporting to the Policy Commission rather than to the Chancellor. Institutional Human Resources Directors would report to the Human Resources guru rather than to institutional presidents. Mr. Edge mentioned the inclusion of regular audits by outside firms as an important component of the system. Mr. William H. Porterfield from West Virginia State University reported that Mr. Edge admitted the current system to be unequivocally broken and needed total over-haul. Ms. Pitzer raised a concern over the hiring process that will be instituted as well as the ability of the person to overcome both internal and external pressures to manipulate policy mandates. Mr. Edge provided an e-mail address, jedge@rmconsultants.com. Mr. Harbaugh thought the meeting was extremely positive and considered it a win/win situation for classified employees. He also suggested the creation of an Advisory Committee that the Human Resources czar would report to. Mr. Dunn emphasized the need for seeking total unanimity from all institutional Classified Staff Councils in support of the Personnel Study Mission Statement. Mr. Porterfield raised the question of who received the market study data. Ms. Pitzer indicated that it was her understanding that at least some form of the market data was provided to Human Resource Directors, Chief Financial Officers and Presidents for review and comment.
PREPARATION FOR ACCE PRESENTATION TO HEPC, CCTCE AND LOCEA
Ms. Pitzer reported on the need for ACCE to begin the process of formulating its presentation to the following: HEPC, CCTCE and LOCEA. She proposed the development of a common power point presentation to be presented to the three (3) organizations.
Ms. Cruse raised the issue of changing both the date and location of the January ACCE meeting, currently scheduled for January 7th at West Liberty University, to a date and time to coincide with the January Legislative Interim meetings. The Legislative Interims are scheduled for January 10 to 12 in Charleston and the legislative session starts on Wednesday, January 13th. Mr. Kenneth Harbaugh from Shepherd University made a motion to cancel the ACCE meeting scheduled for January 7th at West Liberty University and reschedule the meeting for Charleston during the week of the Legislative Interims at a location to be determined by the Executive Committee. Ms. Deborah Cruse from Potomac State College of West Virginia University seconded the motion.
MOTION UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED
Ms. Pitzer recognized the attendance of Ms. Harriet A. Bower, Library Tech Assistant II and Classified Staff Council Chairperson at Fairmont State University, Ms. Mary Jo Rutherford, Administrative Secretary Senior and Classified Staff Council Chairperson at Pierpont Community and Technical College and Mr. Derek T Crites, Work Control Assistant and a classified employee at Fairmont State University. Mr. Crites was instrumental in preparing the meeting room and assisting in other ways.
A discussion ensued on the essential issues to be incorporated within the three (3) presentations. Issues presented were for Personnel-thanking the members of the Policy Commission and Council for their financial support for another successful Leadership Conference that ACCE hosted and legislative leaders for both their financial and general support for completion of the Personnel Study. The need to emphasize the importance of increased state funding for higher education and the vital role that classified employees play in the success of the institution from the standpoint of services provided to students Typically, a classified employee makes the first contact with potential recruits via the admissions process, services most student needs during their attendance and provides similar services once such students graduate via the alumni office. The importance of establishing a theme for the presentations was noted. Mr. Paul Martinelli from West Virginia University produced a Fact Book-1989 Edition, Facts on Higher Education that was compiled and annually distributed by the governing body at that time. Ms. Pitzer distributed copies of four (4) tables from the Fact Book. The information consisted of:
Another item needing classified employee support relates to the approval of legislation to alter the method of funding capital projects and dedicating a percent of those freed up funds for salary enhancements.
Potential Personnel Study Talking Points for Inclusion in Presentation
Ms. Pitzer divided the members into two (2) work groups and assigned each group with devising informational slides to be brought before the entire members at a later date. Such material will be utilized in the formulation of the ACCE presentation at the meetings of HEPC, CCTCE and LOCEA over the next two (2) months. She also advised the two (2) work groups that individual members of each group would be participants in the presentation of the materials.
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY MEMBERS
Ms. Pitzer reported that the next ACCE meeting will be held on November 19th at West Virginia University with the Policy Commission meeting at the same site on the next day. She requested that the minutes reflect the sincere appreciation of ACCE to Ms. Beverly Jones from Pierpont Community and Technical College for being such a hospitable host in a substitute role. Ms. Jones is to be commended for the excellent accommodations, the fine food and condiments and especially for the trinkets and gifts. Mr. Martinelli stated that he would communicate with the membership once he determines the status of a meeting room for the ACCE meeting scheduled for November at West Virginia University. There being no further business to come before the members, Mr. Kenneth Harbaugh from Shepherd University made a motion to adjourn. Ms. Mary Alltop from Glenville State College seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned at 2:55 pm.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
Robert E. Long, Secretary
UNANIMOUSLY APROVED