COMMISSIONER OF HIGHER EDUCATION’s
VISIT TO MSU-BOZEMAN,
CEPAC initiated and hosted
the Commissioner’s visit to campus, April 26. Time was limited and
the itinerary busy:
CEPAC escorted
Commissioner Stearns between appointments, and participated in the 10:15 am,
10:30 am, Noon, and
Meeting
Notes
Auxiliary
Services generously provided refreshments, and the Commissioner was introduced
to Mitch Crane, Food Service Manager, Rose Cain, Food Service Asst. Manager,
Paul Chu, Vicki Harrison, Gale Kinzie,
Laurie Thomas, Ashley Ward, Laurie Weber (Food Service staff), Chris Alberda, Nancy Topel, George Vossen (Custodial staff), Sally Hannon (Administrative
Associate). Most of these staff members
participated in conversation with Commissioner Stearns. She made notes of the issues raised and, on
several occasions throughout the day, referred to how much she had gained from
this meeting.
Attendees’ Feedback: generally very positive, expressing
appreciation of the Commissioner’s interest in holding the meeting; frustration
at insufficient time to address “real” issues, and request for more time, and a more formal “agenda” should
a future opportunity present.
Attendees:
Michelle Larsen, Steve Burk, Mark Reinholz, Sara
France, Sue Martin, Sheron McIlhattan,
Genevieve Burmeister, Dan McGuire, Ray Byerly, Janae Heap, Bob
O’Driscoll, Matt Blazicevich, Susan Alt, Bonnie White.
Bob
O’Driscoll welcomed Commissioner Stearns to campus and, particularly, to this
meeting with CEPAC. The Commissioner
began by attributing the concept of the day’s itinerary to CEPAC. She mentioned that nowhere else has she
experienced this kind of welcome or the opportunity to learn about a campus in
this way. She said it was fun to come to
meet people who are involved with the governance of their university; she was
learning a lot, and gleaning information that will be very useful to the
Regents.
CEPAC had previously
identified some issues for discussion:
1. State funding of the pay plan. Commissioner Stearns spoke of the last 10
years’ gradual decrease in the State contribution to the MUS for financing the
pay plan. She acknowledged the budgetary
impact of having to fund about 60% of the upcoming pay raises locally. It is her aim to “strike a bargain” with the
State to build its contribution back up, to at least 80%, in the future. She stressed that employee input in this
regard will be valuable, and she plans to request comment on a proposal her
office will produce in due course.
Commissioner Stearns’ goal of raising the minimum MUS salary now looks
possible through bargaining. The
Commissioner acknowledged the need to examine priorities for tuition dollars as
regards salaries.
2. Supervisor Training. Funding for new initiatives is minimal in the
FY06 budget. One such initiative
for which CEPAC has been lobbying but currently cannot pursue as a result of
the FY06 budget restrictions, is funding for supervisor training. Reference was made to several independent sources
identifying a critical need in this area (eg CEPAC’s MAP survey, recent survey of MAP supervisors,
conversations between CEPAC and local administrators, etc). CEPAC will continue to advocate for training
opportunities utilizing existing resources (perhaps sharing
programs/facilitators, etc across the MUS).
Commissioner Stearns acknowledged MSU’s
efforts in this regard, and was interested in asking leadership about
strategies for identified priorities when no funding exists. She also suggested Personnel set up a
conference call with OCHE and other MUS Personnel staff to further discuss
training opportunities.
3.
At
the March Board of Regents meeting, CEPAC and the other Staff Senates/Associations, had been asked their opinion of draft
documents describing philosophies and plans for professional contracts and
pay. CEPAC has very recently received
the latest drafts and, to help give feedback, we asked the Commissioner the
background behind the documents’ production.
She explained there are no current guidelines providing equity in
granting Board of Regents contracts, or handling requests for pay raises etc
for professional staff. Currently, without
guidelines at any stage of the process, campus CEOs submit requests of this
type, the Commissioner makes recommendations, and the Regents grant or reject
the proposals. A short discussion
followed about the importance of equity in rewarding like jobs and duties and,
particularly, about inconsistencies when like jobs occur across categories of
employment (specifically under Professional and also Classified
contracts).
4. 360 review. Currently, CEPAC is voluntarily conducting a
360 review. This arises out of respect both
for classified staff’s indication that it wants broad spectrum evaluation at
all levels, as well as in support of emerging campus protocol. CEPAC plans to use the resulting feedback in activities
planning, budgetary justification, and service enhancement. Commissioner Stearns commended CEPAC for its
actions and linked such positive undertakings as this to the campus atmosphere
fostered by President Gamble.
Attendees’ Feedback: none yet received.
Attendees’
Feedback: The day went
very well. ASMSU hopes this opportunity
is seized in the future.
Attendees: Warren Jones, Shannon Taylor, Marvin Lansverk (Faculty Council), Blake Rassmussen,
Rock Wankel (ASMSU),
The
lunch party talked informally about the achievements of each person’s
department/area, and CEPAC drew attention to the increase in the whole group’s
collaboration in shared governance over the last year. This activity was attributed, among other
things, to
The Commissioner was asked
to talk about her vision for the MUS, and MSU’s role
within that vision. CEPAC understands
the gist of her vision to be as follows, with emphasis on strengthening
The lunch party asked for
clarification of some of the Commissioner’s comments, particularly those
related to 2-year programs and tuition increases:
·
The
July Board of Regents retreat will focus on planning, rather than the
allocation model.
·
Research
and grant income is stellar to the MUS. Comments
focusing on 2-year programs were not intended to detract from the value or
importance of 4-year programs. 80% of
·
To
help empower the Regents to make informed decisions, campuses need to continue
to provide good data.
·
Non-resident
student recruitment continues to be important.
·
Awareness
is increasing around issues of recruitment and retention, and Regent planning
in the next 5 years should include compensation goals. Marketing and information is critical in
publicizing the value of higher education, including communicating how the
communities with colleges are benefiting by them (attracting business and
growth). MUS must celebrate its
achievements, and counter the occasional negative items.
Attendees’ Feedback: most of the meeting
entailed discussion over the draft philosophies and compensation documents
pertaining to professional staff. These
drafts will be discussed at the May Board of Regents meeting. The concept of the day’s meetings was great.
Attendees’ Feedback:
It went extremely well. The Commissioner may not have a completely
accurate perception of all our strengths and we helped clarify that for her
yesterday.
Bob
O’Driscoll, Genevieve Burmeister and Sara France
thanked Commissioner Stearns for coming to