Introduction
The Management Advisory Committee on Classification and Compensation (MACCC) of the State University of New York (SUNY), assigned responsibility to review and to make recommendations on the implementation of the Arthur Young report involving positions in the Professional Service Bargaining Unit represented by the United University Professions, Inc. (UUP), completes an initial stage of that assignment with this report. Articles 44 and 45 of the 1985-1988 Agreement between the State of New York, represented by the Governor's Office of Employee Relations (GOER), and the UUP play an important role in this project:
Article 44 - Promotion and Classification Study 44.1 The State shall prepare, secure introduction and recommend passage by the Legislature of legislation to appropriate an amount equal to 1% of payroll in each of the second and third years of the Agreement to implement the recommendations of the Promotion and Classification Study conducted during the 1982- 1985 Agreement that are accepted in full or in modified form by the State. ...
Article 45 - Promotion and Compensation Committee 45.1 A joint State-UUP Promotion and Compensation Committee shall be established consisting of three members appointed by the State and three members appointed by the UUP. The joint committee shall be established within sixty days of the completion of the final report of the consultant performing the Promotion and Classification Study. The Committee shall meet regularly to be informed about and provide advice towards implementation of study results accepted in full or in modified form by the State.
GOALS
In developing a set of recommendations keyed to the results of the Arthur Young report, MACCC recommends that SUNY adopt six goals as part of the University's salary policy for UUP-represented professional employees:
To complete this phase of the project, MACCC's several recommendations are related to an Arthur Young report statement or to one of the goals listed above. MACCC recommends the creation of campus and teaching hospital job families and career paths, new titles, and a new salary structure with new salary guidelines.
MACCC defines a job family as a group of titles that are related via the nature or type of work performed by incumbents. (There may or may not be specific career paths identified for positions within a job family.) The establishment of a salary, or allocation to a salary grade, for a title within a family is done in context with the salaries of other titles in the family, to maintain logical internal relationships that consider the specific nature, complexity and minimum requirements for all positions. Where positions are not in a career path, there is no clearly defined method for incumbents to progress to or between positions. That relationship is primarily one of salary, not promotion.
MACCC defines career paths as those titles within a job family through which employees may typically progress during their SUNY employment in that specialty at a particular campus. The requirements for movement through the title hierarchy in a career path are well defined. Incumbents would progress by experiential and/or educational attainments readying themselves for the assumption of new duties or responsibilities.
MACCC recommends establishment of campus-based career paths and job families: Admissions, Academic Advisement, Housing and Residential Life, Psychological Counseling, Financial Aid, Student Activities, Student Union, Career Planning, Staff Support, Community Relations and Publications, Computing Services, Instructional Support, Purchasing, and College Registrar in this first phase.
In addition to the campus-based career paths, MACCC recommends the establishment of hospital-based career paths and job families: Teaching Hospital (TH) Medical Records; TH Medical Instrumentation; TH Physical Therapy; TH Respiratory Therapy; TH Patient Accounting; TH Radiography; TH Social Work; TH Pharmacy; TH Occupational Therapy; TH Recreational Therapy; TH Management Engineering; TH Rehabilitation Therapy; TH Dosimetry; TH Biomedical engineering; TH Quality Assurance; TH Psychology; TH Perfusion; TH Nursing; TH Physician Assistant; and several paths within TH Clinical Technical Services.
To support the career paths and job families listed ABOVE, MACCC recommends the creation of new job titles, the placement of other professional titles on the proposed salary structure, and the discontinuance of Technical Assistant, Technical Specialists and Assistant to… titles [replacing them with new titles].
Under MACCC's proposal, permanency would be attained in all but Intern and some Assistant titles. In all appointments to positions not eligible for permanency, the employee's performance program would include specific accomplishments required for promotion (e.g., attainment of a degree) and the establishment of a time frame for such activity. If an employee does not progress in a manner that supports a promotion, employment will be terminated. No current employee will be placed in a title that is not eligible for permanency.
Employees could attain permanency in most titles or a five-year term appointment in Appendix-A titles in a career path. Employees are promoted by management action or as a result of a successful application for a vacant position.
Vacancies may arise as a result of the resignation, transfer, or promotion of a higher level employee, or by the creation of a new position. It is understood that the campus need for services to be performed at a higher level can create a vacancy. Employees who satisfy qualifications for a higher title [who can be promoted to that title through the reclassification of their position] do not create a vacancy.
TRANSITION TO NEW SALARY STRUCTURE
MACCC recommends that campuses submit proposed placement of current employees on the new salary structure to the SUNY Central Office of Personnel Operations as soon as practical after the adoption of the MACCC report, but no later than October 1, 1987. MACCC recommends that campuses notify employees of their proposed placement in the new structure. Such notice should tell an employee who is not satisfied with the proposed new placement that s/he has fifteen (15) working days to submit a written appeal to the campus official who has been designed to hear employee complaints. The UUP Chapter should receive either a roster of proposed changes or a copy of the notice to each employee no later than when SUNY Central is notified. As the appellant's option, a UUP representative may accompany the appellant to a meeting with the appropriate campus official. After the campus official has heard the employee's appeal and issued a written response, the employee, if still dissatisfied, has five (5) working days to appeal, in writing, to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Employee Relations and Personnel. That Office shall entertain the appeal and issue a written response. The decision of the Associate Vice Chancellor is final and not shall not be subject to further review. SUNY will make all reasonable efforts to complete all reviews before December 1, 1987. Once the appeals have been heard, employees will be moved to the new structure by December 31, 1987. Those employees whose placement on the new schedule will involve a salary adjustment shall have such adjustment made retroactive to July 1, 1987.
MACCC recommends that no
employee suffer a reduction in salary when placed on the new salary structure.
MACCC recommends that any professional employee who now has a permanent appointment
will retain that permanent appointment in any new title under the new salary
structure unless that new title is a promotion or an employee accepts a promotion
to an Appendix-A title. A professional employee with a permanent appointment
who accepts an Appendix-A position which is new to Appendix-A and which does
not represent an increase in duties, who is not offered or who does not accept
a five-year appointment at the end of one year, shall return to the highest
level professional position in the office without administrative responsibilities.
The employee's salary shall be determined in accordance with the rules of the
Department of Audit and Control.
MACCC recommends that any
professional employee who has not yet achieved a permanent appointment and who
is given a new title but not a new assignment as a result of the new salary
structure shall continue to progress toward a decision on a permanent appointment
as if his or her title had not been changed.
SALARY ADMINISTRATION GUIDELINES
MACCC recommends the following administrative guidelines for the newly proposed salary structure:
1. The salary of a newly hired professional is within campus discretion for any salary between the minimum and the maximum of the appropriate grade.
2. Promotion is defined as a permanent and significant increase in duties accompanied by a change in title, grade, and salary.
3. Salary adjustments after initial appointment are within campus discretion for any salary between the minimum and the maximum of the appropriate grade. No discretionary salary increase shall result in a basic annual salary in excess of the grade maximum except that for 1987-1988 only all professional employees shall be eligible for a discretionary increase. [2003 note: changes have occurred since the MACCC recommendations that now allow salaries to exceed the maximum for grade. Requests for over the maximum salaries must be made in writing to the Director, University-Wide Human Resources.]
4. A professional employee who is promoted must receive a salary increase and must receive an annual salary rate that is at least equal to the minimum salary for the new grade.
5. A professional employee, who is over the maximum for his or her assigned salary level, is eligible to receive a bonus payment, not added to basic annual salary, where justified by the campus for recognition of performance. [2003 note: never implemented - see note in number 3 above].
6. When a professional employee is assigned to a lower graded position, either voluntarily or involuntarily, the annual salary will be reconstructed as if the person had continuously served in the lower graded position.
7. The professional employee salary structure is converted to an academic/college year rate by dividing the calendar year salary by 1.2 and rounding to the next higher whole dollar.
8. SUNY will review the professional employee salary structure annually. MACCC will recommend changes, as appropriate, to the SUNY Board of Trustees.
[2003 note: It is important
that campuses not appoint employees to local titles that are equal to official
titles available in the University Title file. This is especially important
if such the local title equals an official title that is in a higher grade than
the budget title to which the employee is appointed and would qualify the employee
for a salary increase and might also change his/her appointment status. As an
example, a campus should not appoint a professional appointee serving in the
official title of Admissions Counselor to the local title of Assistant Director
of Admissions that exists in the official title structure.]
Salary Schedule
MACCC propose the creation of a six-level salary structure for professional employees of SUNY [whose titles place them in the SUNY Professional Services Negotiating Unit].
August 6, 1987
Salary Grade Minimum Maximum
SL1 $18,000 $32,000
SL2 $21,000 $37,000
SL3 $24,000 $42,000
SL4 $28,000 $48,000
SL5 $34,000 $56,000
SL6 $42,000 $66,200
The adoption of a new salary structure and the movement of professional employees
to the new structure are expected to be completed by the end of this calendar
year. Many other aspects of the initial phase of the implementation of the Arthur
Young report will take longer to complete.
MACCC recommends the sub-committee continue to develop classification standards for professional employee positions. In addition, the sub-committee should continue to develop a proposal for determining how new positions should be placed in the new structure.
MACCC recommends changes in the Policies of the Board of Trustees to eliminate the requirement that movement through a salary level requires a permanent significant increase in duties. Further, MACCC recommends the deletion of the Presidential Notification Limit on the salary structure for professional employees.
MACCC did not address the
problem of location pay in this report. Salary differences based on location
have been discussed in the past and were discussed by the sub-committee and
MACCC itself. The Committee did not make a specific recommendation other than
to request the State University continue to study possible solutions to the
problem and to discuss the issue with GOER and the UUP at the appropriate time
and in the appropriate forum. MACCC did acknowledge that the distinct benefits
of a more rational salary structure for professional employees cannot be fully
realized until some form of a geographic differential is created.