PITTSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY
CLASSIFIED SENATE

Next Meeting…
September 12, 2007
1:30 p.m.
301 Russ Hall
Guest Speaker: Dr. Bryant

AGENDA

1. Review of Meeting Minutes
2. Treasurer’s Report
3. Committee Reports
   1. Position Paper
   2. Election
   3. Legislative
   4. Public Relations
   5. Advocacy
   6. Other University Committees
4. Senate President’s Report from Meetings with Dr. Bryant
5. Legislative Update by Dr. Howard Smith
6. Old Business
7. New Business
   1. Discussion of Minutes Distribution
8. Good of the Order
9. Adjournment
   

Please send your agenda items to your Senator! A list of senators can be found on the Classified Senate website at http://www.pittstate.edu/csen/senators.html.

All Classified Senate meetings are open to any interested PSU employee. You do NOT have to be a Senator to attend.

President David Hartman called the August 8, 2007 meeting of the Pittsburg State University Classified Senate to order in the Inaugural Room of the Overman Student Center.

Senators Present: Jill Allen (Secretary), John Bartels, Dee Buffalo, Jerry Duvall, John Foster, Tina Gregory, David Hartman (President), Pam Henderson, Dave Hornback, Kathi Lunday, Leigh Ann Martin, Tracey Mussa (President-Elect), Kathy Neely, Debbie Sullins, Marty White, Mary Wolfe (Treasurer)

Senators Excused: Sue Ann Barnes, Wylie Degruson, Josh Tucker, Stacy Wolownik

Senators Absent: Mike Paasch

Non-Senators Present: Kathy Bernard, Roberta Bigelow, Debbie Burns, Trish Peak, Joyce Row, Barbara Saker, Treva Sherman, Dr. Howard Smith, Susan Tewell, Kristi Toeller, Heather Winzer

Minutes: The secretary forgot to remove SB 74 from the agenda. Motion was made, seconded and passed to accept the minutes as corrected for the July meeting.

Treasurer’s report: In July, the Budget Account had a beginning and ending balance of $2000.00. The Donation Account had a beginning of $30, and with additions of distribution of dividends of $0.66 the ending balance is $30.66. $162.55 that was left over in the Budget Account from the 2007 Fiscal Year did not get rolled in time. Leigh Ann will check to see how to rollover the unused funds. Motion was made, seconded and passed to accept the August treasurer’s report.

Position Paper: No report.

Election Committee: No report.

Legislative Committee: No report.

Public Relations: No report.

Advocacy Committee: Tracey Mussa reported that they met with Michele Sexton and reviewed the reclassification process. Handouts were passed out for review under New Business.

Other University Committees: No report. However, President Hartman wants to check up on the Parking Appeals committee.

Senate President’s Report from Meetings with Dr. Bryant: President Hartman asked Dr. Bryant if he and Mr. Patterson would “go to bat” for us on the additional vacation time issues. Dr. Bryant told President Hartman “if that is the way it comes down, he will support it.” From his current discussion, we should receive an increase in vacation time, but not much more than we are currently getting.

Legislative Update: Dr. Smith stated that information from the July 30th State Employee Compensation Oversight Commission meeting is available on his website at http://www.pittstate.edu/pres/Legislature.html. This meeting comprised of private companies and corporations to discuss their current compensation issues and what can be done to improve the situation.

Old Business: President Hartman again answered questions regarding the new structure in the Physical Plant and regarding non-senator Physical Plant employee’s ability to attend Classified Senate meetings.

Updated Committee Assignments – Volunteers were taken to fill open seats in the following committees:
Position Paper Committee:
1) John Bartels – Chair
2) Dee Buffalo
3) Jerry Duvall
4) Tina Gregory - Alternate
5) David Hartman
6) Pam Henderson
7) Josh Tucker

Legislative Committee:
1) Kathi Lunday – Chair
2) Jerry Duvall
3) David Hartman
4) Debbie Sullins

Welcoming Committee:
1) John Foster
2) Marty White

New Business:
State Employee Compensation Oversight Commission Update – The July 30th meeting was a collaboration of private companies and corporations. Some of the representatives were Hallmark, Via Christi, Commerce, and Sedgwick County. Another meeting will be held September 7th at the Statehouse. Further information is available on Dr. Smith’s website, http://www.pittstate.edu/pres/Legislature.html.

Concerns were expressed over the recent change of a classified position in Facilities Planning to unclassified with a higher salary at the July 11th meeting. The advocacy committee met with Michele Sexton on July 26th to discuss the reclassification process. Attached are a copy of the questions and answers that were discussed.

Good of the Order: Gorilla Basic Training and Walking for Wellness Gorilla programs will begin Sept. 10 and runs through November 2. For more information, go to http://www.pittstate.edu/hrs/GorillaBasicTraining.htm or call Rita Girth at extension 4450.

Motion to adjourn was made, seconded and passed.

Respectfully submitted,

Jill Allen
Recording Secretary

The Advocacy Committee (Tracey Mussa, Jill Allen, and Kathi Lundy) met with
Michele Sexton in HRS on July 26, 2007 at 10:00 and discussed the following questions:

1. How does the reclassification process take place? What steps can a supervisor take to reclassify an employee?

A request to review a classified position at PSU may be initiated by the employee appointed to the position or the supervisor of the position. A position review may be requested because the organizational structure of the department or the duties of the position are changed significantly. A review may also be requested for any other reason a position appears to be reallocated incorrectly.

The position description is revised, and the Position Review Request Form is completed and routed for signatures.

Michele Sexton reviews the position description following guidelines established for reclassification, including the following classification factors:

Change in the nature and variety of work.
Change in the difficulty of the work.
Change in the authority and responsibility of the employee.
Change in the extent of supervision over the position.

If reallocation is appropriate, HRS forwards the decision to the President for final action. The President can approve the reallocation or pend the reallocation. If the reallocation is put on hold by the President, HRS notifies the supervisor of the decision, and informs the supervisor that the employee should not perform the “higher level” duties.

2. Who determines which positions are approved for reclassification?

See #1.

3. Several classified employees have been repeatedly told by their supervisors that reclassification will happen starting from the top with VP secretaries and working its way down. We have also been told that money is not available at this time for reclassification. If there is no money available for reclassification, how are some employees becoming reclassified on campus?

It is much easier to find funding/resources to reclassify one position in a specific area then to find funding to reclassify an entire group (i.e. all department secretaries). Reallocation of an entire class of positions, or all the positions in an organizational unit, involves major budgeting issues.

4. What are the steps involved in moving a classified position to an unclassified position?

When a position is such that duties have been added that no longer fall under the specific job titles established in the Civil Service system, then a supervisor can request that the position be moved from classified to unclassified. This happened recently with 2 employees who went from classified to unclassified assistant directors. Additional duties had been added to the jobs and the new job descriptions no longer fell under the current descriptions established by the state. Therefore, these specific positions were moved to unclassified. Michele noted that just because a position moves to unclassified does not necessarily mean it comes with a pay raise.

5. What determines which positions are moved from classified to unclassified?

Please refer to question 4 answer. The final approval comes from the President.

6. When an unclassified position becomes open does the position need to be advertised for a certain period of time? Can it be filled without being advertised?

This question was referred to Equal Opportunity. In the case of the new unclassified position in Facilities Planning, Mr. Patterson requested that the position be moved to unclassified. The job would have new duties/responsibilities with the Deferred Maintenance Plan the university would be undertaking. The position was approved by the President to move to unclassified. At that time, an unclassified search for the Business Office Assistant Controller position had recently ended. Teresa Massa approved that the same applicant pool could be used to hire the unclassified position for Facilities Planning and therefore, the position was not advertised.