201-2 Terms and Conditions of Employment for Administrators

201 General

201-2 Terms and Conditions of Employment for Administrators

Administrators at Treasure Valley Community College fall into four categories: temporary, probationary, regular and continuing. Deans and Associate Deans are administrators for the purpose of this policy.

Administrators will be issued contracts specifying assignment, salary and dates of contract and employment status. Temporary and Associate Deans will not be granted an annuity.

Temporary Appointment: Administrators on a temporary contract will serve to the end of the contract period and need not be given notice of the College’s intention not to reemploy. Administrators on a temporary contract may terminate the contract upon notice to the College President forty –five (45) days in advance, or shorter period as can be mutually agreed upon by the administrator and President.

Annual Probationary Appointment. The first two consecutive fiscal years of a full-time or part-time administrative position shall be a probationary period. Annual contracts will be issued during the probationary period. A decision to terminate, discipline or suspend a probationary administrator without pay or with a pay reduction during an annual contract period will be made For Cause. The President can make written or oral reprimands and warnings for any reason the President in good faith considers sufficient. Said warnings and reprimands are not subject to the For Cause and due process provision set forth below. The President may non-renew the employment of a probationary administrator for any reason the President in good faith considers sufficient. The decision to non-renew is not subject to the Termination, For Cause and due process set forth below. Notice of intent to non-renew the administrator’s contract will be given no later than April 1 and the administrator’s employment shall terminate on June 30^th of the same year. In the event of financial exigency or an emergency declared by the Board during the probationary period, probationary administrators may be released from a contract with (2) two months, or 60 calendar days notice. Unless notified otherwise, annual probationary appointments will continue from year to year until the administrator becomes eligible for a regular appointment. Evaluations of probationary employees may be conducted annually by the President. The evaluation is to provide administrators with feedback on performance, objectives, goals, recognition and areas for growth. The President’s decision to non-renew or terminate an administrator shall not be conditioned by or constrained by evaluations or the lack thereof. A probationary administrator may terminate the contract by submitting written notification to the President 90 calendar days in advance. A shorter time frame to terminate the contract may be mutually agreed upon by the probationary administrator and President.

The President has the sole discretion to shorten, waive or extend any probationary periods upon notice to the administrator.

When an administrator is promoted from an Associate Dean to a Dean position, the administrator will serve a probationary period of not less than one year in the Dean position before becoming eligible for a regular appointment. All other appointments or promotions (for example: Temporary Dean to Dean or part-time Dean to Dean) are subject to the two year probationary period.

Fiscal Years will be calculated as follows: Credit for the first fiscal year will given to administrators hired prior to January 15^th of any year from the date of hire to the end of the fiscal year. For administrators hired after January 15^th, credit for one year of service will begin at the start of the next fiscal year. Credit for years beyond the first year of service is based upon a continuous full fiscal year of service.

Regular Appointment. A regular appointment may be given at the end of the probationary appointment. Administrators in regular appointments will be eligible for contracts not to exceed two years.¹ A decision to terminate, discipline or suspend the administrator without pay or with a pay reduction during a contract period will be made For Cause. The President can make oral or written reprimands and warnings for any reason the President in good faith considers sufficient. Said warnings and reprimands are not subject to the For Cause and due process provision below. At any time prior to the end of the two-year contract period, the President may issue a new contract for a term not to exceed two (2) years or extend the existing contract for a specified period of time. The President may non-renew the employment of a regular appointed administrator for any reason the President in good faith considers sufficient. Notice of intent not to renew an administrator in a regular appointment shall be provided no later than 6 months prior to the non-renewal. The notice need not conform to any aspect of the College year. The decision to nonrenew is not subject to the Termination, For Cause and due process provisions below. In the event of financial exigency or an emergency declared by the Board during the regular appointment, employees may be released from a contract with (6) months, or 180 calendar days notice. The President may conduct evaluations of regular administrators every two years. The evaluation is to provide administrators with feedback on performance, goals, objectives, recognition or excellence and areas for growth. The President's decision to non-renew or terminate an administrator shall not be conditioned by or constrained by evaluations or the lack thereof. An administrator may terminate the contract by submitting written notification to the President 90 days in advance. A shorter time frame to terminate the contract may be mutually agreed upon by the President and the administrator.

Continuing Appointment: The decision to issue a continuing appointment is solely at the discretion of the Board.² Administrators who have worked for a total of 10 years in an administrative position, and are performing satisfactorily, are eligible to receive a continuing appointment until the administrator retires, resigns, is given notice of termination, or transferred or reassigned by the President. The continuing administrator may be terminated For Cause. The administrator may only be suspended without pay or a pay reduction, reprimanded, warned and disciplined For Cause. In the event of financial exigency or an emergency declared by the Board during a continuing appointment, employees may be released from a continuing appointment with (6) months, or 180 calendar day’s notice. An Administrator may terminate a continuing appointment by submitting written notification to the President 90 days in advance. A shorter time frame to terminate the appointment may be mutually agreed upon by the President and employee. The President may conduct evaluations of continuing administrators every three years. The evaluation is to provide administrators with feedback on performance, objectives, goals, recognition or excellence and areas for growth. A decision to terminate an administrator shall not be conditioned by or constrained by evaluations or the lack thereof.

The President shall have the option to terminate the continuing appointment without cause. In the event of such termination, the College shall pay to the employee an amount equal to one (1) year of the administrator’s current salary as severance for the termination. Existing insurance and retirement benefits or their equivalent value may be maintained for the 12 months. Termination For Cause shall negate the continuing administrator’s right to the severance pay options of this Policy.

Termination: Termination For Cause will be effective no less than thirty (30) days from the delivery to the affected administrator written notice of the charges. The President may suspend an administrator from duties, with pay, prior to the effective date of such termination. Within five (5) working days of notification of termination or suspension without pay, the affected employee may request a post-termination or post-suspension hearing before the Board of Directors by submitting a written request to the Board Chair. The only ground for a Board hearing is a complaint that due process has not been followed. Such a hearing will be held not earlier than fifteen (15) days or more than sixty (60) days from the employee requesting the hearing. The hearing will be conducted in a closed executive session, unless specifically prohibited by Oregon law. During the hearing, the employee may be accompanied by legal counsel, cross-examine witnesses, present evidence and written or oral arguments. The employee must bear his or her own legal costs and fees. Within twenty (20) days after the hearing, the employee shall be provided with a written decision of the hearing.

For Cause: For Cause and due process in this Policy means:

The Administrator is given timely written notice of charges against him/her and range of sanctions.
There will be an investigation of the charges before termination is administered. The Administrator required to attend a meeting regarding a matter, which could affect the continued employment of the Administrator, shall be given reasonable notice of the meeting. The meeting will be an informal opportunity for the employee to tell his/her side of the story and present arguments, including mitigation of sanctions.
The Administrator shall have the right to have one representative of his/her choice present at a meeting of an investigatory nature, which he/she reasonably believes may result in termination.
Relevant information forming the basis of termination will be made available to the Administrator at the Administrator’s request.
The investigation will provide some evidence or proof that an Administrator is guilty as charged.
For Cause and due process are automatically satisfied when an administrative position is terminated or salary reduced due to financial shortage/ exigency or an emergency declared by the Board and timely notice is given to the administrator.
For cause and due process are automatically satisfied whenever the Board or President has determined in good faith that the best interests of the College require the reassignment or the transfer of the administrator (probationary, regular, temporary or continuing) and the job change is discussed with the administrator and advance written notice is provided. Interests may include, but are not limited to: reorganization, discontinuance or the reduction of programs due to lack of enrollment, costs, needs of the College or President, the special skills, abilities and expertise of the administrator are needed elsewhere, the health of the administrator require a change, or any non-disciplinary reasons. The salary and annuity of the administrator may be adjusted in the event of reassignment or transfer at the sole discretion of the Board or President.³

¹ Regular appointment contracts are not annually renewable two-year contracts. Rather, at any time prior to the end of a two-year contract, the President may issue a new two-year contract or extend the existing contract for a specified period of time. Written notice of non-renewal, however, requires 6 months' advance notice.

² A decision to issue a continuing appointment may not bind future Boards. See e.g. Board of Klamath County Commissioners v. Select County Employees, 148 Or App. 48, 939 P.2d 80 (1997)

³ Nothing herein shall be construed to establish layoff or recall rights for administrators.

Adopted: 02/26/90
Revised: 10/20/98

Cross References:
Legal References:

ORS 341.290 (1)
ORS 192.660