Stewart's statement on responsible stewardship

At the June 11, 2008 Board of Governors meeting, Board Chair Scott Stewart provided the following statement concerning responsible stewardship.

The Board has long recognized the importance of responsible stewardship, particularly in reducing costs and increasing the quality of services. Consequently, each college plan has included initiatives to address these issues.  Recently, the College has taken measures to reduce discretionary spending and travel, in addition to eliminating inefficient programs and unnecessary expenditures. 

We have been successful largely because of our continued investment in our employees.  The Board is authorizing salary pool increases of 3.7 percent for each employee group in order to provide for step progression funding. 

This funding is an acknowledgement of the value of the step progression plans toward improving the College.  The remainder of the salary pools will be allocated to lift the salary schedules to ensure that the College remains competitive in attracting the best employees.

We are proud of the College’s step progression plan because it provides a powerful incentive for employees to improve services, enhance the quality of education, and reduce costs.  This approach has generated a high return for the public’s investment in Pima Community College.  Through their individual step progression plans, employees have expanded their knowledge, streamlined their use of college processes, improved services and volunteered thousands of hours of their own time at more than 250 community, educational, and non-profit organizations.