TO:		Faculty and Staff
FROM:		Frank Turnage, President
DATE:		February 16, 2001
SUBJECT:		Scheduling and Staffing Guidelines

At its meeting February 9, the College Council recommended the adoption of new scheduling and staffing guidelines, effective Summer Term, 2001. The President’s Council has endorsed the new procedure, and I have approved it. This is a policy change from the current practice that established College-wide requirements for scheduling and leave authorizations. Should you have questions about the new policy, please direct them to your immediate supervisor. The new policy provides more flexibility for departments and individuals throughout the College.

Supervisors are responsible for establishing schedules to ensure that all activities within their departments are performed to the satisfaction of students, other employees, and external requestors. Supervisors shall identify dates for their individual departments during which all staff are needed to accomplish the mission of the department and the College.  On the dates identified as critical dates, it is expected that all staff within that department (including part-time employees) shall perform duties of the College. Accordingly, requests for leave of absence that are for non-emergency reasons will not be approved during these periods. Absences due to necessary medical appointments or emergencies shall be granted.

To ensure fairness to all employees, it is imperative that these guidelines be interpreted and applied uniformly throughout the College. I expect that a similar number of critical dates should occur for each work area, and once critical dates are identified, exceptions should not be granted unless for one of the reasons identified above. Appeals to a supervisor’s decision shall be made to the next direct level of supervision for that department or work unit.