COMMITTEE:     Faculty Welfare

 

MEETING DATE: December 14, 2006        

 

PERSON PRESIDING: D. Lawrence

 

REGULAR MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: D. Clark, A. Dralle, D.Lawrence, S. McGhee, M. Nasea, J. Salstrom, B. Southard

 

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: B. Henze, L. Ingalls, S. Simpson, J. Toller

 

ACTIONS OF MEETING:

 

Agenda Item:  Approval of minutes                                                                                                  

Action Taken:  Southard/Nasea motioned approval of the minutes of November 9, 2006 meeting. Motion passed.

Agenda Item:  Faculty Supplemental Pay Policy

Discussion:  Minor changes to the Nov. 13 draft of the policy were accepted including reference to a twelve month administrative appointment in the Salary Conversion Rate for Faculty Holding Twelve-month Appointments section and use of various supplements instead of ‘bonus amounts’ in reference to the Clinical Faculty Compensation Plan. Phrasing related to obtaining special approval in the Less Than Full-time Faculty section was deleted since exceptions are included in the Approval Process section.

 

Action Taken:  Southard/Nasea motioned to approve the document and present it to Faculty Senate. Motion passed.

 

Additional Assigned Duties: M. Nasea will prepare the final copy of the document. D. Lawrence will request the report be put on the Senate agenda and request speaking privileges for members of the Welfare Committee (primarily Lawrence and Nasea).

 

Agenda Item:  Benefits Comparison Sub-committee Report

 

Discussion:  J. Toller provided data from General Administration comparing UNC retirement contributions and benefits to the ECU official peer group. Discussion on what elements the sub-committee should examine followed with reference to Dr. Wilson’s’ report to the UNC Faculty Assembly on Issues Impacting Faculty Recruitment and Retention. Due to the quantity of data available on benefits, it was agreed to set parameters so that selected tasks can be completed during January/February for discussion in the March Faculty Welfare meeting. Use of graduate assistants or interns to assist with data analysis was deemed appropriate. Possible items for analysis were discussed with emphasis on examining the methods of providing benefits as well as identifying the benefits provided. Establishing the global amount spent on benefits is as important to an accurate picture of benefits as is describing components which comprise the benefits package.

 

In response to a question concerning the new healthcare plan, J. Toller reported that approximately 80% of the employees switched to the PPO plan. Although little feedback had been received after such as short period, ECU has already asked for a better explanation on how to read the benefits statement.

 

Assigned Additional Duties: The sub-committee will proceed with a plan for data collection and analyses.

 

Agenda Item:  Mentoring Sub-committee Report

Additional Assigned Duties: The sub-committee members will review the proposal of last year’s Mentoring sub-committee and establish a plan of action. 

 

Agenda Item: Faculty Salary Sub-committee Report

Discussion: D. Lawrence noted that Institutional Planning, Research and Effectiveness will provide data to the sub-committee in January so that they can begin to track trends over the past seven years to determine if salary compression is being resolved or becoming worse. In presenting 2005-6 CUPA data comparing the median salaries of ECU, UNC and our peer group B. Southard noted that salary compression shows more clearly in peer group comparisons than in UNC comparisons.

 

Agenda Item: Other Committee Business

·         M. Nasea noted the March 2007 Faculty Welfare Committee meeting conflicted with the Chancellor’s Forum on Service.

 

Additional Assigned Duties: D. Lawrence will develop a list of alternate dates for the Welfare meeting during that week.

 

·         B. Southard presented concern for compensation to departments that have employees taking leave under the Faculty Serious Illness and Disability Policy. M. Nasea recalled that a fund was to be established to assist such departments by assessing each unit a certain percentage of the budget. The status of creating the compensation fund was unknown. Pending further investigation, Faculty Welfare may consider a request to the Senate to determine how administration is financing the policy.

 

Additional Assigned Duties:  J. Toller will email C. Rigsby to determine how this was left last year.

 

The meeting adjourned at 4:45.

 

NEXT MEETING:  January 11, 2007

 

ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED:

Faculty Serious Illness and Disability policy compensation fund

Sub-committee reports-

Benefits Comparison

Faculty Salary

Mentoring

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Susan A. McGhee