CLA Policy and Procedures

Attendance: Employees are expected to be at work every day and on time. Attendance consistent with your selected work schedule is essential to our college to ensure that the department functions at a high level and to help students reach their academic goals. You are expected to be available and ready to work at all times (not including lunch hour) during your working hours.

Requests for Planned Annual or Sick Leave should be made at least two (2) weeks in advance, and approved by your director supervisor and your department chair (if applicable). We ask that you consider your department's needs and peak busy times as well as deadlines when making your request for annual or sick leave. We ask that you make reasonable efforts to schedule the planned annual leave or sick leave so as not to disrupt your department’s and/or CLA operations and services to faculty, staff, and students. Peak-time vacation requests may not be approved, except for emergencies (Peak times - beginning of the semester or around heavy deadline times).

Please submit the request via email to your direct supervisor and department chair (if applicable) with the following information:

■ Start & End Date of Leave

■ Pending tasks with deadlines

■ Previously scheduled meetings during leave dates that will need to be covered or rescheduled

■ Who will need to complete the pending tasks (i.e. who is responsible for the task or if another admin can cover general duties).

■ Provide a plan for coverage of duties during the leave period

Notification of late arrival and/or missed work time (i.e. unplanned sick leave or annual leave) must be made within 30 minutes of your expected normal arrival time. Notification must be made to your direct supervisor by pre-agreed upon means (call, text, and/or email). Please also call, or leave a message on the CLA Dean’s Office main line 907-474-7231 and notify your department chair (if applicable). 

Flex schedules or alternate schedules may be approved on a case-by-case basis. Reach out to your direct supervisor to discuss if this is an option for your position. Flex or alternate schedules must be set and agreed upon prior to working. Flex hours must be completed within the same week in a pay period. NOTE: Use of flex schedules due to tardiness or unplanned leave should not be standard practice.

Excessive tardiness or unplanned absences significantly disrupt your department's operations and services to faculty, staff, and students. You are expected to make all efforts to arrive to work on time and be ready and available to work during your scheduled working hours. Please reach out to your immediate supervisor to discuss any issues that could be causing you to not be at work on time on a regular basis and possible alternatives to address the matter. 

Out-of-Office Procedures: When you are out of the office, please have an out-of-office response on your email and voicemail and mark the time as unavailable on your Google calendar and the CLA Staff Leave Google Calendar. This lets people know that you are unavailable and should also provide them with an alternative

point of contact or a time when you will be available and respond to them. Please give Google Calendar access to your supervisor, department chair, department faculty, and student workers (as applicable). 

○ Out of Office messages should include the following information (at minimum):

■ The timeframe that you will be out of the office

■ If you will be checking and responding to emails or phone calls and a timeframe for when you will be responding to them.

■ Alternate points of contact

■ Any university closures (i.e. certain departments, services, etc.)

Responsiveness to Request: Answering emails and phone calls must be timely and within 24 hours. If no deadline is given on a project or assignment - assume within one week or ask; when there are problems or questions go to the source for resolution first. If you cannot fulfill a request, please provide a reason why you cannot do so (i.e. current BOR policy, current CLA policy or procedure, etc.) Just saying “No, it can’t be done” is not acceptable. Please reach out to your direct supervisor if you have any questions or need assistance fulfilling a request. We expect that you will strive to provide complete and thorough information in response to all requests for assistance.

Oral and written communication to all faculty, staff, students, and others that you contact in relation to your position at the College of Liberal Arts needs to be respectful and professional in both tone and content. If you encounter issues, we expect you will work with the appropriate individual(s) in a collaborative, respectful, and productive manner.

Conduct: When asked to perform a task by your direct supervisor, department chair, or another faculty member, it is not appropriate to question the importance of a task or delegate tasks to other employees. You are expected to provide quality service at all times. Strive for excellence, not just “good enough” in all tasks no matter how menial they may seem. You are expected to know your job and the responsibilities of the position and to have the skills required to perform all of your duties. If you do not feel that you have the resources or training to perform all of your duties, you are expected to communicate this to your supervisor and department chair (if applicable). You are expected to use all available resources to fulfill your job duties and to reach out to the CLA Dean’s Office staff when you need assistance.

Teamwork / Collaboration: Our administrative assistants are expected to share information with the Admin Team to keep everyone up to date. General department updates should be shared during Admin Assembly meetings. You are also expected to share information as disseminated by the CLA Dean’s Office staff with your department chair and faculty. It is important to understand how your duties impact others, especially during times of absence from work. All department admins are expected to plan coverage of duties accordingly and as a team. The expectation is that you work together to resolve the needs of your departments and the college as a whole.

Confidentiality: Your ability to be discreet and handle confidential information with the greatest of sensitivity is critical to your success. This includes written and verbal communication. If you have any questions or concerns about what is or isn’t confidential, please do not hesitate to ask for clarification.

Who to contact when you have questions:

Dee Cardentey- Supervisor of Admin Staff / General Assistance / Leave Request / HR-related questions (backup to Ellen Cruse and Miriam Stelges)

Department Chair - for department-related duties & projects / Leave Request

Heather Foltz- For fiscal and procurement questions. Please use your CLA and OFA website resources before reaching out to Heather.

Ellen Cruse and Miriam Stelges- All HR-related questions (hiring, timesheets, benefits, etc.)

Sarah Manriquez - Public Information Officer (websites, social media, advertising, branding, etc.)

Daniel Darrow and/or Grace Carroll- advising issues or questions

Laura Schneider - Course scheduling / Procard / Waivers / General questions

Diana Berry - GARFs, website updates

Isabel Castro - CLA Dean’s Office Coordinator – backup to all department admins