Hello, all,
I also worked with informal “comp” time at CSU Long Beach for several decades. It was always clear that I would need to work more than 40 hours some weeks, and the school flatly refused to pay anyone formal compensatory time through the payroll, which would be declared and then paid at time-and-a-half. My chair and Dean were delighted that I was willing to just switch time for equal time, and I was very content to juggle my hours as needed. (I did always make it clear that I wouldn’t change personal time-off plans to solve someone else’s poor planning, so I had a three-week minimum scheduling time set up. It even worked, sometimes!) I always enjoyed not having a typical 9-5 job, so I might work a Saturday evening concert and take the extra hours off, say, on Tuesday afternoon. I could also accumulate hours for a specific personal project, like summer events or for working the January NAMM show. I carefully tracked the extra hours and showed specifically when I took them “back” for the full 30 years, and not once did anyone ask to see them. I offered, several times, if anyone had a question, so it was a powerful tool just to be very organized. Now that I have left that position, my successor is using the same pattern and techniques. I think it is critical to track your informal comp time hours.
One caveat, though - while my chair and dean were pleased to solve the problem so easily, my financial officer in the Dean’s office actually, physically shuddered! It was a choice between two awful situations for her - I could claim every hour and she would have to make it work in the official structure, or she could just plead with me to not tell her! Technically, if I were off at another task on a Tuesday afternoon when I was on the official clock (taking back those Saturday night hours) and had an accident, if would be a serious nightmare for her position. She just said, “Write down your 40 hours per week, and please don’t tell me otherwise. And be careful!” It is the same for my husband David Vanderlip at Pomona College. He writes down the “official” time but works everything out much as I had been.
The whole situation wasn’t ideal, risk-wise (for them) but I enjoyed the actual work arrangement and really enjoyed the flexibility. Many summers, several of us worked a 4-40 schedule (4 ten-hour days) for the 3-day weekends. I also had a better shop at home than I did at school (thanks to David’s rebuilding work) so early each summer I would take a piano “home” for three weeks or so to rebuild an action, maybe re-string it. It was quite enjoyable to put in school hours at home, although that situation is not likely to work for other schools and situations. In fact, I would no longer recommend it in the legal society we have today - too much risk for too many people, I guess, as far as “what if anything goes wrong”. I expect I was lucky in many ways.
The CSU structure for positions and job titles was very clearly outlined, with 23 campuses, and it offered Piano Technician I and Piano Technician II positions. I was a Piano Technician II from the start, and had numerous small pay raises over the years, as negotiated by a statewide union. I ended with over 3 paid weeks of vacation each year, quite a few holidays, many possibilities for Professional Development (some with a little remuneration, at times) or at least paid time off (not my vacation hours) for things like PTG conventions. I accumulated over a year’s worth of sick leave, which was added to my time worked in the final calculations. I never had any formal assistants or students to supervise, and would never have been able to fulfill the descriptors of the more generalized Technician III position. I think other techs even within the CSU system have found other ways to work with students or assistants, I’m not sure.
I’’m finding it pretty interesting to hear of all the situations that have been created by various schools, private and state, and the many people who fill the positions. I guess for me it was a matter of finding out how the “system” was set up and finding my best potential within that structure. I was professional, kept up my technical skills, and dressed professionally, and I felt the respect of the faculty. Similarly, I’ve also been adept over the years at moving to a new home and making it work comfortably for our family, but I also know people who are braver or more ambitious than that, and are quite eager to start knocking down walls and renovating the house. There seems to be some parallel here. I expect the brave ones are more likely to make permanent changes for the better.
Best to you all,
Kathy
Original Message------
So Paul -
If you have some time (comp time perhaps), it would be interesting to generate some sort of graphic representation of your job, its category, pros and cons of its expectations, overall remuneration, satisfaction (including professional and personal growth vs. stress, etc. Would you choose to change the category of the job if you could? Why/why not?
Without getting unnecessarily specific, how would you compare your situation to the description posted by John Minor for the Ball State position?
Your description suggests a significant level of trust and understanding between you, your Dean, and finance department. That can change for any number of reasons, so, while much of this may go unrecorded, I would hope you have some written documentation of these understandings, and, by all means, you should maintain very accurate records of your hours, even if they don't require them, at this point.
One potential problem could emerge where the (growing?) work load can't be supported with the current resources (i.e. your 40 hours +) and you find yourself (perhaps with a different supervisor) scrambling to maintain peace and tranquility.
------------------------------
David Skolnik
Hastings-on-Hudson NY
914-231-7565
------------------------------