Personnel Actions for Full-Time Faculty-Rank Positions

Purpose:

To provide direction to initiate requests to establish and fill full-time faculty-rank positions, to identify the process for determining entry-level salaries, and to initiate position classification and compensation actions for full-time faculty-rank positions. Also, provides direction for use of exceptional recruitment and retention incentive options for full-time college faculty-rank positions.

Definitions:

Abolishment: the removal of a position from the organizational structure.

Acting pay: a salary supplement of 0-15%, which may be given to a faculty member who temporarily assumes the majority of the responsibilities of a vacant position.

Additional duties: non-instructional duties assigned to one or more faculty members, resulting from a temporary vacancy, and which may be compensated with a salary supplement of 0-10%.

Classification: the category of employment to which a faculty position is assigned; e.g., teaching faculty, professional faculty, administrative faculty.

Competitive salary offer: a counter offer to an existing faculty member deemed critical to the college who has received an employment offer at a higher salary from an employer, which generally should not exceed more than 15% of the faculty member’s current salary, and which cannot exceed the job offer from the outside employer.

Establishment: a classification determination made to place a new position in the organizational structure.

Exceptional recruitment and retention incentives options: established programs to assist the college with significant recruitment and employee retention problems that are critical to the college’s strategic mission and ongoing operations, which are in accordance with the annual Human Resource Delegated Authority Agreement signed between the president and VCCS chancellor, and which consist of: sign-on bonus program; referral bonus program; retention bonus; project-based incentive bonus; and additional annual leave.

Hiring manager: the cost center manager or other manager authorized to hire in an organizational unit.

Internal alignment: a salary adjustment to align one or more faculty members’ salary more closely with those of other faculty members at the same college and which may not exceed 10% for a faculty member in a fiscal year.

Non-competitive voluntary transfer/within the college: when a faculty member moves from a 12month administrative/professional position to a 9- or 10-month administrative/professional or teaching position; or from a 9- or 10-month administrative/professional or teaching position to 12month administrative/professional or teaching position.

Non-competitive voluntary transfer/within the VCCS: when a faculty member is permanently reassigned from one community college to another community college or the system office under the following circumstances: (a) no open competition for the position; (b) positions are the same level; and (c) approval of both presidents or the chancellor, in the case of the system office.

Reallocation: the movement of an administrative or professional faculty position from one title and salary range to another based upon and to recognize a significant increase or decrease in the duties and responsibilities assigned to the position, and which is restricted to upward and downward position movements.

Stipend: the method to pay eligible faculty for their provision of professional services such as consulting or conducting workshops as needed by other community colleges or the system office.

Substantial additional duties: a substantial, additional non-teaching assignment/project outside of routine duties in an alternative department or alternative work schedule assigned to a faculty member when under full-time contract, which must be of a temporary nature with a specific beginning and ending date, which does not require a vacant position, and which may provide a salary supplement of 0-10% or a flat rate not to exceed 0-10%.

Unit manager: the cost center manager for the administrative or academic unit.

VCCS position title: administrative titles established by the Virginia Community College System office and the VCCS State Board and which are provided on the VCCS-18.

Policy:

As an agency of the Commonwealth and a member college of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College (Reynolds) shall assure compliance with all applicable federal and state personnel laws, regulations, and policies. Additionally, the college shall develop and implement administrative procedures consistent with all applicable personnel laws, regulations, and policies governing hiring position classification and compensation actions.

Procedures

1. To establish a new full-time position or fill a vacant position

   1. To establish a new faculty-rank position, or fill an existing vacant position in an organizational unit, the hiring manager will complete JSRCC Form No. 35-0904, Position Request, and forward to the Office of Human Resources.

   2. Within three (3) business days of receipt, the Office of Human Resources, will validate the position number, VCCS role title, working title, assigned duties and responsibilities in order to confirm the appropriate position classification determination. Upon completion of the position review process, the Office of Human Resources will forward the automated request to the college’s Budget Office for review and funding certification. Within two (2) business days of receipt, the Budget Office will make a budget determination.

   3. If the budget manager is unable to determine appropriate funding, he or she will consult with the vice president of finance and administration. The budget manager will return request forms not approved to the Office of Human Resources with the appropriate explanation. The Office of Human Resources will inform the unit manager of the unapproved action.

      To facilitate timely processing, the hiring manager must ensure that the Office of Human Resources receives the automated position request, JSRCC Form No. 350904, at least thirty (30) days prior to the requested effective date.

   4. Teaching faculty position

      Within two (2) business days of receipt of an approved JSRCC Form No. 35-0904, Position Request, for a teaching faculty position, the associate vice president of human resources will complete the position classification process, which includes generating the DHRM P-5 form and performing data entry of the new position into the automated personnel systems.

      During the same timeframe, the college’s recruitment coordinator will prepare the draft of the job advertisement. The budget-certified hiring request and the draft job advertisement is then provided to the hiring manager and the President’s Extended Cabinet member for final approval of the job advertisement. With both approvals, and any suggested edits, the Office of Human Resources will route the final job advertisement to Virginia Community College’s Shared Services Center to post in the required recruitment sources. The Office of Human Resources will then post the position on the college’s external and internal websites

   5. Administrative or professional faculty position

      Within two (2) business days of receipt of an approved JSRCC Form No. 35-0904, Position Request, for an administrative or professional faculty position, the associate vice president of human resources will review the request and attachments, and as needed, contact the unit manager to obtain any additional information in order to determine the appropriate position title.

      1. For positions at the director’s level and below: Within five (5) business days, the associate vice president of human resources will complete the position classification process, which includes obtaining comparable positions from other institutions, making position title recommendation, generating the DHRM P-5 form, and developing the college organizational chart. Upon completion of this process, the associate vice president of human resources will confer with the unit manager regarding the recommended position title. Upon acceptance of the recommendation, the associate vice president of human resources will, within two (2) business days, ensure that the new position is entered into the automated personnel systems and provide the final DHRM P-5 form to the Budget Office.

         Upon completion of the above steps, the recruitment coordinator prepares the draft of the job advertisement. The budget-certified hiring request and the draft job advertisement is then provided to the hiring manager and the President’s Extended Cabinet member for final approval of the job advertisement. With both approvals, and any suggested edits, the Office of Human Resources will route the final job advertisement to Virginia Community College’s Shared Services Center to post in the required recruitment sources. The Office of Human Resources will then post the position on the college’s external and internal websites.

      2. For positions at the vice president’s level and above: Within five (5) business days, the associate vice president of human resources will complete the position classification process, which includes making a position title recommendation, developing the justification letter to the VCCS chancellor, generating the DHRM P-5 form, and developing the college organizational chart. Upon completion of this process, the associate vice president of human resources will confer with the unit manager regarding the recommended position title and forward the completed classification package to the vice president of finance and administration for review. After review by the vice president of finance and administration and with approval from the president, the associate vice president of human resources will forward the completed classification package to the VCCS chancellor for final approval. Upon VCCS approval of the position establishment action, the associate vice president of human resources will ensure that the new position is entered into the automated personnel systems and provide the final DHRM P-5 form to the Budget Office.

         Upon completion of the above steps, the recruitment coordinator prepares the draft of the job advertisement. The budget-certified hiring request and the draft job advertisement is then provided to the hiring manager and the President’s Extended Cabinet member for final approval of the job advertisement. With both approvals, and any suggested edits, the Office of Human Resources will route the final job advertisement to Virginia Community College’s Shared Services Center to post in the required recruitment sources. The Office of Human Resources will then post the position on the college’s external and internal websites.

2. To abolish a full-time vacant position

   1. In order to abolish a vacant teaching, administrative, or professional faculty position, the hiring manager must complete JSRCC Form No. 35-0904, Position Request, and forward to the Office of Human Resources.

   2. Upon receipt, the Office of Human Resources will forward the abolishment request to the college’s Budget Office for review. Within three (3) business days of receipt, the budget manager will make a budget determination and forward the completed request to the Office of Human Resources in order to initiate the abolishment action. The Office of Human Resources will communicate the final abolishment action to the unit manager and provide the completed DHRM P-5 to the Budget Office for file retention. If the budget manager is unable to determine the appropriate funding action, he or she will consult with the vice president of finance and administration.

3. To determine the entry level salary for a new administrative or professional faculty member

   1. The unit manager completes pages one and three of the VCCS-10, Faculty Qualifications Summary, and submits it to the associate vice president of human resources.

   2. The associate vice president of human resources will verify the above information and consult with the unit manager if changes or corrections to pages one and/or three are required.

   3. For completion of page two of the VCCS-10, the associate vice president of human resources will construct an email to the unit manager with the recommended hiring salary and/or range based on the following criteria:

      1. candidate’s proposed hire date
      2. appropriate VCCS-18 salary scale
      3. candidate’s hiring rank
      4. candidate’s credentials
      5. years of related occupational experience
      6. years of full-time teaching experience
      7. budgeted salary available for vacant position
      8. internal staff comparison and analysis

   4. The associate vice president of human resources may request additional information from the unit manager based on the following:

      1. college or academic school business needs
      2. market availability and/or recruitment difficulties
      3. long term impact
      4. budget implications
      5. total compensation

   5. The associate vice president of human resources will construct the email and make the recommended hiring salary and/or range to the unit manager, according to VCCS guidelines that the starting salary may fall within the minimum to midpoint of the position range and must be equitable with comparable faculty.

   6. If the associate vice president of human resources and the unit manager determine that a higher salary (than stated in Item 5 above) is needed to negotiate with the candidate, the unit manager must write to the college president, via his/her respective chain of command, requesting to use the additional presidential authority amount as identified in the VCCS Competitive Salary Increments Policy 3.8.0.1.4 (Effective 5/17/18 - salary must be equitable with comparable faculty and not exceed the salary of comparable faculty by more than 10%).

   7. If the provisions of the Competitive Salary Increments Policy are not sufficient, the president will authorize the associate vice president of human resources to submit a non-routine salary request to VCCS Human Resource Services for VCCS State Board approval. In all cases, the starting salary will not be limited by the midpoint.

4. To determine the entry-level salary for a new 9-month, 10-month, or 12-month teaching faculty member

   1. The unit manager completes pages one and three of the VCCS-10 and submits it to the associate vice president of human resources.

   2. The associate vice president of human resources will verify the above information and consult with the unit manager if changes or corrections to pages one and/or three are required.

   3. For completion of page two of the VCCS-10, the associate vice president of human resources will construct an email to the unit manager with the recommended hiring salary and/or range based on the following criteria:

      1. candidate’s proposed hire date
      2. appropriate VCCS-18 salary scale
      3. candidate’s hiring rank
      4. candidate’s credentials
      5. years of related occupational experience
      6. years of full-time teaching experience
      7. budgeted salary available for vacant position
      8. internal staff comparison and analysis

   4. The associate vice president of human resources may request additional information from the unit manager based on the following:

      1. college or academic school business needs
      2. market availability and/or recruitment difficulties
      3. long term impact
      4. budget implications
      5. total compensation

   5. The associate vice president of human resources will construct the email and make the recommended hiring salary and/or range to the unit manager, according to VCCS guidelines that the starting salary may fall within the minimum to midpoint of the 9-month academic rank range and must be equitable with comparable faculty. (Note: For 12-month salary multiply by 1.3333; for 10-month salary multiply by 1.1111.)

   6. If the associate vice president of human resources and the unit manager determine that a higher salary (than stated in Item 5 above) is needed to negotiate with the candidate, the unit manager must write to the college president, via his/her respective chain of command, requesting to use the additional presidential authority amount as identified in the VCCS Competitive Salary Increments Policy. (Effective 5/17/18 - salary must be equitable with comparable faculty and not exceed the salary of comparable faculty by more than 10%).

   7. If the provisions of the Competitive Salary Increments Policy are not sufficient, the president will authorize the associate vice president of human resources to submit a non-routine salary request to VCCS Human Resource Services for VCCS State Board approval. In all cases the starting salary will not be limited by the midpoint.

5. To initiate classification and/or compensation actions for faculty positions

   1. The following classification and compensation actions are available for use for administrative, professional, and teaching faculty:

      1. acting pay
      2. additional duties
      3. competitive salary offer
      4. internal alignment
      5. non-competitive voluntary transfer/within the college
      6. non-competitive voluntary transfer/within the VCCS
      7. reallocation
      8. substantial additional duties

   2. Unit managers will ensure that each request adheres to the following guidelines:

      Acting pay: results from a temporary vacant position; duties assigned to one faculty member who assumes the majority of the responsibilities of the vacant position; may be given supplement of 0–15%; assignment should not extend beyond one year.

      Additional duties: results from a temporary vacant position; non-instructional duties assigned to one or more faculty members; may be given supplement of 0–10%.

      Note: If a salary increase is requested for a faculty member as a result of the “acting pay” or “additional duties” pay practice, the unit manager will include a justification on the PAF describing the selection of that particular employee among similarly skilled employees in the work unit for the acting pay or additional duty assignment.

      Competitive salary offer: a counter offer to an existing faculty member deemed critical to the college who has received an employment offer at a higher salary from an employer, which generally should not exceed more than 15% and which cannot exceed the job offer from the outside employer. The competitive salary offer may not exceed the position range maximum for administrative/professional faculty or the academic rank range maximum for teaching faculty. Additionally, the faculty member will be required to provide written documentation of the outside salary offer, which must be attached to the PAF prior to submission to the President’s Extended Cabinet member.

      Internal alignment: to align one or more faculty members’ salary more closely with those of other faculty members at the same college, and which may not exceed 10% for a faculty member in a fiscal year.

      Non-competitive voluntary transfer/within the college: when a faculty member moves from a 12-month administrative/professional position to a 9- or 10-month administrative/professional or teaching position; or, from a 9- or 10-month administrative/professional or teaching position to a 12-month administrative/professional or teaching position. The new 9-month salary will be established by calculating 75 percent of the 12-month salary; the new 10-month salary will be established by calculating 83 percent of the 12-month salary. The new 12-month salary will be established by increasing the 9-month salary by a factor of 1.3333 or by increasing the 10-month salary by a factor of 1.20.

      Non-competitive voluntary transfer/within the VCCS: when a faculty member is permanently reassigned from one community college to another community college or the system office under the following circumstances: (a) no open competition for the position; (b) positions are the same level; and (c) approval of both presidents or the chancellor, in the case of the system office. There is no change in faculty rank or salary, except if the action involves NVCC, in which case the salary action must be adjusted by 8% up or down in direct relationship to the VCCS-18.

      Reallocation:

      the movement of a position from one title and salary range to another based upon and to recognize a significant increase or decrease in the duties and responsibilities assigned to the position and which are limited to the following:

      1. counselor, librarian, assistant coordinator, and administrative officer level to coordinator level
      2. coordinator level to counselor, librarian, assistant coordinator, and administrative officer level
      3. coordinator level to director/dean level
      4. director/dean level to coordinator or assistant coordinator level

      Generally, upward and downward salary adjustments will be made in the range of 0–10%. (See VCCS Policy 3.8.12.2.G. for detailed information.)

   3. To initiate position classification actions 1.a. through 1.g. for a faculty member, the unit manager will complete Sections 1, 2, and 3 of JSRCC Form No. 35-0401, Pay Action Form (PAF) – Faculty Rank Positions, and forward to his/her supervising President’s Extended Cabinet member for approval in advance of the requested date of action. Retroactive pay adjustments will not be permitted.

   4. Upon approval of the President’s Extended Cabinet member, the signed form is submitted to the college’s Office of Human Resources for logging and tracking. Within one (1) workday of receipt, the Office of Human Resources will forward the logged form to the college’s Budget Office for review. Within three (3) business days of receipt, the budget manager will make a budget determination and forward the form to the Office of Human Resources for review and processing. If the budget manager is unable to determine appropriate funding, he or she will consult with the vice president of finance and administration. The budget manager will return request forms not approved to the Office of Human Resources with the appropriate explanation. The Office of Human Resources will inform the unit manager of the unapproved action.

      To facilitate timely processing, the unit manager must ensure that the Office of Human Resources receives the approved full-time position pay action form and attachments at least ten (10) workdays prior to the requested effective date.

   5. Within five (5) business days of receipt, the associate vice president of human resources will complete the review of the requested action and make a classification/compensation recommendation to the vice president of finance and administration and the president. After review by the vice president of finance and administration and with the approval of the president, requested actions that fall outside of the college’s decentralized authority agreement will be forwarded to VCCS for final review and approval. Requested actions that do not require prior review from VCCS will receive final approval from the president.

   6. Within three (3) business days of receipt of the approved action, the associate vice president of human resources will implement the approved action and confirm the action taken via the approval letter to the unit manager, with copies to the Budget Office and the respective President’s Extended Cabinet member. The associate vice president of human resources will also provide written notification of approved action to the individual faculty member.

   7. Substantial additional duties: to initiate a salary payment for substantial additional duties, the unit manager must complete the following steps prior to the start of the substantial additional duty assignment by the designated faculty member:

      1. obtain appropriate approval for the substantial additional duty assignment from their respective college vice president

      2. obtain funding support for the substantial additional duty assignment from the vice president of finance and administration

      3. verify the payment amount to be offered to the faculty member with the associate vice president of human resources

      4. with the above approvals, complete Part I and Part II of JSRCC Form No. 35-0700, Substantial Additional Assignments, and obtain the faculty member’s signature prior to the start of the work assignment. Supporting documentation for this pay action must include a description of the additional duties assignment, the amount of the supplement, the duration of the additional duties assignment, interim goals, and the expected outcomes. The supervisor retains the original copy of the form until the work assignment is completed.

      5. at the conclusion of the work assignment, complete Part III of the original form and obtain the faculty member’s signature. With appropriate signatures affixed, the original JSRCC Form No. 35-0700, Substantial Additional Assignments form, is submitted to the Office of Human Resources for payment to the faculty member on the nearest pay cycle to the date of receipt by Human Resources.

6. Exceptional recruitment and retention options for faculty-ranked positions

   1. The President’s Extended Cabinet member is strongly encouraged to consult with the associate vice president of human resources during the development of the requested recruitment and/or retention incentive option documentation.

   2. At least ten (10) days prior to the start of the retention program, the President’s Extended Cabinet member will submit the completed request(s) to the budget manager for funding certification. Upon funding certification, the budget manager will forward to the vice president of finance and administration, and the president for approval. The president will seek final approval from the VCCS chancellor.

   3. The request for an exceptional recruitment and/or retention option for an individual employee will require the completion of:

      1. JSRCC Form No. 35-0401, Pay Action Form (PAF) for Faculty Rank Positions, for administrative, professional, and teaching faculty.

   4. The request for an exceptional recruitment and/or retention option for multiple employees will require the college memorandum format, JSRCC Form No. 20-0015, Memorandum template.

   5. Upon approval, the signed request is submitted to the college’s Office of Human Resources for logging and tracking. The associate vice president of human resources will review the approved request for compliance with VCCS and DHRM policy, and will then forward to the leave administrator and the VCCS Shared Services Center for processing and pay. If the request is not approved for funding or if it is not approved by the vice president of finance and administration or the president, the budget manager will return the request, with an appropriate explanation to the associate vice president of human resources. The associate vice president of human resources will inform the unit manager and/or President’s Extended Cabinet member of the unapproved action.

   6. The associate vice president of human resources will generate the congratulatory letters and will ensure that signed promissory agreements are obtained from those employees receiving over $500.00 in bonus payments. Finally, the associate vice president of human resources will ensure that the final employee packets are assembled, for distribution to affected employees, and signed promissory agreements are returned to the Office of Human Resources and filed in each employee’s official personnel file and with the college’s Accounting Office.

   7. Requests for bonus payments and incentive options are available as follows:

      1. Sign-on bonus program: Bonuses of up to $10,000 may be awarded to new external employees agreeing to work for a specified period of one year or more. Payment may be paid as a lump sum or as scheduled payments. The employee will be required to sign a formal agreement to include satisfactory performance expectations and pay-back terms if requirements are not met. Justification of this request must be provided in writing or on the PAF, and the president and VCCS chancellor must approve all monetary requests, in advance, under this program.

      2. Project-based bonus program: Bonuses of up to $10,000 may be awarded for any one project or a combination of project milestones to encourage employees in specific positions to remain employed for the duration of key projects that are critical to the college’s operation or mission. Employee(s) must agree to remain employed for a period of one year or more, depending on the length of the project. Employee(s) will be required to sign a formal agreement to include satisfactory performance expectations and pay-back terms if requirements are not met. The unit manager must seek approval of the President’s Extended Cabinet member and the president in advance of the project assignment. Additionally, VCCS chancellor approval is required. Other criteria include:

         1. complete description of critical project
         2. dates of project and milestone completion dates
         3. list of eligible participants
         4. timing of payments
         5. full cost of project
         6. justification as to how and why project supports college’s institutional goals and objectives
         7. identification of funding to support project
         8. impact of bonus on similar or other positions

      3. Referral program: A one-time bonus of up to $1,500 may be awarded to a current employee for the referral of valid external job applicants for critical college positions. The vacant position must be designated as a critical position prior to recruitment by Human Resources because of the position’s inability to generate acceptable applicant pools. Prior to advertisement of each critical position, the President’s Extended Cabinet and the president will determine the amount of the referral bonus. The Office of Human Resources will be responsible for communicating the referral bonus eligibility information regarding the critical position to all classified staff. Other criteria include:

         1. Hiring managers/supervisors and agency recruiting staff are not eligible to participate in bonus program;
         2. Referred applicants must not have an active job application on file with the agency;
         3. A referring employee must be an active college employee in order to receive the referral payment;
         4. One-half of the referral payment will be made when the new employee begins work, and the remainder will be paid once the new employee completes the probationary period.
      4. Upfront annual leave program: Up to 30 days (240 hours) of annual leave may be provided to new employees as an incentive to accept employment with the college. A formal written agreement must be signed by the employee including requirements for satisfactory performance, duration of employment, and pay-back terms if the agreement is not met. Justification of this request must be provided on the PAF; the president and the VCCS chancellor must approve all requests of annual leave under this program.

7. Documentation and reporting requirements

   1. The associate vice president of human resources will maintain complete documentation of all personnel actions in accordance with DHRM policy and procedures.

   2. Personnel action requests that require the approval of the VCCS Chancellor’s Office will be coordinated and submitted by the college’s Office of Human Resources. Requests not requiring advance VCCS approval will be subject to postaudit review by DHRM and/or the Virginia Community College System office.

   3. The college’s Office of Human Resources will provide an annual summary of personnel action requests to the college’s President’s Extended Cabinet in order to identify compensation trends or problems.

Other Information:

The college’s Office of Human Resources is responsible for the official interpretation of these procedures. Questions regarding the application of these procedures should be directed to the associate vice president of human resources.

References

Commonwealth of Virginia, Code of Virginia, Chapter 10, § 23.1-1020

Virginia Community College System VCCS-10, Page 1-3, Faculty Qualifications Summary

Virginia Community College System Policy No. 3.8, Faculty Compensation

Virginia Community College System Policy No. 3.00, Categories of Employment

JSRCC Form No. 35-0401, Pay Action Form (PAF) – Faculty Rank Positions

JSRCC Form No. 35-0700, Substantial Additional Assignments Form

JSRCC Form No. 35-0904, Position Request (Word version of 35-0904)