TU: FSCJ Student Services reorganization is good news for some, job woes for others

Times-Union

http://jacksonville.com/news/2015-07-22/story/fscj-student-services-reorganization-good-news-some-job-woes-others

Former enrollment development coordinator Deborah Ayer is among 39 employees currently without a new job at the school.

“I went over and above my duties, and I know other employees not here who did as well,” she said.

The changes, unveiled earlier this year by Vice President of Student Services Chris Holland, are the latest in a series of big initiatives that officials say will make the college more supportive and engaging for students. The school announced last week a proposal to develop student housing, dining and a Center for Civic

Engagement near its Downtown Campus by fall 2016.

According to FSCJ spokeswoman Jill Johnson, the school is currently seeing a 16 percent increase in student enrollment for the fall.

“There are just sweeping changes to a lot of areas, so it’s a very exciting time to be at FSCJ,” Holland said.

Holland became vice president of student services in fall 2014. At the time, he said Student Services was decentralized and inefficient.

A campuswide survey of students last year showed while the school rated high in areas of academic rigor and engaged learning, it ranked low in student support and student-faculty interactions, which Holland said provided some of the impetus behind the changes.

Holland presented plans for a completely restructured model to the Board of Trustees in March, placing significantly more employees in positions with students rather than behind desks. Under the new model, 87 percent of his staff would work directly with students versus 62 percent last year. Each of the college’s five campuses will have its own “dean of student success” along with a team of eight to 10 general academic advisers and four to five specialized advisers.

“It’s consistent so if I go to Kent Campus, I get the same kind of level of operation that I would if I go to South Campus, if I go to Downtown Campus,” he said.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
The plans — estimated to save the state college a total of $1.4 million — also called for 210 current employees to apply for new jobs, leading to rumblings of layoffs among some employees. Holland said, at the time, the changes would not result in layoffs or mass reductions.

Under the changes, which became effective July 1, 138 employees remain in Student Services, while 33 employees either retired or resigned for positions elsewhere, according to Johnson.

Another 44 employees were hired from either outside of the school or from another department within FSCJ to fill positions.

Of those with Student Services who still don’t have new positions, Ayer said a number that she was aware of were in their late 40s and 50s.

“A lot of the people that were not rehired were older … both in age and experience,” she said.

Ayer, who is in her 40s and originally from the United Kingdom, served for about eight years as an enrollment development coordinator in Student Services, receiving overall “exceeds standards” ratings on her job performance, according to evaluation records she provided to the Times-Union spanning back to 2007.

“She has been very active in connecting adult learners to opportunities at the College. Deborah’s willingness to be a team player sets a strong example in the office,” a 2013 evaluation states.

However, under the reorganized model, degree requirements for all similar-level positions in Student Services changed. Under the new requirements, Ayer’s degree from Staffordshire University in England, formerly known as North Staffordshire Polytechnic, did not automatically meet the qualifications. She said applying for a position in Student Services would have required her to obtain her degree and have it evaluated by the college, a process, she said could take up to five weeks. Instead, she applied for three other openings at FSCJ outside of Student Services — two of which did not require higher than a high school diploma. She never received a callback for any position, she said.

Johnson points out that there are still 20 job openings left to be filled in Student Services, as well as a number of other vacancies throughout the college. She also notes that some employees didn’t get positions because they never applied or just didn’t take a job once it was offered.

Ayer said that wasn’t her experience, and she’s heard similar stories from other colleagues.

“That’s not the full truth. I know of a number of people who did fill applications and were not hired … didn’t even get called for an interview,” she said.

Other employees within the college, who did not want to comment on the record for fear of retaliation, said they also knew of employees who applied and weren’t called back. Others have had to settle for significantly lower-paying positions, Ayer said.

Holland said he never promised his employees they would all have new positions, although Ayer and others dispute that. He said he also informed employees in February that all of those who did get hired would begin their new positions at the starting salary.

“If we’re ever going to have a true, consistent organization, and we’re going to build a brand-new organization with new positions, we’re going to start all those positions at the same level,” he said.

SAVINGS NOT PRIORITY
The total amount projected to be paid in salaries under the new structure is about $8.3 million annually, compared to $8.9 million under the old model, according to data from the college. Salaries range from about $24,000 for administrative assistant positions to nearly $167,000 for the vice president’s seat.

Johnson and Holland said despite the substantial cut, saving money was not the objective of the changes. The position changes are only a small piece of a larger effort under FSCJ President Cynthia Bioteau to improve student success, Holland said.

Since taking office at the school once embroiled in scandal, Bioteau has made a number of organizational changes, including the outsourcing of some financial aid functions and shifting those within her cabinet.

“The student services reorganization is just one piece of a larger, overall progressive move of FSCJ to move forward under Dr. Bioteau’s vision and leadership,” Holland said.

Ayer, however, believes the changes are coming at the cost of good employees.

“I actually think, in the long run, it’s going to have a negative impact on students,” she said. “Under the current administration, I would not apply there, again.”

Rhema Thompson: (904) 359-4693