Larger workloads placed on classified employees could raise the quarter to semesters conversion budget, Ohio University officials say.
Duties such as updating records and fielding student questions may require classified employees to work overtime during the conversion, raising the budget, said George Cheripko, a senior library associate and past chairman of the Classified Senate.
Cheripko, who also represents classified employees on the transition team, said the current budget does not account for these possible overtime costs, and he wanted to raise awareness during a January transition team meeting.
If you wait to the end
sometimes (planning is) hard he said.
David Descutner, associate vice provost for undergraduate education, said that it is too early to speculate about any additional costs, adding that he is optimistic that additional funding will not be necessary.
He added that the team will research the workload need in the coming weeks, and Cheripko would also work with classified employees to project any possible costs and needs.
This requirement has not been factored into the current budget, which, at about $2.3 million dollars, is $324,000 over the original $2 million budget approved by the Board of Trustees in October.
The largest potential cost will be in fielding student calls about the conversion, which may require additional training for front desk employees as well as the creation of a new call center.
Descutner, who is also co-chairman of the transition team, said that training would most likely be needed to either help operators answer student questions or direct them to people who could.
He added that the team had considered using the Allen Student Help Center as the primary location for answering student questions, citing its operators' experience with answering student questions.
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Frank Thomas
