-
1 of 10
-
2 of 10
-
3 of 10
-
4 of 10
-
5 of 10
-
6 of 10
-
7 of 10
-
8 of 10
-
9 of 10
-
10 of 10
Selland College faculty face move to College of Western Idaho
Archive
Comments
Story
The Larry G. Selland College of Applied Technology is on the move, and its faculty members are faced with deciding whether they want to go along for the ride.
Vera McCrink, dean of the Selland College, said the college’s planned July 1 relocation to the College of Western Idaho is complicated.
“The main reason is that there isn’t a roadmap,” McCrink said. “Starting a new community college is rare, but having an existing professional-technical college become a part of that is very unique.”
McCrink said every Selland employee will have the option to work for CWI.
“Everyone’s moving that wishes to move,” she said. “No one will be losing a job. They will transfer at exactly the same salary and the benefits will remain the same.”
Selland employees’ benefits and salaries are presently based on annual contracts, McCrink said, and they will be receiving new contracts from the community college after their first year.
“I haven’t seen them yet, but I think they’ll be very similar to what we have,” she said.
Relocation is set to happen gradually as CWI finds space for the programs it plans to offer, so some faculty members will remain at the Boise campus after July 1.
“Right now CWI occupies 170,000 square feet of BSU campuses in Boise, Nampa and Caldwell,” McCrink said. “It will be a phased movement over three and one-half years.”
Glenn Pfautsch, faculty senate representative for the Selland college, is worried about his benefits.
When the merger takes place, faculty members and their families will no longer receive free or reduced BSU tuition, Pfautsch said.
Pfausch said he received notice of benefit changes in an e-mail.
“It was in writing that we were [originally] going to get our full fee waiver,” Pfautsch said. “The majority of the faculty is extremely nervous. What’s the next thing to go?”
He also expressed concern about whether community college facilities would be usable in time for the move.
“We have no facilities,” he said. “They bought them, but there’s no money to remodel. They’re focused on accreditation so much that they ignored other things.”
As his colleagues confront the coming change, some have decided to quit or take early retirements, Pfautsch said. His assessment is simple: “They are not happy at all.”
Shirl Boyce, CWI director of Community Relations and Advancement, confirmed that Selland faculty members will not be given reduced tuition at BSU after this semester.
“They will be ours then,” he said. “They’re coming over.”
Selland faculty members will be offered reduced tuition at CWI as part of their contracts.
According to CWI’s Website, Selland faculty members can bring 240 hours of accumulated vacation time with them.
Benefits will not change, Boyce said, with the possible exception of sick leave, which is presently addressed in the state legislature.
“Everyone in the Selland College programs is coming over,” Boyce said. “Everything’s going to remain the same. We’re having to look at budget cuts like everyone else, but people are so antsy and concerned they’re
making speculations."
JENNIFER SAWMILLER AND JAIME KERWIN
Arbiter Staff