Association of Classified Employees
January 24, 2002
Gibson Room-SUB
Present: Rita Nuxoll, Becky Blank, Connie
Charlton, Reida Bow, Rex Hadley, Shirley Turner, Kenny Wiscombe, Julie
Clarkson, Nancy Rountree, Mike Dome, Lisa Clements, Noreen Camacho, Lois
Santillanes and Rhonda Hughes
Guest: Jane Buser
HRS Rule 140- Reduction in Force:
Jane Buser
explained that the changes DHR had proposed to this rule for determining
lay-offs have been shelved and the previous cumulative point system will remain
in place to be used in the event that budget cuts require a workforce
reduction. Jane explained and gave
examples of how this rule would be used at Boise State. In essence, whenever a position is
being cut or its hours reduced, this is considered a reduction in force. Because this is being done to a position
rather than to an individual, Human Resources would then pull all the files for
Boise State employees in that classification and go through them, assigning
point values to each employee. An
employee’s points are calculated using their performance evaluations for their
entire employment with the State and on their length of service. Once all
points have been calculated, the employees are then ranked by points from
highest to lowest. The person with the
lowest point value in that class would be the first to be laid off or moved
into a vacant position of the same classification. Generally a vacant position
on campus would be used first to help with the budget reduction and possibly
keep workforce reductions from happening.
If an employee is laid off they would be placed on a “BSU lay-off
register” which would be used for filling vacancies which occur within that
class within the next year. If an
employee being laid off in one position has held permanent status in another
classification and they have a higher point total than the lowest employee in
that classification, they can then “bump” that employee in the other
class. Jane noted that reductions are
done within individual agencies. Boise
State is considered one agency and lay offs at another governmental agency
cannot be used to “bump” an employee at Boise State. The University is also considering dividing areas and considering
them separately. The areas could be
Financial Affairs, Academic Affairs, and Student Affairs.
The Senate
discussed the process of budget reductions within Boise State. Jane noted that the current figures are
based on receiving approval of the 12% fee increase for students which must go
through the State Board. At this point, each department at Boise State is
required to submit a list of reductions, totalling 6%; the total reduction is
likely to be around 4.5% which means some departments may be cut more or less
depending on the needs of the University as a whole.
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS
ON THIS, PLEASE CONTACT ONE OF YOUR ACE REPRESENTATIVES.
CEC Committee:
On January 18th,
legislators closed discussion within the CEC committee without officially
making a recommendation. This means
that Governor Kempthorne’s recommendations will go into effect. IPEA has noted that not all CEC committee
members were happy with this action.
As
a recap, the Governor recommended the following:
No change in employee compensation
Expand the Salary Schedule by 6% (which
does not impact salaries)
Fund the state's/employer's increased
health insurance cost (this does not include the employee’s increased cost)
Insurance costs were originally projected
to increase 12%. The Governor’s
recommendation was to cover the employer’s portion of this cost. Jane indicated that the latest numbers were
closer to an 18% increase. This could
mean either an additional cost to the employee or a reduction in coverage. It was suggested that the ACE Senate contact
the Professional Staff Senate and Faculty Senate to discuss uniting on this and
other University issues for a stronger voice.
Kenny Wiscombe agreed to contact Alex Feldman and Kimber Shaw to discuss
consolidating our efforts.
Energy Saving Strategies:
The new summer schedule for energy
conservation has been approved. This
schedule was distributed by the Provost’s office to all employees in
December. Beginning May 20, 2002 and
continuing through August 16, 2002 workweeks will be as follows: Monday
–Thursday at 9 hours a day (7 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.) and 4 hours on Fridays (7 a.m.-
11:30 a.m.). Not all departments will be able to follow this schedule, due to
staffing/service requirements. Check with your supervisor on the hours your
department will be working.
President’s Cabinet Meeting:
Next meeting is scheduled for February 4,
2002.
Proposed
Holiday Closure:
Jane Buser announced that she will be
presenting a proposal at the next President’s Cabinet meeting to close the
University for the week of Christmas, 2002.
Boise State will already be closed Monday, December 23rd - Wednesday,
December 25th. The proposal
would be to close the remaining 2 days of the week. Some areas (such as the Student Union) will not be able to close
due to special projects, etc.
Allowances would be made for employees who can not or do not want to use
annual leave for this time; allowances may include having the employee
work the 2 days in another area which is not closed (helping the Bookstore with
inventory was mentioned as a theoretical example). Jane indicated that a majority of employees took the week off
this past year.
ACE Meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m.
Next meeting is scheduled for Thursday
February 7, 2002 at 1:30 p.m.
Respectfully recorded By: Becky Blank
& Rita Nuxoll