Alamance Community College’s trustees have voted to award a one-time “performance-based” bonus of $1,000 to 222 full-time ACC employees.
The total cost for the bonuses is estimated at $240,000 and will come from a combination of annual state, county, and institutional funding for ACC. Approximately $222,000 in state funds will be used to provide one-time bonuses for 211 full-time employees; $2,800 in annual county funds will be used to provide bonuses for three full-time employees; and $8,000 in institutional funds (generated by such things as bookstore and vending/concessions profits) will be used to provide bonuses for eight ACC employees, based on a breakdown that was provided for the trustees.
ACC president Dr. Algie Gatewood told the trustees during their latest monthly meeting that the state had not provided funding for raises for at least two years.
Based on the proposal ACC’s trustees approved last week, the community college will award each full-time employee who was employed as of September 30, 2019 and met or exceeded job performance expectations during the 2019-20 academic year the full $1,000 bonus. Full-time employees who were hired after September 30, 2019 and met performance requirements will be eligible for pro-rated bonuses. ACC’s part-time employees are not eligible to receive the one-time bonus, Gatewood said.
ACC received additional state funding this year due to academic performance results on the state’s 2020 “Performance Measures for Student Success” evaluation, Gatewood elaborated.
ACC students surpassed statewide average performance levels in four academic areas – English, Math, Basic Skills, and subsequent performance after transferring to a four-year institution – according to the 2020 annual report from the North Carolina Community Colleges System (see accompanying chart). ACC students surpassed the statewide “excellence levels” for performance in English and Math during the 2019-20 academic year, the NCCCS report reveals. The NCCCS establishes “excellence levels” to signify exemplary performance and “baseline” levels, which represent the minimum performance level.
ACC’s full-time employees last received a 1.5 percent raise, plus a nonrecurring bonus of $1,100, in 2015-16, though neither the raises nor the bonuses were performance-based, as The Alamance News has previously reported. The General Assembly had set aside state funding to provide raises to community college employees in 2016.
The $1,000 one-time performance-based bonuses will be paid as a lump sum this month.
ACC’s trustees convened their latest meeting via the Zoom online teleconference system, as they have since the county’s first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in March of last year.
