Employment Services

As a Macalester College staff member, you have the opportunity to represent the College on a daily basis. Each day many persons may contact Macalester by letter, telephone, and in person. You may be the first Macalester employee to meet or speak to one of the many visitors who come to the campus each year--students, parents, faculty, alumni, delegates to conferences, guests for special events, representatives of commerce, public officials and many others. Courtesy, thoughtfulness and willingness to be helpful, both to those from outside the College and those within, are extremely important because, in many instances, you are "Macalester College".

You have been hired to do a specific job. How well you do it has an important effect on your personal success at the College and on the viability and progress of the institution itself. Certain specific responsibilities and expectations are listed in your position description, set forth in the text of this handbook, and outlined by your supervisor.

The College has many obligations to others. One of the most important is to maintain the highest ethical standards in all the associations and activities with outsiders that take place on behalf of the College. A high degree of personal responsibility, integrity and the exercise of judgment on the part of College employees is needed. It is essential that all College employees conduct College activities in a manner that will withstand the sharpest scrutiny.

Staff members are encouraged to express their ideas and thoughts regarding workplace issues when appropriate. You may be called upon to serve on one of the representative committees that often review and recommend policy. Staff are also reminded that we are all engaged in an enterprise that requires the confidence and high opinion of the public. When thoughtful and appropriate internal methods of airing differences are circumvented the entire community suffers.

The College also recognizes that differences of opinion will arise in any situation where people work closely together. It expects employees to seek resolutions of their differences in a spirit of cooperation, trust, and openness.

You may wish to have discussions with members of the Employment Services Department staff who are both willing to assist employees with any job-related problems you may have, or to offer advice in the areas of compensation, performance, job enrichment, and career advancement. Good performance in any group requires observance of reasonable guidelines as outlined above. The Employment Services Department will assist you in interpretation in an effort to ensure understanding and clarity.

3.16.2 Human Subjects Committee

The Human Subjects Committee protects the rights of human research subjects while safeguarding the academic freedom and autonomy of researchers. In general, research that is not sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services (and therefore is not subject to federal regulations) and which does not impose a risk to research subjects is left to the regulation of the academic departments and College officers in consultation with the Human Subjects Committee.

The Human Subjects Committee consists of three faculty members, one staff member, two students and one off-campus person. The committee includes men and women with diverse backgrounds. It also includes persons with a scientific expertise, though at least one committee must specialize in a nonscientific area. The Committee reports jointly to the Provost and the Dean of Students. Copies of the regulations governing human subjects research are available from the Provost or Dean of Students.

3.16.3 Staff Advisory Council

The Staff Advisory Council is a staff employee elected group that meets regularly to review and make recommendations on policies affecting staff employees. See the Staff Advisory Council website for details.

3.16.4 Staff Who Teach With Academic Appointments

At its discretion, Macalester College may allow its staff members to teach in the College curriculum. Any staff member who may be interested in teaching should contact the Provost's Office for information and appointment procedure.

The guidelines for staff employees who want to teach are the following:

3.16.4.1 There are two categories of teaching tasks for staff:

Certain staff positions, such as President, Provost, Academic Dean, Associate Provost, and others, may require teaching; teaching may be a part of the staff members' position descriptions. The staff employment letter covers the total salary to be paid for both staff and teaching duties.
The staff member is asked to teach by the Provost and/or Department Chair, and in this circumstance, teaching is optional. Teaching duties are then outside the normal staff duties. A staff member has the right to refuse. A staff member, with agreement from his/her supervisor, can negotiate to be paid one of two ways:
receive a reduced staff work load and thus a reduced staff salary plus a teaching stipend; or
retain a normal staff work load and be paid a teaching stipend above the normal staff salary.

The teaching stipend will be determined by the Provost. One course will be considered .25 FTE and is estimated to require eight (8) hours per week during the teaching period.

3.16.4.2 Other conditions for an academic appointment for staff are:

The staff member possesses the proper credentials as approved by the Provost and Department Chair
There is a curriculum need as determined by the Provost and Department Chair
Staff supervisor must approve the appointment before the Department Chair and Provost approve the appointment
Department Chair and Provost must approve the appointment
Staff member may only teach one course per term during their employment period unless their normal staff duties require teaching and optional additional teaching as noted above is approved

3.16.4.3 The first time a staff member teaches a course, he/she may receive up to $75 for expenses related to teaching. Requests are sent to the Provost's Office.

3.16.4.4 A staff member who teaches will also hold the title of Lecturer during the teaching period.

3.16.4.5 A staff member who teaches will, while holding the title of Lecturer, be a member of the faculty with privileges as defined in the Employee Handbook.

3.16.4.6 Each faculty appointment is made for one term and is not to be considered precedent setting for reappointment.

Reissued 09/01/03

Macalester College · 1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105 USA · 651-696-6000
Comments and questions to hr@macalester.edu