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K-State Today

February 17, 2014

Update on university support staff system following November 2013 vote

Submitted by Kirk Schulz, Cindy Bontrager, Gary Leitnaker and Carol Marden

We would like to provide an update since the November 2013 vote when classified employees at Kansas State University voted to leave the state civil service system to become university support staff (USS). The Alternative Service Committee (ASC) — along with input from classified employees, campus staff and administration — has drafted the USS handbook. The handbook can be found on the ASC webpage. This handbook will be presented to the Kansas Board of Regents for final approval of the conversion from classified to USS employees at the March meeting. The initial conversion to USS will be effective June 8, 2014, the first pay period of the 2015 fiscal year. 

Since the vote to change from the classified system to USS, many of you have asked about giving raises to our classified/USS employees. President Schulz has approved a 2 percent across-the-board increase for USS employees effective at the beginning of fiscal year 2015. This will provide us more time to develop pay plans and perform market analysis on positions. The Budget Office will provide information to units and colleges regarding the across-the-board pay increase with the fiscal year 2015 budget instructions. 

It will take time to transition into a new USS system. One of our first priorities is to develop an appeals board for grievance complaints and implement the new performance management (evaluation) system. We will call for volunteers to serve on the appeals board and additional training will be scheduled soon for the new performance management system. It is our expectation that all supervisors of USS employees will attend this training. Participation in these efforts is critical to the success of the USS system. The Division of Human Resources will be releasing information soon regarding the development of the appeals board and dates for the training classes.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we transition to the new USS system. If you have any questions about this transition or suggestions you would like implemented, please contact Gary Leitnaker, associate vice president for the Division of Human Resources, at geleit@k-state.edu or 532-6277, or Carol Marden, chair of the alternative service committee, at cmarden@k-state.edu or 532-6927.