FVCC Faculty, Staff Raise Concerns About Compensation, Campus Culture 

While news of Jane Karas’ retirement spread across Flathead Valley Community College (FVCC) Monday, faculty members appeared in droves at the board’s meeting, not realizing they’d be honoring the president’s 25-year tenure coming to an end, but instead to demand transparency regarding compensation information.  

The Flathead Valley Community College Education Association — the union representing faculty members — wrote a letter to Karas and the board of trustees on Feb. 13, following publication of a memo reflecting salary increases for a number of administrative positions. The increases, per faculty’s letter, totaled $74,036 and ranged from 10-13% salary bumps, effective Jan. 1, for the head of human resources, vice president of academic and student affairs, and executive director of college communications and marketing, among other roles.  

Per a university spokesperson, the increases were “part of broader market adjustments for all employees across the college,” a process which took place at FVCC over multiple years. The spokesperson said as part of that process, faculty did receive adjustments over that time period of several years ranging from 4-20%. 

But the memo about those raises for administrators come as the union has spent the year working without an updated collective bargaining agreement. That document sets legally binding terms for wages, hours and working conditions for its members. The last one approved was for the 2024-2025 academic year.  

In its letter, the union wrote the current offer on the table in negotiations amounted to a less than 2.5% bump across the board for faculty members. Given the pay increases for administrators mid-year, faculty view the pay situation as a disparity that “is difficult to reconcile, particularly at a public institution funded by taxpayer dollars and student tuition.” 

At Monday’s board meeting, the union’s president and vice president gave public comment.

Benjamin Barckholtz, the union president, asked for transparency between the association, board and administration. And vice-president Conrad Rauscher put the board on notice that the Education Association would be documenting concerns about a hostile work environment moving forward.  

“Effective immediately, the FEA is maintaining a systematic record of incidents including dates, times, witnesses, and any adverse employment actions, that may constitute violations of [board] policies or applicable state and federal law,” stated a letter submitted to the board alongside Rauscher’s comment Monday. “Any retaliatory action taken against any employee who has raised or intends to raise a concern in good faith will be documented and addressed through all available institutional and legal channels.”  

Their public asks of the board echo requests made in the Feb. 13 letter. In it, the Education Association requested an audit of executive and administrative positions at the college; asked for the board to adopt a policy that “requires annual public review and disclosure of compensation for all College employees as part of the Board’s regular governance and budget oversight responsibilities”; and to engage in dialogue with the Education Association to determine a transparent compensation framework.  

It also made a public records request to the college’s human resources department for the past seven years of administrative and executive pay and benefits.   

Karas, the college’s president, said the school will make pay data available to employees. 

While she said it is a matter of public record, FVCC doesn’t currently post its compensation data publicly — nor do most colleges and universities in the state. A university spokesperson said the college is “in the process of updating its website to provide additional information about accessing this information as part of ongoing efforts to improve clarity and communication.”

A faculty union member who spoke to the Beacon but asked not to be named due to concerns about the lack of an up-to-date collective bargaining agreement said that data is also not readily shared with the Education Association. 

Karas also said the letter the union submitted Monday was the first time she was made aware they would be monitoring working conditions. But she emphasized it did not list particular issues related to working conditions on campus. 

“In the past 25 years while I have been president, the board and I have strongly upheld all relevant board policies that address those issues and we will continue to do so,” Karas said. “And I have always strongly encouraged any employee to follow the appropriate procedures if they feel they are impacted.”

Julie Brempelis, the school’s assistant director of marketing and communications, said the school is “always working to improve communications and transparency.” She added that the president has met with “different employee groups” to address the concerns raised in the Education Association’s letter, along with one shared anonymously representing professional staff.

Karas also said she could not speak about the details of ongoing negotiations about the collective bargaining agreement, but confirmed they are continuing. She added that last year’s collective bargaining agreement remains in effect.  

The faculty union member told the Beacon working without a current collective bargaining agreement comes with both fiscal and intangible concerns for faculty.  

Should a new agreement be approved, faculty would receive negotiated raises — raises which are hamstrung as the negotiation process continues. And the lack of an agreement also comes with a campus culture question about compensation equity and transparency, which, per the letter, extends beyond faculty members to other employee groups. 

“The compensation challenges at FVCC extend beyond full-time faculty,” the letter states. “Our adjunct instructors — who are essential to the college’s ability to deliver its course offerings — are compensated at a rate that, when the full scope of their labor is considered, falls well below what any professional educator should earn.”  

A letter in support of the Education Association’s position from professional staff was also anonymously emailed to the board. 

The letter was “submitted anonymously out of concern for potential retaliation,” and cited similar concerns to the one from faculty about compensation, equity, transparency and workplace climate. Staff called them “systemic challenges that call for systemic solutions.”  

Professional staff’s letter also pointed to a “lack of clear communication surrounding budget allocations, funding sources, and pay adjustments” on campus.  

“Many employees do not understand how position classifications are determined, how job description requirements are funded — specifically, because the college regularly deviates from established procedures,” the letter from professional staff states. “Employee documentation, handbooks, processes, and procedures are updated regularly without notice and not observed in execution.” 

Brempelis said the president held a forum for employees to address the concerns outlined in that letter, attended by around 90 staff members. She added the majority of staff that attended “were unaware of the issues or that a letter had been submitted.”

When asked about compensation, Karas pointed to the board’s policies and procedures, which explain how compensation is determined. The board’s policy on compensation procedure outlines that FVCC has several salary structures based on the type of work, and pay ranges come for each job on campus.  

“Determining the specific point in the pay range at which an employee is to be paid is dependent on several factors, including, but not limited to, the value of the job in the labor market and the employee’s experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities,” the board’s policy states.  

For employees to receive pay adjustments, factors like “the date of hire, job performance, labor market positions, current position within the pay range, and budget considerations” may come into play. Classified or professional employees or supervisors can also request reclassifications from executive staff to adjust their pay, if they feel their job has significantly changed.  

And the policy outlines that classified employees “may qualify for a wage increase in accordance with their negotiated collective bargaining agreement.”

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