DRAFT

FACULTY COMPENSATION IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE MINUTES

February 24, 2006

East Campus

Present: Amy Bosley, Keith Houck, Joe Livingston, Pedro Rivera, Michael Shugg, Tom Byrnes, Chris Borglum, Stan Stone, Maryke Lee, Louis Pitts (Absent: Lisa Macon, Jim Franklin)

Issues: Step 30 Plan, Nursing premium and credit for experience

Step 30 Issue

The issue of the 30+ step was taken to the Faculty Council for input. In discussion with the Council members, it was clear that the majority recognized the Compensation system as a finite, 30 step plan. They understood that faculty on Step 30 would receive all forms of compensation except for additional step increments.

There was discussion of how we “amend” the plan to show the explanation of resolutions. It was recommended that we finely articulate the plan, not amend it. Future meetings should not reinterpret but need to articulate. It was recommended that the clarifications be added to the original compensation plan with clear notation that the clarifications are based on decisions by the Compensation Implementation Team and posted on the web site. It was also recommended to post Compensation Implementation Team meeting minutes on the web site. Amy will circulate all past meeting minutes to committee members for approval via email before the next meeting.

In 2003-04, the recommended Compensation Plan, as voted on by faculty and posted on the Valencia website, was approved by the Board. In discussions with the Board of Trustees, Dr. Shugart used the terminology of market adjustments rather than cost of living increases. Because the Board of Trustees cannot make financial commitments for future boards, it is important to remember that the board agreed to the plan but could not make a commitment to adjusting the salary schedule based on any one figure. Faculty on the committee suggested that the plan was not written as a legal document and it was recommended that Bill Mullowney should be asked to review the plan. A comment was made that this should have been done prior to the roll-out of the plan.

Credit for Experience

In a previous appeal to the Compensation Implementation Team, a faculty member brought up the subject of “leapfrogging” by new hires as we have increased credit up for related professional experience from 10 to 15 years. A suggestion was made to investigate the possibility of phasing in the prior experience credit. However, based on data provided by HR on the recently hired faculty, it was determined that several faculty members had already been hired in with more than 10 years of credit for experience. Therefore, it is not possible to phase in credit for prior experience.

Further discussions of awarding credit for experience was endorsed by the Faculty Council. In order to attract and retain well-qualified faculty, it was decided that a new system for awarding credit for prior experience was needed. The committee suggested drafting guidelines on credit for direct (at a one year to one year ratio) and indirect (at a three to one ratio) prior experience. The guidelines will be shared with faculty for comment and will be adopted by HR upon approval.

The Compensation Implementation Team (or future iteration of the team) will serve as a panel to provide guidance in situations where guidelines on credit for prior experience are unclear.

Upon completion of the new guidelines, all faculty hired under the new plan will be reevaluated for leveling issues. If a discrepancy is found, the faculty will receive credit for prior experience in the next contract. HR will not award retroactive pay on this issue and all files will be reexamined considering only information on prior experience included in the original application package. Additional documentation or claims of additional experience will not be entertained.

Nursing Market Premium

Leaders of the Nursing department came to present their findings on nursing faculty salary issues. In a tight market with an insufficient number of nurses in the community, the nursing leaders suggested that it is difficult to hire and retain qualified faculty.

The following information was provided to the committee:

Miami-Dade Community College pays $56,000 to start for a 10-month contract.

Saint Pete College pays $50,000 for 15 contact hours (10 months).

Newly hired, tenure track nursing faculty at VCC are typically hired at step 2 and make an average of $45,000 for a 12 month contract in the 05-06 fiscal year. It was asked what it would take to get the quality hires needed.

A suggestion of $50-55,000 was made. Vacations/time off was brought up as an incentive for hiring from outside the college community. This is particularly relevant when hiring against hospitals. Most community colleges in the area have the same type of time off.

Part-time work has not counted as service.

The suggestion was made to send out a survey to the HR Council to see what is being done in the other 27 community colleges in Florida. A first draft was sent to Hal and Pat on Friday. Their changes were incorporated and sent to Joe and Stan for final review before sending.

The committee was unable to make a determination on awarding a market premium at the time and requested additional information. Also, the committee agreed that a clear process for requesting and reviewing market premiums was needed.

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