PERFORMANCE INCENTIVE AWARD FOR PARAPROFESSIONALS

It is the policy of the College to have an orderly process for considering performance-related advancement matters for paraprofessionals.

Adopted November 16, 1995
Reformatted February 2012

Procedure 4220E

PERFORMANCE INCENTIVE AWARD FOR PARAPROFESSIONALS

The Performance Incentive Award is designed to recognize exceptional performance of full-time paraprofessional staff based upon primary job performance.

Qualifications
The Performance Incentive Award is open to all full-time paraprofessional employees with at least three (3) years of consecutive full-time service by the application deadline. An employee may reapply for the award if not received in a given year by completing a new application packet. Once an employee receives the Performance Incentive Award, he/she is eligible to reapply after completing four (4) additional consecutive years of full-time employment from the time the incentive payment is effective. Any new applications may not include documentation from a previous succession application or dated prior to the last successful application.

Composition of Committee
• One (1) Professional/Administrator below the Vice President level will be elected by the Paraprofessional Association. (2-year; 1-year term the first election). The Professional/Administrator with the second highest votes from the Paraprofessional Association will serve as an alternate for the remainder of the term.
• One (1) faculty member will be elected by the Paraprofessional Association. (2-year term; 1-year term the first election). The faculty member with the second highest votes from the Paraprofessional association will serve as an alternate for the remainder of the term.
• Five (5) full-time Paraprofessional staff members, preferably from different EEOC occupational categories, elected by the Paraprofessional Association (four 2-year terms; two will be elected for a 1-year term the first election).
• One (1) alternate Paraprofessional staff member will be elected by the Paraprofessional Association (for the remainder of the term).
• Human Resource Specialist (ex-officio non-voting member)

To insure the consistent application of the award standards, members of the first Performance Incentive Award Review Committee (PIARC) will serve either a one (1) or two (2) year term as specified.

If there are circumstances which cause any member(s) of the PIARC to believe that a conflict of interest might exist, the individual(s) with the perceived conflict of interest may be removed from the committee by a majority vote of the remaining PIARC members for that fiscal year. Alternate committee members will be appointed as indicated above.

If a committee member is no longer employed at Western Wyoming Community College, the appropriate alternate will fill the position.

Application Process and Timelines
Applications may be submitted to the Human Resource office between July 1 and August 31. The complete application packet must be in a sealed envelope which will be opened and reviewed by members of the PIA review committee. The envelope will be labeled with the applicant’s name, date submitted, and “Performance Incentive Award Application.” Copies will be made for the committee members to review, and these copies will be collected and shredded at the completion of the process. It is the applicant’s responsibility to submit all application materials and supporting information in complete form not earlier than July 1 and not later than August 31.

A completed application packets must include:
1. A single-page (front only) cover letter, font size 10, from the applicant stating why he/she should be considered for this award.
2. A Performance Incentive Award Application form (PIA Application Form) completed by the applicant. The PIA Application Form consists of a list of job and personal performance factors. The applicant will address all positions they have held during the application period. (First-time applicant, 3 years of full-time service. All others, 4 years full-time service).
3. A Performance Incentive Award Supervisor’s form 9PIA Supervisor’s Form) completed by the current supervisor (as of June 30 in the application year)*. The PIA Supervisor’s form consists of a list of job and personal performance factors. If the applicant has had more than one supervisor in the year prior to the application deadline (July 1 through June 30), the applicant must provide a Supervisor Application form for each of those supervisors. Applicants may include Supervisor’s Application forms for the entire application period. If a previous supervisor is unavailable, the applicant may submit a copy of their Performance Evaluation from that supervisor.
4. One to five letters of recommendation from peers, clients, or others familiar with the applicant’s work at the College. A letter from the applicant’s supervisor may be included as one of the above five letters of recommendation.
5. A verified and signed (by the Human Resource Specialist) copy of the applicant’s current approved Position Description which is on file in the Human Resource office, or if the applicant has been in his/her current position for one year or less, Position Descriptions from all positions.
*Under extenuating circumstances, the applicant may seek permission from the College President to have the Vice President or Department Head complete the PIA Supervisor’s form in place of the immediate supervisor. The President will consider the request, and make the final decision.

Responsibilities
Applicants are responsible for the following:

1. Verifying their eligibility for this award with the Human Resource office prior to obtaining the Application Packet.
2. Obtaining and reading the Application Packet (which includes the Policy and Procedure, the PIA Applicant’s form, and the PIA Supervisor’s form. Assistance with the packet is available by contacting a PIARC member.
3. Submitting a written request for a copy of his/her current approved Position Description(s) on file in the Human Resource office.
4. Completing a PIA Application form.
5. Providing a copy of the PIA Supervisor’s form(s) for his/her supervisor(s), and retrieving the completed copy of this form from the supervisor(s) to submit with his/her packet.
6. Requesting letters of support from peers, clients, and others familiar with the applicant’s work at the College. These individuals may include, but are not limited to, students, co-workers, vendors, and other community contacts with whom the applicant has established a work-related relationship.
7. Copying the application for their personal files and future reference prior to submitting it to the Human Resource Office.
8. Submitting the Completed forms, cover letter, support letters and Position Description(s) in a sealed envelope no earlier than July 1 and no later than August 31 to the Human Resource office.
9. Understanding the requirements of the packet is the applicant’s responsibility. Any questions should be addressed to the Human Resource Specialist or the committee members in writing prior to the application deadline.
10. Incomplete packets will not be forwarded to the PIARC. See the last page of this policy for disqualification conditions.

The Human Resource Specialist is responsible for the following:
1. Acting as an ex-officio member of the Performance Incentive Award Review Committee and serving as the official recorder of all results.
2. Providing interested individuals copies of the application materials upon request. The application materials include the Policy and Procedure, the PIA Applicant’s form, and the PIA Supervisor’s form.
3. Providing the applicant, upon written request, a copy of his/her Position Description on file in the Human Resource office. This copy will be verified and signed by the Human Resource Specialist and must be included in the submitted application packet.
4. Accepting application packets.
5. Convening a meeting with the PIARC Chair to jointly open the packets and verify that the application packets are complete.
6. Making and distributing copies of the packets to the committee in a timely manner following the application deadline.
7. Collecting and shredding all copies of all packets after the process is completed. The original application packet will become the property of the Western Wyoming Community College Human Resource department and will not be returned to the applicant.
8. Giving applications to and notifying the President of the Committee’s recommendation.
9. Notifying the applicants of the Committee’s recommendation to the President.

The PIARC is responsible for the following:
1. Meeting and selecting a chairperson.
2. Meeting as a group to evaluate and recommend candidates for the awards to the President. The number of recommendations does not have to meet, but will not exceed, the number of awards available.

The Committee Chairperson is responsible for the following:
1. Along with the Human Resource Specialist, opening application packets after the application deadline and verifying the application packet is complete (incomplete application will not be forwarded to the PIARC). With the Human Resource Specialist, copies will then be made and distributed to the Review Committee members.
2. Scheduling and chairing all meetings of the PIARC.

The Committee members are responsible for the following:
1. Individually and independently reviewing and rating each complete application.
2. Scoring Application and Supervisor’s forms.
3. Rating the criteria listed on the PIA Application form and PIA Supervisors form.

PIA Review Committee Ranking of Applicants
The PIARC will review and evaluate applications. Comments on both the application form and the supervisor’s form(s) are critical and may be the determining factor for the Review Committee’s award selection. For every application, the PIARC will consider the quality of work performed at Western Wyoming Community College. No application submittals from a previous PIA can be used for this application.

1. The PIARC members will individually review and score all applications. Committee members’ scores can be whole numbers on a scale of 1-5 where 5 is the highest possible score, or carried to the second place decimal (example: 4.45). The PIARC members will evaluate and score the applicant’s cover letter, letters of recommendation, supervisor’s form, and applicant’s form. The members will then submit their individual scores on each applicant to the Human Resource Specialist who will compile and tabulate the scores. Tabulated scores for each applicant are reached by averaging the cover letter weighted 10%, recommendation letters weighted 20%, applicant’s form weighted 35%, and the supervisor’s score weighted 35%. The highest and lowest scores in each category will not be included in the averaged scores. The mean averages will be weighted according to the form.
2. The PIARC will then meet as a group and Committee members will assess tabulated scores, discuss supporting documentation, and rank applicants.
3. To determine which applicants will be recommended to the President, the PIA Review Committee will rank all applicants. The final ranking of applicants will be based on a combination of tabulated scores and supporting documentation provided in the Application Packet. These awards will not be based solely on tabulated scores, and all recommendations will be at the discretion of the PIARC.

Determining Available Funding for Awards
By May 15 of each year, the President shall inform all paraprofessional employees in writing of the maximum number of awards he/she will approve in the next fiscal year. Every reasonable effort will be made by the administration to allocate sufficient resources to allow funding for five (5) awards each year. The number of potential awards will be the same as the number of potential awards for Rank/Horizontal Advancement awards.

The number of awards in any year is further dependent, at least in part, upon the outcome of the evaluation process. Awards will only be given to qualified candidates. Simply because funding is available does not mean that less than qualified candidates will receive this award.

In the event that all funding is not awarded because of an insufficient number of qualified applicants, or for other valid reasons, this funding will be transferred to the Career Development account to allow a one-time workshop or group training (i.e.: team building, time management) for paraprofessional employees.

Remuneration for the Performance Incentive Award
Individuals approved by the College President for this award shall, retroactive to the individual’s employment starting date for the current fiscal year, receive a pay increase of 9.5% of the minimum Salary Grade 12 monthly salary per month (the amount is based on the number of months that an individual normally works (9, 10, 11 or 12 months). This increase will be an on-schedule raise except for employees who are “red-lined” on the salary schedule.

In the event that the employee approved to receive this award is a “red-line” employee, or will become a “red-line” employee as a result of receiving the award, the monetary compensation will be applied as follows:
• If an employee is “red-lined”, that employee will receive the equivalent of 9.5% of the minimum Salary Grate 12 monthly salary multiplied by the number of months he/she normally works for two (2) years. This amount will be paid in one lump sum no later than the last working day of October of the current year. All other guidelines as described in this procedure will be applied.
• If an employee is within range of being “red-lined” and, as a result of receiving the award becomes “red-lined”, the amount of compensation up to the salary schedule maximum will be awarded as an on-schedule raise. The remaining amount of the award will be paid by no later than the last working day of October of the current year. All other guidelines as described in this procedure will be applied.

Applicants will be disqualified from consideration for the PIA award under any but not limited to the following circumstances:
1. Incomplete supervisor forms (either current or previous, if required),
2. More than five (5) letters of recommendation,
3. Any alteration of the applicant or supervisor forms including the overall appearance and length of the application form. Applications must be typed in a 10 font.

Adopted November 16, 1995
Revised January 28, 1999
Revised August 9, 2001
Revised February 9, 2006
Revised April 11, 2007
Reformatted February 2012