Chancellor's Staff Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes December 17, 1998  The meeting was called to order at 1:30 in Room 37, Highsmith Center by the chair, Steve Honeycutt. Minutes of the November meeting were approved. It was moved and seconded that the CSAC recommendations regarding an In-Range Salary Policy be accepted and presented to the Chancellor's Council. The motion passed and the following recommendations will be forwarded to Chancellor Reed. In-Range Salary Adjustments for SPA Employees Funding Priorities Range Revisions Approved by the State Personnel Commission Promotions Reclassifications Job change adjustments Equity adjustments New Hires Labor market adjustments All departments should be treated equal regardless of funding source. At the discretion of the Chancellor, the above priorities may be redirected. The maximum amount of 10% per person per year should be used in making awards. The "work unit" should be the entire campus. The factored salary method should be utilized with the variables of education, related non-state service, and total state service. The total state service should be weighted twice the amount of either education or related non-state service. Adjustments should be made based on the furthest away from the factored salary goal or the maximum of the salary grade whichever is the least amount. Since longevity payments are not considered when making offers to new employees and longevity payments are not considered part of the annual salary, longevity payments should not be a part of the calculations in determining in-range adjustments. On or before February 1 each year, the Human Resource Office should be notified as to the amount of funds available for in-range adjustments. On or before March 1 each Year, the Human Resource Office will determine which employees are eligible to receive in-range adjustments. On or before May 1 each year, awards will be made and employees will be notified. The Factored Salary Formula: 5% x minimum of salary grade x (2 x the number of related state service above the minimum requirements + related non-state service above the minimum requirements + years of education above the minimum requirements ) [not to exceed the maximum of the salary grade] The information (who is on the list, when they were first put on the list, order of the list, who has received adjustments, and how much the adjustments were) should be maintained in the Human Resource Office and the Library and available upon request. Employees are responsible for maintaining accurate information in the Human Resource Office. The Human Resource Office should be responsible for disseminating the information. It is recognized that the reclassification of a position is a different process; therefore, the factored salary computation assumes the positions are classified correctly. The following recommendation for adoption as part of the grievance process was approved. Delacy Bradsher reported that approximately four to five grievances are processed per year. Amendment to the SPA Grievance Policy The employees may consult with a fellow employee of their choice in bringing and presenting a grievance, including the right of the grievant to have that employee-assistant accompany them during any hearings that may be held as part of the grievance process; such assistants would serve as advisors, not as advocates or spokespersons. The Human Resource Office will provide a list of individuals trained in the grievance process. The following recommendation regarding the Service Awards Luncheon was approved. Employee Service Awards Luncheon Since the Christmas holidays are a natural time for people to gather together and the service awards luncheon is one of the few organized events that is well attended, it was generally agreed that moving of the service awards luncheon would result in less attendance. The consensus was that the luncheon and the chancellor's reception do not create a duplicate; therefore, the CSAC recommendation is the luncheon continue during the Christmas holidays, the service awards continue to be given at that time, and the luncheon be free to all employees. The following recommendation regarding academic pursuit time for staff was approved. Academic Pursuit Time I. Purpose and Uses: The purpose of academic pursuit time is to promote employees' interest and involvement in academic opportunities at UNC Asheville. Employees may use work time under this policy to attend UNCA classes, lectures or academic programs which may be of professional or personal interest to them. Non-public meetings require prior approval from the professor or sponsor of the program. II. Approval of work release time a. Employees must receive approval from their supervisors to use this time. The supervisor may require acceptable proof that the time taken is within the purpose of this policy; however, such a procedure shall be set forth by the supervisor and administered consistently. b. Time away from work, pursuant to this policy, shall not exceed four hours. The supervisor may require that academic pursuit time be used based on the needs of the department. III. Amount of work time allowed a. Full-time, probationary and trainee employees (in permanent position appointment type) may take up to four hours of work release time each calendar year. The four hours of release time will be credited to each employee on January 1 of each year by her/his supervisor. Hours for part-time employees (in permanent position type) will be prorated based on the proportion they work of full-time. b. New employees will be credited (by their supervisors) with the full four hours of academic pursuit time immediately upon their employment. A discussion followed regarding staff development. There is low attendance at Human Resources and Computer Center workshops. A high number of employees feel that they aren't allowed or encouraged to attend workshops. This should be corrected. The question was raised that the same principle as that for academic pursuit time might be applied. It was suggested that Administrative Assembly should be the vehicle to address this. Chancellor Reed will take this issue to the vice chancellors. She suggested a "loan pool," which would allow employees to attend workshops and maintain telephone coverage in offices. The workshops currently available are under-utilized. The vice chancellors should be asked to encourage supervisors to allow employees to attend. Evaluation of supervisors was discussed. It would be useful to know how other campuses handle this. Unless it is done anonymously, there would be the concern of retaliation. The suggestion was made that we work with Archer Gravely to create a survey. Delacy volunteered to determine how other campuses are handling this issue. Terry Bailey reported that she is hearing numerous morale issues including that there is nothing to offer for employee problems which are not at the grievance level. Mary O'Day suggested that we conduct surveys more often even while we are researching what other schools are doing. The Computer Center could put an anonymous survey on the computer. Also suggested that greater use should be made of the Mediation Center. The discussion concluded with a decision to find out how other schools approach this issue and then to talk to Archer regarding a campus survey. Terry and Delacy will explore the possibility of CSAC conducting an employee job satisfaction survey with results to be reported to the vice chancellors. Steve reported that the "balance scorecard" is one approach to be investigated in evaluating supervisors. The UNCA Parking Commission was unclear on the proposals CSAC had presented to them for consideration. Hopefully we will have answers by the January meeting. The second CSAC Newsletter will be out before the next meeting. Among items to be included are the parking issues, with or without a reply from the Parking Committee and the in-range salary recommendation. The following are the deadlines for the newsletter: submissions to Steve, January 5th; copy to editors, January 8th; layout and printing, week of January 11th. CSAC bylaws state that a staff forum will occur twice per year. The chancellor needs to be present. Vice chancellors and supervisors should encourage staff members to attend. It might be advisable to hold two sessions to make certain all employees have the opportunity to attend. By the January meeting, a decision will be made on when to have the first forum, its length and structure. Delacy will discuss the summer picnic at the January meeting and requested that she be first on the agenda. Mike Honeycutt will present the subject of a staff scholarship for a student. The dates for the first six meetings of 1999 are: January 21 April 15 February 18 May 20 March 18 June 17 Steve announced that the Chancellor Search Committee will begin reviewing applications January 15, with discussion to begin January 26. The goal is to have someone in place by July 1st. The next meeting will be January 21st at 1:30 in Highsmith 37. The meeting was adjourned at 3 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Elise Henshaw, Secretary