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President's Notes

August 2008 President's Notes:

This senate year has started off with a bang. As one of my first duties as President of Classified Senate, it was a privilege to inform the classified community of the approved enhanced leave proposal. In case you missed our prior messages, employees with 10 or more years of service started earning 6.7 hours of annual leave as of the June 15, 2008 pay period. This was an increase from 5.6 hours for 10 - 15 years of service and 6.5 for 15 or more years of service. Next fiscal year, employees with 5 - 10 years of service will earn 5.5 hours of annual leave instead of 4.7. All employees can now earn 304 hours of annual leave and receive a leave payout for 176 hours if they resign or 240 hours if they retire. In planning your vacation for FY 2009, please keep in mind you will stop earning vacation leave once you reach 304 hours. If you do not want to lose vacation leave, you will need to reduce your annual leave balance before reaching the 304 cap. In making this conversion, classified employees lost the ability to transfer vacation leave to sick leave at the end of a fiscal year (beginning in FY 2010). I was disappointed to see that option eliminated; however, I believe what we gained was worth that sacrifice.

We are also very busy responding to questions and concerns submitted by our peers. Some of the issues we will address this year include:

• Monitoring the implementation of the new pay plans and the corresponding market adjustments
• 4 - 10 hour day work week option
• Creating a K-State community website for carpooling contacts
• Creating a "Bragging Rights" website or section within The ROAR
• Planning the Recognition Ceremony for McCain Auditorium
• Reviewing the Employee of the Year award process for the Recognition Ceremony
• Establishing a special committee to review distribution of the Classified Employee Opportunity Fund (All-University Campaign donations)
• Representing classified employees during Legislative Day
• Preparing our booth for the Benefits Fair
• Serving on the Presidential Search Committee
• Serving on the Background Checks Committee
• Serving on the Campus Security Measures & Policies Working Group
• Presenting a Classified and Support Staff Committee (CSSC) report to the Board of Regents bi-annually

Many of these issues were ideas which came from the K-State classified community. The 4-10 hour day work week option is a very complex issue which has generated a lot of interest on campus. I receive 5-10 emails every week regarding this issue. I would like to emphasize that because of the complexity involved, it will take a significant amount of time before we are able to make any real progress. However, we will do whatever we can to help with this issue.

To be honest, sometimes I think to myself, .What on earth have I gotten myself into?!. However, that feeling subsides once I realize how very proud and honored I am to have a chance to lead Classified Senate during this momentous time. To say the least, I have some very big shoes to fill. I will do my best to meet those expectations. Please feel free to contact me (jennyfer@ksu.edu) or one of your senators if you have ideas or concerns you would like to bring to our attention.