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: