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| State NFA President Kent Ervin |
The President of the State Board of the Nevada Faculty Alliance, Kent Ervin, is urging all academic and administrative faculty in the Nevada System of Higher Education to contact lawmakers and insist they reinstate NSHE professionals in the group of state employees who will receive quarterly retention bonuses under Assembly Bill 268.
The Bill, which was the result of a proposal made in a surprise announcement during Governor Joe Lombardo's State of the State Address, originally included all state employees in a plan to distribute quarterly $500 retention bonuses for one year. Last week, however, the Assembly Ways and Means Committee amended the legislation and explicitly chose NSHE professionals for exclusion from the bonuses as a money saving measure. After passing the full Assembly late last week, the Bill has now moved on to the Senate Finance Committee which may act on it as soon as Wednesday, March 22. "Proactive and assertive efforts by our members and professional colleagues are needed now to reverse the exclusion," Ervin said in his message.
He urged individuals to contact their legislators and the Governor and insist that they restore these benefits for all NSHE professionals. He added that the NFA "enthusiastically endorse[s] the opportunity for our Classified coworkers to receive the well-deserved retention bonuses," but must oppose the current version of the legislation for singling out NSHE Professionals while maintaining the bonuses for other non-classified employees, mostly managers and high-level staff, who work in other state agencies. "NFA will vigorously support AB268 only when it applies to ALL state employees equally," he said.
He asks professionals to call or email their state senators, but said phone calls are most effective. Although the call will not reach the lawmaker directly, their office staff will note your position and comments for a summary to the legislator or Governor. Among the important points that lawmakers need to hear from NSHE professionals is the disparity between faculty salaries and those of NSHE administrators. "There is a misconception that all faculty salaries are like those of our executives," Ervin explained. He also recommends that callers describe, with examples if possible, the increasing difficulty in recruiting and retaining highly qualified faculty in a competitive national market where Nevada continues to fall behind. Above all else, Ervin said, "be completely respectful."
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