November 22, 2007
Members Present: Alison Baker, Myrtho Blanchard, Sheri David, Charlie Errico, George Gonchar, Bruce Mann, Mitch Markon, Sima Otsuka, Van Robertson, Charles Scarborough, and Sherrill Wharff.
Members Absent: Kate Blackwell, Lisa Donaldson, Ruby Holland, Nichole McBeth, Frances McDonald, Patricia Ottavio, Jennifer Reynolds, David Williams, and Nancy Wyatt.
1. Call to Order: Charlie Errico called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m.
2. Chair’s Report:
A. Schedule of Committee Meetings – The committee
will meet on January 17, February 21, March 20, and April 17 in 2008. All meetings are scheduled to begin at 2
p.m., and all will take place in the President’s Dining Room in the
B. President’s Sabbatical - The Faculty subcommittee will meet in the Brault Board Room at 1:30 p.m. on December 13 to review the applicants for the President’s Sabbatical Award. A number of people have expressed interest so there should be lively competition for the award. Patti Hill in Human Resources will send the applications to the subcommittee members electronically. Subcommittee members should read the applications in advance and come to the meeting ready for discussion. Charlie will be in touch if anything changes in regard to this meeting.
C. Classified Emeritus – Mitch will be in touch with the members of the Classified subcommittee about the processes they will pursue in reviewing nominees for Classified Emeritus status. An announcement of the nomination process will appear in this week’s INTERCOM. Recommendations are due December 4.
3. Review and Approval of the Minutes: A quorum being present, the minutes of the October meeting were approved as amended and the minutes of the September meeting were approved as distributed.
4. Old Business:
A. ERP – Charlie, Alison and Myrtho met with representatives of the Segal Company regarding drafting legislation to amend current VRS regulations that prohibit programs such as NOVA’s proposed Enhanced Retirement Program. The Segal representatives provided a proposal that went beyond the scope of the work desired, and Myrtho will respond to them asking for a revised proposal. This matter will come back to the committee for further discussion.
B. Physical Education Teaching Loads – Charlie wrote to Drs. Templin and Dever asking that the College take action on the change to Phys. Ed teaching loads due to become effective next Fall. The committee suggested that NOVA try to have the VCCS policy changed or to request postponement so that the cluster can reorganize itself. Dr. Dever replied saying that the plan to enforce existing VCCS policy must be considered final and suggesting that actual teaching loads won’t change, but overload and summer compensation will change.
Bruce Mann said that he continues to be gravely concerned about this. He expects to have serious difficulty in hiring adjuncts under the new standards. He said that P.E. enrollment is up 60% over the past six years. This issue will be discussed at the Academic Dean’s meeting tomorrow. Bruce will report back to the Committee at the January meeting to give an update.
The Committee agreed with Charlie that it had done what it could to support the P.E. faculty, and that it has no other tools to use in helping to resolve this problem.
C. Classified Salary Increases: Myrtho handed out materials describing the program and policies that guided the distribution of this year’s special classified salary increases. The increases are effective on October 25, and the November 25 across-the-board increase will be computed on top of that increase. 180 classified employees got increases under the plan. The plan compared cohorts of employees to market rates prevailing in the Washington Metro Area. When current employees’ salaries were significantly behind those in the market, NOVA gave increases of up to ten percent.
D. Faculty Salary Increases: Myrtho reported that the faculty salary increase will also become effective on November 25. Because teaching faculty are paid bi-monthly with no lag pay, this will result in a very small increase in the December 1 pay. Teaching faculty can expect to see the full extent of their increases in their December 16 paychecks. Administrative and Professional Faculty are subject to the lag-pay schedule applicable to Classified, so the salary increase will not appear at all until the December 16 pay.
Adjunct Faculty salary increases go into effect with the Spring Semester.
E. Flexible Schedules: At our first meeting it was suggested that the Committee explore allowing staff members to use flexible schedules as they do in the Summer. Myrtho reported that flexible schedules are available year round, so long as the employee and the supervisor agree on the schedule, that the schedule requires the minimum 40 hour work-week (or appropriate part-time hour requirements), and that the work unit is adequately staffed during the College’s regular business hours. Human Resources needs to have notice of any special schedules employees are working. This means that an employee whose supervisor approves may work four ten-hour days a week, or five and a half nine-hour days, just as is possible in the summer. Special attention must be given to holidays under this system.
Myrtho reminded the committee that the College does have a telecommuting policy, and that telecommuting can be a portion of a flexible work schedule.
F. Assistant Deans’ Stipends: The committee agreed that it would consider a resolution on the subject of assistant deans’ stipends for summer work. Charlie will draft the resolution and circulate it to the committee.
G. Sick Leave for Non-marital
Partners: Myrtho was not sure that the VCCS has the authority to allow
faculty employees to use personal sick leave to care for people who are not
“family members” under
5. New Business:
A. Teaching Faculty Fall Overload Payments: Teaching Faculty now will receive their overload pay for the Fall Semester after the census date for the Spring Semester. That pay is likely to be made in the first week of March. Myrtho will check with payroll and publish the pay date in the INTERCOM.
B. Step Increases for Faculty: A faculty member asked Charlie if the Committee would consider requesting that step increases be incorporated into the faculty salary increase policy. That person noted that once one’s salary is set within the range, that salary almost never moves up within the range. If one is at the bottom of the range, it is likely that one will always be at the bottom of the range.
The committee discussed this question briefly and agreed to consider recommendations along these lines made by the Segal Company. Myrtho will bring this information to a future meeting.
C. Alison Baker’s Retirement: The Committee noted that this was Alison Baker’s last meeting and her final service as executive secretary to the committee. The committee commended Alison for her service to and support of the committee’s work over the years.
6. Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 3:45 p.m.