Winograd: Faculty and staff receive one-time raise

By: Stefany Olivas, Business Manager

All full and part-time faculty and staff recently received a raise last to reward dedication and hard work, said President Katharine Windograd.

The one-time, non-recur­ring raise of $900 for full time staff and a pro-rated amount for part-time employees was approved by CNM’s Governing Board in April 2011, when funds became available at the end of the fiscal year, she said.

Over the past three years enrollment rates have increased while state fund­ing has decreased, but faculty and staff have remained com­mitted to the college and stu­dents, said Winograd“This was a way to show great appreciation for our employ­ees. The compensation increase is an important investment in our faculty and staff. ” said Winograd.

Full-time SAGE instruc­tor and Union President Andrew Tibble said that union members are happy that the raise was approved.

“This is really a good thing in our view,” said Tibble.

Part-time Nursing instructor Margaret Sherman said she is excited and that her money is going to be spent on a few different things.

“I’m getting my Masters so pretty much everything will go for that. There are always gro­ceries and bills,” said Sherman.

The one-time compensa­tion increase came from money saved from the Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program which resulted in the retire­ment of 105 employees in 2011, said Winograd.

The incentive program was a part of an overall budget reduction plan for the previous fiscal year.

Many of the open positions vacated by retired employees have not been filled. Thi pro­vided enough savings for the compensation, she said.

“Our employees are CNM’s most valuable resource for helping our students suc­ceed,” said Winograd.

Tibble said that the con­tract for a recurring raise for employees covered by collective bargaining is still being negoti­ated. They are grateful for the non-recurring raise for the time being. He is hopeful the school and the union will come to an agreement on the contract soon.

“We’re still continuing to meet with the school and work on those issues that remain in the contracts,” said Tibble.

The union is now focus­ing on the contracts for security offices and instructional support units such as tutors and lab tech­nicians, he said.

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed that things are going to go well. Things are under way,” said Tibble.