CEPAC (Classified Employees Personnel Advisory Committee)

    Room B, Hannon Hall

    P.O Box 171865

    Bozeman, MT  59717-1865

               

    Phone:                   (406) 994-6895

    www.montana.edu/staffsenate

 

 

Board of Regents’ Planning Retreat

Meeting: 7:00 am, July 15, 2005

 

CEPAC has considered current classified issues, at MSU-Bozeman, in the context of their potential to influence 5 to 15-year planning.  We respectfully tender comment, broadly encompassed under a recruitment/retention label, but see these points as very much integrated with our Further Considerations. 

 

  1. Recent Classified Recruitment and Retention:
  • 52% of the current classified workforce has longevity of 5+ years1 -
    • 20% has longevity of 15+ years
    • average duration of service of 8 years

while these figures are not extraordinary today, the following points may indicate an adverse impact for the future.

  • Risks of regular loss of employees with shorter service histories:
    •  increased recruitment costs -
      • 1 in 7 supervisors2 experienced more than 5 classified vacancies occurring within the last two years
      • 270 classified searches 1  were conducted in FY04, at a minimum cost of $146,000
    • loss of - 
      • productivity, continuity, corporate knowledge, and return on investment in human resources (training, etc).  Please see table below for FY04 data:
        • vacancies occurred in as many as 1 in 3 positions within the same category of employment
        • Secretarial/Clerical and Service Maintenance experienced positions vacated in  proportion significantly greater than their share of campus population
        • on average, 58% of positions were vacated by incumbents with less than 3 years’ service

FY04 terminations data1 – relating to positions of .5FTE and greater (MSU-Bozeman)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Positions (not headcount) of .5FTE and greater

“EEO” category (roughly translated from job titles provided in FY04 terminations data)1

Classified Professional

Secretarial /Clerical

Technical

/Paraprofessional

Skilled Crafts

Service Maintenance

# available positions on campus (all classes: classified, professional, faculty, administrator) and as % of the workforce

142

5.3%

371

14.0%

277

10.4%

50

1.9%

314

11.9%

# positions vacated in each EEO category and as % of vacated positions on campus (all classes)

8

2.7%

58

20.2%

32

11.1%

7

2.4%

48

16.7%

vacant positions within own EEO workforce

 

1 in 10

 

1 in 6

 

1 in 3

 

1 in 7

 

1 in 5

% of vacated positions where incumbent held position for less than one year

 

22%

 

41%

 

33%

 

0%

 

36%

% of vacated positions where incumbent held position for less than three years

 

44%

 

86%

 

86%

 

0%

 

70%

% of vacated positions where incumbent held position for more than five years

 

22%

 

7%

 

15%

 

100%

 

13%
  • MSU-Bozeman’s status as a competitive employer is negatively impacted by local market forces, including:
    • Growing off campus competition -
      • 35% of supervisors 2 lost classified staff to promotion/better pay off campus
      • supervisors 2 cited primary reasons for searches not producing a hire  –
        • offers rejected for salary reasons, 42%
        • lack of qualified applicants, 26%
        • or simply too few applicants 16%
    • Increasing cost of living in Gallatin County -
      • owner-occupied housing in 20003  at 146% of the Montana median

 

  1. Further Considerations:
    1. How might classified staff be of assistance to the Commissioner and/or Regents?

Particularly in the areas of:

                                                               i.      State Contribution to the Pay Plan

·         CEPAC is aware of increasing campus awareness of impact of continued reduction in funding:

o        Fee hikes

o        Lack of funding for new, or improved, campus initiatives

·         CEPAC supports the philosophy of  fair and equitable reward across and within all categories of employment, with emphasis on market influences in the Bozeman area, and the necessity for flexibility

                                                              ii.      Student Recruitment, Retention and Career Prospects

·         A significant portion of the student experience is impacted by face to face service from classified staff

·         CEPAC acknowledges  the importance of MSU-Bozeman’s role within the community and local economy

b.   CEPAC supports MSU-Bozeman’s efforts in the areas of following -

Performance Evaluation

Training and Development

Initiatives designed to promote the University’s role in the community, both as a high quality employer, and a positive influence on the economy4

c.        CEPAC encourages MUS collaboration in the further development of

Performance Evaluation

Supervisor Training

Exit Interviewing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1  from data provided by MSU-Bozeman Personnel & Payroll Services, and/or MSU-Bozeman Department of Planning & Analysis

2  responses to MSU-Bozeman Professional Council and MAP Advisory Committee Survey of Supervisors, 2005 (relating to FY04-FY05)

3 Compensation Study Report to the Board of Regents Budget Committee 9/2004 (Table 5)

4 http://www.montana.edu/upba/vision/fstactics.html (staff and professional tactics #100-#126)