STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS
Strategic Planning Process -
Fall 2007
CSO Summary of Comments and Recommendations
The Classified Staff
Organization greatly appreciates the opportunity to be
involved in the strategic planning process. As an integral
part of Lewis-Clark State College, we feel we have valuable
contributions to make and we thank the administration for
their willingness to listen. We hope to continue to be
contributors to the process for years to come.
We respectfully submit the
following comments and recommendations:
-
Workload~ We continue to support the need for a review
of staff workload (PG-06-11.2). We are cognizant of the
requests made by many areas this year for additional
support staff but we feel through review of existing
workload we could ensure that employees are working in
pay grades commensurate with their workload as well as
arrange collaboration with departments to share support
based on need and availability.
-
Review Plan of Classified Positions~ The CSO would like
to see a position review process implemented through
Human Resource Services. We further recommend that
employees and their supervisors review job descriptions
prior to annual review to ensure that job duties are
comparable to actual work performed. We also recommend
reclassification of positions where workload exceeds
expectations for the current position; improving morale
and customer service.
-
Merit Funds (if funds become available) ~ The CSO would
like to see a merit system defined and applied as other
state agencies have implemented for their employees’
performance reviews. If a merit system is implemented
campus-wide, CSO recommends that all contingency
groups—classified staff, professional staff and
faculty—are equally represented in any decision-making
for the distribution of merit funds.
-
Safety~ With the opening of the Activity Center and the
new dorms, we recognize the additional burden placed on
security to maintain a safe environment on campus and in
off-campus student housing. Rather than relying on
low-paid irregular help positions, we emphasize the need
for funding to hire additional permanent security
personnel and clerical assistance, for the benefit of
staff and students alike. Although there is not current
standard or guideline stating what a campus is required
to do in order to be considered compliant with federal
guidelines. With the continual growth of LCSC’s
population it is highly important to ensure the safety
of faculty, staff and
students. To maintain a high level of security the CSO would
like to see a safety initiative brought forth by the
Security Office. To support the initiative it would be
important to have hardware compatible with the speaker
system of the Athletics’ Baseball Field to send out an alarm
sound to all those on campus. It would also be in the best
interest of Lewis-Clark State College to invest in two
electronic-reader boards for the campus, allowing for
accurate messages of emergency situations.
-
Personnel~ We strongly support the addition or increase
in hours of the following positions:
-
Increase the hours
from .5 to .92 FTE for the Administrative Assistant
in Natural Sciences -Due
to increased enrollments in the division and very
large grants which need additional attention, there
is a definite need to adjust the hours of the 1/2
time Administrative Assistant accordingly so that
the division can continue to perform at a high level
of service.
-
Full time 1FTE
Technical Records Specialist I for the Office of
Admissions/Registrar -
Due to increase in the
workload of the Registrar and Admissions offices, and lack
of work study students that are retained, this positions
would assist with tasks in the Registrar’s office as well as
enter international and inquiry data in the Admissions
office.
-
Establish a full-time
Office Specialist II position for the Controller’s
Office -
A new full-time
position will assist to relieve some of the work
overload that has been generated with the addition
of mandated health insurance, extra paperwork due to
the new residence halls, and the administration of
institutional credit card programs. Additionally,
with the future inception of
E-Commerce software for payment of student fees,
staffing remains to be an issue.
-
Establish a
full-time Classified Staff position to be split
between Human Resource Services (50%) and Campus
Security (50%) -
Due to high-turnover
rate with irregular help and with high importance
being placed on confidentiality and accuracy of
information we recognize the need for a 1.0 FTE
employee to be split equally between the offices of
Human Resource Services and Campus Security. The
fringe benefits would be split between the two
departments. If this position was approved,
departments would be able to perform their
services at a
higher rate of efficiency, a lower rate of turnover
would be realized, and the containment of
confidential information would be achieved.
o Full
time 1 FTE Office Specialist II position to be shared .5 FTE
with Career & Advising Services and .5 FTE with Office of
New Student Recruitment- Due to increase in student traffic
over the last two years in Career & Advising Services this
position is highly needed to reduce the heavy workload of
the current Administrative Assistant. This position would
help with assisting students seeking assistance, STAR
participation, and tracking information of graduates.
o Publications
and Web-Development Office – After reviewing the Unit Action
Plans of the various departments and divisions of
Lewis-Clark State College, the Classified Staff Organization
would like to propose and support the new program of
centralizing the creation of printed documents containing
LCSC information (Publications Coordinator) as well as the
Web Programmer and Server Administrator. Both of these
positions would be crucial in the development of marketing
strategies, recruitment strategies, increasing quality
control, establishing accurate and current information
throughout the divisions of LCSC, and providing standards
for the Student Services, Residence Life and Academic
Services publications as prescribed by the Northwest
Commissions on Colleges and Universities.
Please note that due to the
State Controller’s Office ruling on benefits for part-time
employees, we recommend that all part-time positions being
requested for FY-09 (and beyond) be evaluated to ensure that
current and future part-time employees are not affected by a
reduction/decline of appropriate benefits.
-
Classified Staff Search/Hiring Policy~ Lewis-Clark State
College should follow the state guidelines when hiring
new classified staff members. Due to the fact that we
do not have an institutional policy governing the hiring
process under the “soft” guidelines, inconsistencies in
the search and hiring process occur frequently. We
believe there should be procedures in place to clarify
the classified hiring process so it will be consistent,
cause less confusion and create fairness for all that
apply. Exceptions to the policy should occur only in
emergency situations. We also recommend that the
proposal of minimum pay at 80% of midpoint become
policy.
·
Professional/Staff Development~
According to PG-07-54, Employee Professional Development
and Training (PDT) Process, professional development
will be made available to all LCSC employees. The PDT
committee has implemented the training program and this type
of training will be possible if supervisors not only allow,
but also encourage classified staff to attend available
training. It should also be noted that numerous
divisions/departments referenced funds targeted for
faculty/professional staff professional development, but
division/department allocated funds should also be made
available to classified staff.
-
Equipment Upgrades~ We strongly support funding of
programs that will help to increase the use and
availability of Information Technology across the campus
community and its outreach centers as outlined in
PG-08-13. As we stated last year, the image and
viability of our college is directly related to the
education offered to our students, and instruction
delivered on out-dated equipment is detrimental to the
overall education of our students. This includes all
students, not just those limited to the central campus
in Lewiston. As our campus community grows, and we see
an increase of students taking advantage of both our
distance learning and outreach center services, we must
ensure that they receive the same level of service that
is offered to those on campus.
-
Salary Compensation~ We are especially pleased with the
progress of the Compensation Review Committee toward
salary equity for our employees and greatly appreciate
the administration’s commitment to this issue. We look
forward to our continuing efforts in this endeavor.
With the recent increase in the base pay enacted by the
Division of Human Resources, the compression issue will
only increase if attention is not given to this issue.
We continue to support a long-term plan that defines how
the college will address salary inequities and
compression each year without total dependence on
funding from the legislature.
-
Motor Pool Vehicles~ We strongly support a long-term
plan that includes a periodic maintenance review and/or
replacement of motor pool vehicles to ensure for the
safety of all employees, students and the community. We
recognize that funding may not be available to provide
for increased maintenance and/or replacement costs of
vehicles, but we feel that this is a college-wide safety
issue that should receive departmental and
administrative support.
-
Advertising Plan~ We recognize the need and support the
implementation of the college-wide marketing plan to
advertise our college. With the increased competition
from other colleges, it is imperative that we stay
viable within the college market, and this will only be
achieved through a concerted effort by marketing
personnel and additional funding.
-
Accreditation, Recruitment and Retention~ In an on-going
attempt to stay competitive with the colleges within the
state of Idaho, it is imperative that Lewis-Clark State
College develops an electronic method of payment to
benefit the students of LCSC as well as the staff
members of the Controller’s Office. Moving to E-Commerce
will provide Lewis-Clark State College with a
streamlined look that will assist in recruiting
students, primarily in rural areas where it is difficult
to travel in to the central campus in Lewiston to pay
their tuition bill. It will benefit LCSC in retaining
their current student population as well as hold a
higher level of compliance in providing LCSC students
with accurate information regarding their financial aid
award and residuals, and an updated running balance of
their tuition. E-Commerce will assist the Controller’s
Office, and Lewis-Clark State College as a whole, in
staying in alignment with the standards of the Northwest
Commissions on Colleges and Universities as well as
protecting each student to a higher standard of privacy.
We are concerned that low
employee morale among classified staff continues to be an
issue. Workload, salaries, and compression are significant
concerns with regard to morale. Due to the lack of regular
pay raises we have adapted a “do more with less” culture,
and while employees have stepped up to this challenge, it
has created tension among staff. The Classified Staff
Organization will continue to support a task force to
formulate strategies for non-monetary compensation that will
benefit all employees.
Respectfully submitted by:
Patty Leonard
Lucy Loewen
Cindy Patterson
Ellen Thompson
Carolyn Quintero
Mandy Campbell |