Shoreline Community College is recognizing the importance of its employees by investing in them.
“The faculty and staff are our No. 1 resource. They make this a great college,” President Cheryl Roberts said. “When there is an opportunity to help them, we should do it.”
In this case, the opportunity is in the form of lapsed, or unused, salaries. “This is one-time money, not the kind of thing that should be used for ongoing expenses,” Roberts said. “However, by using the funds to help our employees, the college and our students will continue to benefit in an ongoing way.”
As a result, most college employees will receive $200 either directly in their paychecks or as an allocation toward professional development. The difference depends on the employee category.
Classified staff members, both full- and part-time, will get a one-time payment of $200. That money will be added to gross earnings and paid no later than the Dec. 24, 2014, paycheck. Hourly employees are not eligible for the payment, but otherwise, all classified staff members who are in pay status for any portion of the period Nov. 16-30 will receive the money.
For faculty members and administrators, $200 will be allocated for use on professional development expenses.
“Before going ahead with this plan, we discussed it with both faculty and classified labor representatives,” Roberts said, adding that there was also significant discussion and work done with administrators. “Our thinking is that classified staff members may not always have the ability to utilize professional development funds and that cash would be more useful and appreciated.”
Faculty members already have professional-development funds built into their contract. This $200 allocation will be in addition to the existing money available for each faculty member. Full-time, senior associate and associate faculty members are eligible for the additional allocation.
Administrative employees will also receive the $200 allocation to be used on professional development. While not generally part of their contracts, administrators may also have access to professional development opportunities that the allocation could augment.
There are guidelines for how the allocation should be used by faculty and administrators.
“The intent is that most employees will use the money for professional memberships, training, seminars or other opportunities to increase their skills and knowledge that will benefit them, the college and our students,” Roberts said.
For faculty and administrators, using the professional development allocation to buy technology items is discouraged and any tangible item purchased would become property of the college, not the employee. If technology is purchased, that request must go through the Technology Support Services process.
“The college would to own it and we want to make sure the college wants to own it and can support it,” Roberts said.
And, the allocation has to be spent by June 30, 2015. “This is an effort to help the college and our students by helping our people, but these particular funds are a one-time opportunity,” Roberts said.
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