Professionals working on college campuses often follow many different, unclear maps in their quest for rights and advancement in the workplace. Tenure, promotions and salary scales are likely to have jumbled processes. So the American Federation of Teachers has consulted with a group of professionals to produce a booklet to help prevent detours and roadblocks.

The standards are laid out in the booklet, “Standards of good practice in the employment of professional staff in higher education." The idea is to ensure full rights for professional staff within their unions, and with employers to achieve job recognition and security. “Empowerment and voice" is the clarion call of the AFT, a national affiliate of NYSUT.

Several leaders from NYSUT higher ed affiliates advised the AFT on the project, including John Marino, vice president for professionals for United University Professions at SUNY; Juliette Romano, president of the United College Employees of the Fashion Institute of Technology; and Iris DeLutro of the Professional Staff Congress at CUNY.

Negotiating teams

“I think every college president should have one and contract negotiations teams should read it as a resource for professional staff contract demands," said DeLutro, a member of NYSUT's Higher Education Council and AFT's professional staff advisory. “In addition, every member of the professional staff collective bargaining unit should get one. We plan to distribute it to all members in the near future."

As a higher education assistant and senior counselor, DeLutro is on the job facing those problems with her peers.

“At CUNY it is a mixed bag. On the one hand our salary scales are the same as faculty. This is good. On the other hand, our tenure is a joke," she said. “Regarding promotions for the professional staff, there is no such thing. We can get reclassified but the process is highly flawed and too often a highly political process that is riddled with rather vague policies and guidelines governed by CUNY's Board of Trustees and not the contract."

Meanwhile, she said, professionals quickly grow out of their original job descriptions, particularly since years of loss of faculty members, combined with higher enrollment, has meant job shifts for professionals.

The jobs they represent include student advisers, information technologists, financial advisers, registrars, admissions personnel, development and public relations specialists, medical personnel and laboratory managers, to name a few. Students depend on professionals.

There are also more of them. From fall 1995 to fall 2003, there was a 30.2 percent increase in professional staff at degree-granting institutions, according to the U.S. Department of Education. In 2003, there were almost 1.7 million non-instructional staff out of

3 million higher education employees, the department reported.

“Involving professional staff in workplace decision-making results in a stronger institution," the AFT states. “While professional staff at some institutions do sit on committees or serve as advisers, this is rare."

Some tips from the AFT publication include:

• Hiring should be based on procedures agreed upon by administration and professional staff representatives, who should also serve on search committees.

• Current and accurate position descriptions should be provided and reviewed by both administration and professional staff. Workload requirements, time allotment rules and skill requirements should be included.

• If responsibilities change substantially, professional staff should be able to apply for a position reclassification review.

• Staff should have a fair and equitable salary classification structure for each job title. This should include minimum salaries, advancement steps and salary ranks, and be based on years of experience.

• Professional staff should have the option of sabbaticals or education leaves, as determined by a sabbaticals committee.

• A clear procedure should exist for applying for promotions. Staff should be considered for promotions or salary increases based on professional development, supplemental education and years of experience.

To order the $3 guide, contact the AFT at (202) 879-4400; ask for item no. 36-0718.

— Liza Frenette