This bargaining session was devoted to general discussion, as neither side presented a new proposal.
One topic of discussion was our “Plus One” item, seen below:
The institution provides classified employees with appropriate opportunities and support for professional growth and development. The supervisor will work with their employees to develop a professional development plan that the employee would like to pursue, and will allow staff members to schedule up to a total of ten percent release time from the job for any combination of approved professional development opportunities. These opportunities include: participating in job or career-related development programs or activities, providing university-sponsored learning experiences to other staff, and/or taking college courses as outlined in policy 13.2, Lane Community College Employee Federation Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Standard 2.F.2:
– The institution provides faculty, staff, and administrators with appropriate opportunities and support for professional growth and development.
– Additionally, the College provides tuition waivers for eligible employees, allowing them to further their educational goals by taking classes at Lane.
“Plus One” background:
- Classified employees have $50K in professional development funds available annually, with $25K being earmarked for “Advanced Learning” (degrees, certificates), but often are unable to use the funds due to scheduling difficulties.
- There are internal positions that employees could apply for but they currently do not qualify.
- We surveyed members about preferred non-economic benefits and received overwhelming support for a plus one that ensured classified employees can use the available professional development funds.
Administration’s questions/concerns:
- How would coverage be ensured in small/overworked/understaffed departments while some employees are doing professional development/classes?
- Would the training/classes need to be directly related to employees’ current positions?
The College proposed putting together a subcommittee to work out the details of the “Plus One” which is an option that will be discussed.
The other topic was a general discussion of the economic portion of our respective proposals:
The College has an additional $200k-300k in the budget that they would be willing to put towards a stipend or COLA instead of steps for the top-level classified employees. They will be putting together an adjusted proposal that includes the additional funds. After Shane sends us their adjusted proposal we will create a poll for the union members.
We plan to schedule our next bargaining session for the week of August 9.