Email/Announcements/Communication
ACE Spring 2008

Retirement Incentive Election Form 5/13/08

Dear Colleagues,

Here is the Retirement Incentive Election form. If you are considering taking advantage of this incentive please complete this form and bring it to the HR Office at either Mission College or West Valley College by 5pm on June 16, 2008. You must do this no matter which window or option you select.

Questions and Answers: this document was updated today. Please review it. The Q&A document can be found at two locations: ACE website
or
HR Department website: PARIS -- Departments -- HR -- HR Documents -- RETIREMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM Q & A's

This Election form will also be placed at both websites.

If you have any questions about the form please contact HR or ACE.

Susanna Pancella
ACE Secretary

SECOND ACE Up-Date 5/12/08

Colleagues,

This is a second ACE update for May 12th. There is much going on and this is an attempt to keep you informed.

There have been questions raised about the Seniority List. ACE is in the process of updating it and correcting errors. The lists were separated by division and sent to the respective Division Chairs who were to review them with the Department Chairs. While that is easily done at Mission, for West Valley, with its many buildings, it takes longer. The lists should have been reviewed twice. Once we get back the WVC review, ACE will be
working with HR. It will be HR’s responsibility to make public for review the seniority list before presenting it to the Board of Trustees as an informational item.

The Retirement Election Form is being developed between ACE and the District. We hope to have it finalized this week. Once it is finalized, ACE will send out an email notice with information on how to obtain it.

ACE encourages the faculty, both regular and associate, to attend their respective commencement ceremony. However, attendance is NOT required, nor will you have time removed from your sick leave for not attending.

The Faculty Service Area (FSA) Committee has been constituted and has met for the Spring 08 semester. The next meeting will be in the Fall 08 semester. If you are considering an additional FSA, please collect all the necessary documentation over summer. The FSA form is on the HR web site.

---
The form can be obtained by going to PARIS then in the left column expand the DEPARTMENTS list next click on the HR link -- this will take you to the HR Resources webpage next in the left column click the HR DOCUMENTS link next in the right column click on FACULTY DOCUMENTS-- a list of document appears, click the link of the one you want
(e.g. Faculty Service Area (FSA) Request Form
---

Division and Department Chairs should be checking their respective area enrollments to see if there are waitlists for summer and/or fall. If your department has a waitlist for a class and it reaches the enrollment threshold, that new section should be created. Please contact your respective Office of Instruction for directions and information.

Ed Kleppinger
President, ACE

ACE Up-Date 5/12

Dear Colleagues,

Hope the last week of the semester goes well for everyone.

Retirement Incentive:
For the SERP part of the incentive general information sessions were held last week. If you missed these and want an individual consulting session please contact HR for more information.

For STRS “Plus 2” part of the incentive:
CalSTRS counselors will be available to meet members at the CalPERS Retirement Planning Fair at the Santa Clara County Office of Education in San Jose on May 16-17, 2008. No registration is necessary. The dates and times are:
- Friday, May 16, San Jose, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., Santa Clara County Office of Education, 1290 Ridder Park Drive.
-Saturday, May 17, San Jose, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., Santa Clara County Office of Education, 1290 Ridder Park Drive.

The election form for the incentive should be available this week. We will keep you informed about this. Remember: for both incentive windows and all options your election form must be physically in the District HR office by 5pm on June 16, 2008 – this is a hard and fast date and time.

Questions & Answers: you will find on both the ACE and HR websites a link to a document with questions and answers pertaining to the incentive. Please check periodically as this document is updated as we get more questions.

Negotiations: we continue on the 2005-2008 contract. There are only a few articles remaining.

Ed Kleppinger
ACE President

Retirement Incentive Questions 5/13/08

Click here for an expanded Retirement Incentive questions document prepared 5-13-08.

ACE Update 5/5/08

Dear Colleagues,

The Board of Trustees at their May 1st meeting approved the SERP part of the retirement incentive. The vote was not unanimous, with Trustee Constantine voting NO.

Basic information is available on the Human Resources and ACE websites today, Monday, May 5. Click here (updated 5-13-08). There will be general information sessions at 3pm on Tuesday, May 6, and Wednesday, May 7. College locations will be announced as soon as room arrangements have been made. Individual consulting sessions will be available the following week; schedules will be available at the general information sessions. It is anticipated that the Board will vote on the STRS +2 at their next meeting.

If you are going to take the retirement incentive – either the SERP or STRS “Plus 2”, your election form must be physically in the District HR office by 5pm on June 16, 2008 – this is a hard and fast date and time. The election form should be ready in about two weeks and will be available through HR. We are working on getting answers to the questions that have been sent to us and hope to have them on the website shortly. If your are considering taking the retirement incentive, please contract STRS and/or PERBS for consultation and the necessary forms.

There will be a joint DBAC and District Council meeting this Wednesday, May 7 from 2:00 to 5:00 at Mission in Campus Center Room 219-220. Budget solutions will be presented. Everyone is urged to attend this meeting!

Ed Kleppinger, President, ACE

ACE Update 4/28/08

Dear Colleagues,

Hope the last few weeks of the semester go smoothly. As you heard last week we have a retirement incentive with the District. If you are interested in taking advantage of this incentive please contact your financial advisor or STRS. If you are going to take this incentive your election form must be physically in the District HR office by 5pm on June 16, 2008 – this is a hard and fast date and time. We are working on getting answers to the questions that have been sent to us and hope to have them by the end of this week.

There will be a joint DBAC and District Council meeting Wednesday, May 7th at Mission College, Campus Center, Rm 219-220 at 2pm. Everyone may attend this meeting.

Attend the Chancellor forums on your respective campus. These open forums are for the College community to hear from each candidate and to ask questions. Comment forms will be available at each forum so that attendees can provide feedback to the Board of Trustees.

Reminder: the full-time faculty members at each college are voting for a Council representative. The ballots are due by 3pm April 28 – TODAY! The ballots are to be placed in the appropriate ballot box at each campus or sent or delivered to Susanna Pancella, ACE Secretary, Mission College, MS#21.

Ed Kleppinger, ACE President

Retirement Incentive 4/22/08

Dear Colleagues,

On April 21, 2008 the District and ACE came to agreement on a retirement incentive.

There are two windows in which faculty may retire. To be eligible under this incentive plan a member must be at least age 55 and eligible to retire under the STRS or PERS system.

The following is a SUMMARY of the incentive:
Window 1, which runs from August 1, 2008 through August 30, 2008: Full-time faculty members retiring in this window are eligible to receive a Supplemental Employee Retirement Plan (SERP). The SERP plan will be selected by the District. The SERP plan will provide financial consulting. Window 2, which runs from July 1, 2009 through August 30, 2009: Full-time faculty members retiring in this window are eligible to select from one of the following options: (1) the STRS “Plus 2” program OR (2) a lump-sum payment equal to 65% of salary OR (3) a lump-sum payment equal to 65% of salary a portion of which can be directed into tax deferred 403(b) and/or 457 plans.

Associate faculty members retiring in this window are eligible to receive STRS “Plus 2”.

The District will provide a Retirement Incentive Plan Identification Document for you to complete. HR is working on this document and will let us know as soon as it is ready. The Retirement Incentive Plan Identification Document must be submitted to HR no later than 5pm on June 16, 2008 for BOTH windows.

If the net savings is projected at least $350,000 the incentive will be offered. If the net savings is projected at less than $350,000, then the Board has sole discretion to offer the program or not.

Emeritus Status and banked load are also covered in the incentive for both windows.

At the May 1, 2008 Board meeting the Board will vote to adopt the SERP resolution and at a later Board meeting the Board will vote to adopt the STRS “Plus 2”.

If you are interested in retiring under the incentive please start you research NOW. If you have any questions please contact ACE or HR.

ACE Negotiating Team and ACE Council

ACE Update 4/21/08

Dear Colleagues,

The semester is moving along. Questions and problems are being handled as they come to us.

Reminder: the full-time faculty members at each college are voting for a Council representative. The ballots are due by 3pm April 28. The ballots are to be placed in the appropriate ballot box at each campus or sent or delivered to Susanna Pancella, ACE Secretary, Mission College, MS#21.

The item that probably holds the most interest is negotiations. There was a negotiation session on April 18. At this time work continued on the 2005-08 contract. The Technology article received most of the time. At the next negotiation session work on Intellectual Property and the appraisal timeline will continue.

After this session was over the negotiating teams were to work on the retirement incentive. The ACE team was informed that the regular team for these negotiations could not meet due to an emergency and that there would be an alternate person sitting in on the meeting who had to be brought up to speed. Also the ACE team was informed that this meeting had to end early. As a result this turned out to be a very short negotiation session (about half an hour). The District team asked if negotiations could continue on Monday, since there is a Board meeting that evening. The ACE team indicated that they would be available.

Ed Kleppinger, ACE President

Reminder: Conversation on Mission Organization 4-20-08

Dear Fellow Mission Faculty,

There has been much discussion on campus about the administrative structure. Many components of the present structure are within the ACE Contract. I am, therefore, calling for an all-Mission faculty meeting for Tuesday, April 22 in N3-401 from 2-4pm to have a conversation on this issue.

The meeting will start from the premise that the current structure is what we wanted and proceed from there.

Please make time to join in this conversation. Thank you.

Ed Kleppinger, President, ACE

ACE Rep. FT Faculty Election 4/13/08

Dear Colleagues,

By Wednesday, April 16, you should receive a ballot, directions and an envelope for the ACE Representative Full-time Faculty election. Please follow the directions when voting. You have until 3pm Monday, April 28 to cast your ballot. Click here to see/download the candidates' statements.

If you have any questions or do not receive a ballot by Wednesday please contact the ACE Secretary at susanna_pancella@wvm.edu.

Thank you for taking the time to vote.

Susanna Pancella, ACE Secretary

Retirement Incentive Update 4/07/08

Dear fellow colleagues,

We hope you enjoyed your spring break. Over the past two weeks the ACE negotiating team has met several times with the District team about the retirement incentive. A negotiating session was held on April 1, with a special Board meeting scheduled for that evening specifically for the Board to approve an incentive agreement. At the end of that April 1 negotiating session, the language for an incentive proposal had been agreed to by both sides; except that the District team indicated there was ONE final unresolved issue.

When we began initial discussions on the Keenan retirement incentive the District was interested in offering, we were given the following information: (1) the District reported to Keenan that there were 138 eligible faculty members who could accept this incentive; (2) based on Keenan’s experience, about 25% of eligible faculty typically would take an incentive--about 35 people; and (3) if 35 people retired, Keenan estimated that the savings to the District would be approximately $700,000. Although we are no longer discussing the Keenan plan, these have become “magic” numbers for the District, in terms of how much savings they "need" and how many faculty members must take the incentive. In reality, the number of eligible faculty is only about 108. If you use 25% then that would mean about 25 people might take the incentive. Based on the ACE survey of eligible faculty, ACE expected that about 20 faculty members would take the incentive. Note: this expectation changes given that the incentive no longer includes benefit guarantees. Regardless of this information, it is the DISTRICT that has insisted that we keep the minimums of 25 faculty retiring in Window 1 and 10 faculty retiring in Window 2 in the proposal—if these minimums are not met, then the incentive will not be offered. We have argued that the minimums and a required level of savings make no sense, but, alas, to no avail.

So, what is the District’s final issue that is holding up this retirement incentive? We are now being told that the Board must have language that gives them the exclusive right (“at their sole discretion”) to offer the incentive, even if a different number of faculty retire. This is unacceptable language to ACE—it became even more so, as the District team kept indicating that if we had less than the minimums, then it would depend on "who" was retiring. The ACE team pointed out that it was obvious that the District did not seem quite so confident about those minimums. The team told them we would be happy to do different minimums or no minimums--all the District team had to do was call out the numbers they wanted and we would sign and it would be done. The District team indicated that they didn't have the authority to do that and that was the end of the session, even though the Board members were in recess and could have been called back for consultation, it was just over.

We are frustrated and confused. If the Board does indeed have this additional “bottom line” regarding the minimum number of faculty and having sole discretion to do something else, and will not do a retirement incentive without this language, then this is a grim look into the future of negotiations. It would seem we are back to “our way or the highway” in terms of the Board’s attitude. If the Board has no such "bottom line" (their real bottom line seemed to be about the benefit guarantees), then this would seem to be about the executive management team needing us to help them cover their decisions--THEY are the ones who sold the Board on the 35 people—it would seem they simply don't want to have to go back to the Board and explain why those numbers should now be changed to different ones, but they also don't want to just leave the minimums at 25 and 10 as they don't want to have to explain to the Board why 35 people didn't take the incentive. If this is the case, how do we stop the insanity--or is that inanity?

Either way, perhaps the next step should be the faculty attending a Board meeting and telling the Board members what they are looking for in a retirement incentive.

We wish it had been better news.
ACE Negotiating Team and ACE Council

ACE Update 3/24/08

Fellow WVMCCD Faculty Members.

By now, you would have read the Chancellor’s communication regarding the District’s budget issues. While I can not challenge the Chancellor’s figures, I can certify that the solutions that he projected DID NOT go through either the District Council (DC) or the District Budget Advisory Committee (DBAC). We only saw the gloom and doom figures. The first time anyone, other then the Executive Management Team (EMT) saw the solutions was at the Saturday BOT Budget Workshop on 2/23. Since that meeting none of these solutions have come back to either DC or DBAC for deliberation. So much for employee involvement in attempting to resolve the budget issues and having all of us pulling together.

As regards the Chancellor's version of what transpired at negotiations, it is not correct. What actually happened is as follows: the District presented a private insurance company annuity incentive called a "SERP." ACE researched and presented to the District several more desirable incentives in the proposal you have already seen. The District studied ACE's research and presented a counter proposal using STRS "Plus 2." ACE postponed the 3/14 negotiation session in order to get feedback from all ACE members instead of just the 55 and older members. In this way all ACE members were informed and could have a voice.

Prior to last Thursday's BOT meeting ACE re-affirmed our willingness to continue negotiating the retirement incentive package with Mr. James Andrews, HR Director. ACE has a counter proposal and, we think, an excellent solution to the District's budget problems based upon our negotiating sessions and the give and take between ACE negotiators and District negotiators. We feel we are on the way to a mutually acceptable and optimally beneficial solution for everyone. We are anxious to meet again to present it. ACE has demonstrated that we can work quickly and efficiently. The District negotiating team seems to take more time because they say they must go back to the BOT at each step.

Ed Kleppinger
President, ACE

3-19-08 Retirement Incentive Negotiations

Dear Colleagues,

ACE is very much interested in negotiating a retirement incentive. When we canceled the March 14 negotiating session it did not constitute the rejection of a proposal. If we were rejecting the proposal we would have told the District. Both sides have been negotiating very hard, the results of which are the two proposals on which the Council was asking for faculty feedback.

The tentative Board agenda item was simply that—a tentative date for authorizing an agreement. This does not constitute an expiration date for either proposal. The cancellation of the negotiating session was to give the Council a chance to gather additional feedback from faculty before giving the negotiating team additional direction.

As far as ACE is concerned, negotiations on the retirement incentive will continue. Any action by the District to simply “stop” negotiating the retirement incentive is unwarranted and is also an unfair labor practice. There is an outstanding proposal on the table, to which ACE fully intends to offer a counter.

ACE Negotiating Team and ACE Council

3/17/08 Retirement Incentive Proposals

Dear Colleagues,

As you are well aware, the budget picture for our District is not looking very bright. As a cost cutting measure, ACE and the District have been working very hard to reach agreement on a retirement incentive package. If people take advantage of the incentive, this should alleviate the need to consider any lay-off of faculty in the near future. Prior to putting together a proposal, ACE surveyed the target group of possible retirees to determine what type of incentive would be needed to convince them to retire. We have had a couple of intensive negotiation sessions with the District. At this point, we need to share where the proposals are and get your feedback as to how to proceed.

Attached to this message are two files:
1. A document which describes the ACE proposal, the District proposal, an analysis of the proposals and presents some numbers for you to consider. 2. A document which has the STRS cost factors for the "Plus 2" program.

A summary of the proposals in tabular form is being prepared and will be sent as soon as it is ready.

Please read the document carefully and provide feedback to the ACE Secretary (susanna_pancella@wvm.edu).

If you have any difficulty with the files please contact the ACE Secretary.

Thank you for your time and feedback.

ACE Negotiating Team and ACE Council

3/11/08 ACE Update

The District and ACE are negotiating a "retirement incentive." During the last weekend of February ACE surveyed only the faculty who might be interested in an incentive – five plus years with the District and 55 years or older. We thank the faculty for taking the time to respond so quickly; there was about a 65% rate of response.

The faculty indicated that they might consider retiring at the end of this year or next year if the incentive was good enough. They emphasized the importance of health benefits as part of this incentive. The pre-94 faculty indicated they wanted their health benefits to be locked-in at retirement: no changes in co-pays, deductibles, etc. The post-94 indicated that they wanted the incentive linked to a bridge in which the District would provide health benefits until they reach Medicare age. They wanted us to work with the STRS incentive program.

At present we are negotiating this incentive with the District and as soon as we have information you will hear about it.

Reminder: when working on evaluations please use only the forms that are in the contract. Thank you.

Ed Kleppinger, ACE President

3/5/08
ACE Council Representative position:
VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

Association of College Educators (ACE)
West Valley-Mission Community College District
Mission College Faculty Representative (full-time-faculty)

Eligibility: Current Mission College full-time-faculty member

Term: Three years (fall 2008 to spring 2011)

Remuneration: Release time 0.1 per semester plus $50 per ACE Council meeting attended.

Responsibilities:

  • Attends Council meetings 2:30-5:00 p.m. at both campuses, two Thursdays/month (sometimes four/month).
  • Informs the negotiating team of faculty concerns and questions.
  • Enlists support for negotiation proposals.
  • Meets with faculty/department/division on a regular basis, relays concerns and questions to ACE officers and/or may place items deemed appropriate on Council meeting agenda.
  • Knows the contract and, as needed, attends information sessions on the contract.
  • At the request of the Council, serves on college/district/local/state committees as an ACE representative.

To Apply: On the application form below, submit a statement of interest in 150 words or less to be used on the election ballot and a petition with signatures and printed name of 10 Mission College ACE faculty members. (With the statement you may also include an e-mail and or personal Web site address.)

Application Deadline: The application must be completed and delivered to Susanna Pancella, Computer Applications Department, Mission College (MS#21) by noon Friday, March 21, 2008.

For more information contact: ACE President Ed Kleppinger at 855-5526 or ed_kleppinger@wvm.edu or ACE Vice President Roberta Berlani at 741-2563 or roberta_berlani@ wvm.edu or ACE Secretary Susanna Pancella at 855-5362 or susanna_pancella@ wvm.edu

Application is attached.
If you have any difficulty with the file please contact: susanna_pancella@wvm.edu x-5362

3/5/08 ACE Council Positions available in fall 2008

ANNOUNCEMENT of ACE Council Position Vacancies

The following positions are available starting in the fall 2008 semester:

ACE Appointed Positions:
-Newsletter Editor
-Treasurer
-Budget Analyst
-Grievance Officer at Mission College

If you are interested in any of the appointed positions please send a statement of interest by noon on Tuesday, March 25 to the ACE Secretary, Susanna Pancella at susanna_pancella@wvm.edu.

ACE Council (elected positions):
Mission College Representative (full-time-faculty) (3-year term) West Valley College Representative (full-time-faculty) (3-year term) (The formal detailed announcement will be sent separately)

These are all positions of great responsibility. You will be expected to work for the good and the welfare of all fellow faculty members. All ACE Council members, officers and appointees must abide by the Contract signed with the District.

Please contact Susanna Pancella at
susanna_pancella@wvm.edu if you have questions or would like to apply for a position.

Susanna Pancella
ACE Secretary x-5362

2/14/08 WVC FT Faculty Rep.

To all faculty,
Eric Pape has been affirmed by the West Valley full-time faculty as an ACE representative.
Susanna Pancella
ACE Secretary

BOARD BUDGET WORKSHOP

To ALL faculty,

We encourage everyone to participate in the development of the 08-09 budget.

COME to the BOARD BUDGET WORKSHOP on Saturday, Feb. 23 at Mission College in Hospitality Management starting at 8:30am.

To be discussed for BUDGET STATUS AND DEVELOPMENT FOR 2008-09:
a. College Recap of Student Enrollment and Attendance (Drs. Hartley and Robles)
b. Enrollment Management and Enhancement Strategies (Drs. Hartley and Robles)
c. Budget Development Assumptions and Projected Ending Balances (Dr. Kozitza)
d. Options for Balancing the Budget (Dr. Kozitza)

ACE Council

2/8/08 Information

Joint DBAC and District Council 2/6 meeting pdf

Latest salary survey: Santa Rosa Junior College AFA pdf

Minutes from 1/31/08 ACE Council Meeting pdf

 

2/8/08 ACE Forums this Week

There will be forums on the budget and the new contract (2008-2011).

The Forums will be as follows:
Mission College: Tuesday, 2/12 from 2:30pm to 3:30pm room: E3-401 West Valley College: Thursday, 2/14 from 3pm to 4pm room: BU8

If you cannot attend a forum and you have questions please either contact me or any ACE representative.

Also during the week of Feb. 11 you should receive the first survey for the 2008-2011 contract. You may complete this survey and bring it to me at the forum. Thank you.

Susanna Pancella, ACE Secretary

 

ACE Survey for the Next Contract
2/8/08

During the week of Feb. 11 you will receive the first survey for the 2008-2011 contract.

The survey may be returned in any one of the following ways: -place it in the ballot box in the Mission College Part-time center or in the West Valley College division offices -send it to the secretary at Mission College MS#21 -bring it to the secretary at the forum.

We need your input. Thank you for completing the survey.

Please return the survey by Feb. 29.

Susanna Pancella, ACE Secretary

 

ACE Update
2/5/08

Fellow WVMCCD Faculty Members

The District is about to embark on an important endeavor. The District has had its base WSCH lowered by the State Chancellor. The State may also require all public agencies to return a certain amount of this fiscal year’s allocation. On Wednesday, February 6th, there will be a joint meeting of the District Council (DC) and the District Budget Advisory Council (DBAC). The purpose of this meeting is to brain-storm these fiscal issues. This is the first of several anticipated meetings to make recommendations to the Board of Trustees. All faculty members, regular and associate, are encouraged to attend and to participate. This meeting will be at Mission College, from 2:30-4pm, on the second floor of the Campus Center, room 218-219.

Please remember to vote today. There are many important issues to be addressed and Prop 92 concerns community colleges.

The Hours by Arrangement issue is still being examined by the State Chancellor’s Office. We want to remind faculty members who have HbA embedded in their courses that, if these hours are not in a lab with a Lab Faculty Specialist, then the respective faculty member is providing instruction on their own time without compensation. Most of the current HbA have not been loaded. These hours can not be loaded unless they go through the curriculum process and are sent to the Load Committee to be loaded. The Curriculum Committees do not assign load to curriculum.

There have been issues raised by some WV faculty members about the Flex Day on Feb. 19th. Please direct these issues to the Vice President of Instruction at West Valley College.

Ed Kleppinger, President, ACE

Non Instructional Day will be Feb. 19th

Please be aware that Tuesday, February 19th is a NON-INSTRUCTIONAL day. No Classes will be held. It is a Flex day and the regular faculty can meet their 6 hrs requirement of flex activities by attending scheduled flex activities that day or during the rest of the semester. Only ASSOCIATE faculty who teach on Tuesday (day or night) will also have a flex obligation to equal the amount of time that they would have taught that day. Associates can attend flex activities during the 19th or complete it before the end of the semester.

Ed Kleppinger, President, ACE

Faculty Information and Forms (from HR) 2/3/08

Faculty members have been asking how to get salary information, copies of forms, etc. Much of this information can be obtained online from the Human Resources(HR) webpage.

To get this information you would: Go to PARIS > select Departments > select HR > at this point as you look at the HR webpage you will see a column on the left side with links – these are links to information and material for faculty > select the appropriate link for the desired information. Note: some of the pages that will display have further links to more information.

Information available at the HR webpage:
Salary Schedules
Employment Information
Job Descriptions
Benefits
Union Contracts
HR Documents
Calendars

If you have any questions please contact HR or ACE
(susanna_pancella@wvm.edu or x-5362).
Susanna Pancella ACE Secretary

FSA Information and Application 2/3/08

FSA Requests:

If a full-time faculty member would like to apply for an FSA (Faculty Service Area) other then the one they were assigned to when hired they must complete an FSA application and submit it to HR for FSA Committee review.

The FSA application has been attached to this message for your convenience. The Competency Standards for an FSA are at the end of this message.

The FSA Committee will be meeting during the weeks of February 25 and April 14. Please submit the completed application and any other material required to the HR office at least one week before this date. This would mean submit the form by February 18 for the February 25 week meeting and by April 7 for the April 14 week meeting.

If you have any questions please contact HR or ACE (susanna_pancella@wvm.edu or x-5362).

Susanna Pancella, ACE Secretary

The COMPETENCY STANDARDS for an FSA are:
Faculty may earn or maintain a faculty service area by submitting the necessary documents to the Associate Vice Chancellor, Human Resources that verify they meet the minimum qualifications in a discipline and have completed one of the following competency standards.
1. Has taught the equivalent of 1.0 load in the subject matter area at an accredited post-secondary institution within the past five years; or
2. Has successfully completed a minimum of nine upper and / or graduate semester units in the appropriate discipline(s) with a grade of C or better, within the past five years; or
3. Has completed a combination of Standards #1 and #2 so that the percentage completed of Standard #1 plus the percentage completed of Standard #2 equals 100% within the past five years; or
4. Has successfully completed coursework that is deemed to be equivalent to nine upper division and / or graduate semester units in the appropriate discipline(s), with a grade of C or better, within the past five years; or 5. Has a minimum of six months, or 500 hours, of appropriate industry experience within the past five years; or
6. Has specialized skills or abilities determined by the AB1725 / Equivalency Committee that demonstrates competency; or
7. Has completed a combination of Standards #1-2-3-4-5-6 so that the total percentage completed equals 100% within the past five years.

Next ACE Meeting:

Thursday, Feb.7, 2008

Reminder: JOINT District Council and DBAC meeting Feb. 6

There will be a joint meeting of the District Council and DBAC on Wed. Feb. 6 at 2:30pm at Mission College on the second floor of the Campus Center to brainstorm the fiscal problems of the District.

This is an open meeting.

Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend.

ACE Council

Next ACE Meeting:

Mission College in E3-401, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008

ACE Update
1/27/08

Fellow WVMCCD Faculty,
WELCOME back! Hope you had a relaxing winter break!

During the winter break, the District and the State Chancellor’s Office entered into discussions regarding Hours by Arrangement (HbA). Chancellor Arterberry has shared with the District some of those discussions. The District and the State Chancellor’s Office are still in discussion regarding this matter. The District does not know the final out come. We should have that information shortly.

While there are concerns, the District has set aside some $4.3 million to cover any reduction in the 2008/09 operational budget. Should there be a reduced allocation of revenue, that would occur in the 2009/10 fiscal year. The District will have a year to plan, strategize and prioritize the budget. Chancellor Arterberry has stated that all of the employee groups will be involved in the development of that plan. He has further written and verbally clarified that there will be no layoffs.

The District is also in its last year of budget stability from the State. The District needs to make it enrollment goal by June 30th. The final enrollment figure will affect future budget allocations. The Division chairs at both colleges are working to ensure that as many sections are offered as possible are offered.

The ACE Executive Council is looking forward to working with the other employee groups as well as the Board of Trustees. It is encouraged by the appointment of Dr. Wade Ellis to the BOT.

Wishing you the Best for the Spring 08 semester

Ed Kleppinger
President, ACE

Message to the Chancellor

The following message was sent 1/24/08 to Chancellor Arterberry by ACE Council:

ACE understands that difficult budgetary times approach, given the state financial situation coupled with the District's HBA issues. We propose that all members of the District community be involved in identifying and implementing any possible solutions.

We are pleased that no pink slips will be issued in 2008 and we will continue our efforts to keep jobs and improve working conditions.

We look forward to joining with the whole District community to begin this crucial dialog.

The ACE Council