Corporation Approves Proposal To Alter Employee Categories

The Corporation approved earlier this month a plan to alter the two University employee classifications.

As of July 1, the title of all teaching, professional, and administrative personnel will be "Officers of the University." Office, technical and service workers will be "Supporting Staff."

New Semantics

The distinctions between the two groups are based on the federal criteria for employees who are either exempt or non-exempt from payment for over-time work. Officers of the University will not receive money for overtime, but the members of the supporting staff will.

These new classifications replace previous hiring categories of "Corporation appointments" for members of the faculty and administration, and "salary and wage" positions for other teachers and all service personnel.

With the previous groupings, employees who held corporation appointments positions received better mortgage and educational loan plans and retirement benefits than "salary and wage" workers.

The University has already equalized retirement benefits for employees in both of the new groupings categories, and it is still working on changes for the other benefits.