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Wednesday, October 13, 1993
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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SPECTATOR'S
Proposed bill may reduce classified positions at Regents universities
Cynthia Hodges, a secretary in the KU department of philosophy, does not want to lose her job.
By Christoph Fuhrmans Kansan staff writer
But if House Bill 2211, Sec. 52,
becomes a permanent fixture in
Kansas law, every classified state
employee's job could be in danger.
Section 52 of the bill states that of all classified state employees that retire in a year, no more than three-fourths of the jobs can be retained.
Hodges is one of only two classified employees in the department.
"I'm not so sure it's a good idea," she said. "It really makes me nervous."
At KU a classified employee is a state civil service employee such as a secretary or a maintenance worker, and an unclassified employee is a professor or a high-level administrator, said Richard Mann, University director.
The bill was passed by the Legislature in April to cut back on spending, said State Sen. Sandy Praeger, R-Lawrence.
"I don't see it staying in place over a long period of time," she said. "The
problem is if we keep this in place too long, we'd create some personnel problems. I think it needs to be looked at every year."
Mann said the bill would affect KU, but the bill would have more of an impact on state agencies with more classified employees.
"What's happening is you have people retiring and you may not get that job back," he said. "It's a good way to reduce the budget."
According to University Relations, there are 1,713 classified and 1,024 unclassified employees at KU.
Mike Auchard, mason for student housing and head of KU's classified senate, said he was not pleased with section 52 of the bill, but as a whole, the bill benefited classified employees.
The bill raised the multiplier in the retirement benefit plan from 1.4 to 1.75.
When a classified employee retires, the employee receives a benefit. The benefit is determined by the employee's final average salary multiplied by how long the employee has worked. That figure is then multiplied by the multiplier.
Auchard will attend the Kansas Council of Classified Employees Saturday in Wichita, where he will present KU's classified employees position paper, which will recommend the elimination of section 52 of the bill.
"I doubt if I will be the only person there talking about this," he said.
Before tomorrow's Board of Regents meeting in Wichita, the chief executive officers of the six Regents schools will have a council of presidents meeting. One of the topics that will be discussed will be the affect of the bill on the universities.
"We have a lot of hardworking employees and don't have a lot of fat," said Ted Ayres, general council and director of governmental relations for the board, who will make the presentation on the bill to the council. "You can only cut so far before you get to muscle and bone, and that's dangerous."
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KU HOMECOMING 1993
Schedule of Events
Friday, Oct.15
2:20 pm *Homecoming Parade Chi Omega Fountain to Adams Alumni Center
3:00 pm *Kansas Union Grand Opening
8:30 pm *Homecoming Bonfire-Parade Winners
At Broken Arrow Park
Saturday,Oct.16
9:00 am * Alumni Association Info Table
9:30 am
- Walking Tour of Campus Starting at Adams Alumni Center
10:00 am
11:00 am
11:00 am
- Alumni Association Info Table Level 4 - Kansas Union until 1:00 pm
- Academic Open Houses
- Picnic-Under-The-Tent Tennis Court Southeast of Stadium $6.00 per person
1:00 pm
8:00 pm
- Walking Tour of Campus Starting at Adams Alumni Center
- Kickoff, Kansas vs Iowa St.
- SUA Homecoming Show: George Winston in concert at Lied Center