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The lighting was faint inside the room, but speakers inside Faner Museum Auditorium assured attendants the outlook is bright.
"I'm satisfied that the civil service employees are integral, and absolutely vital to the University," said President of Civil Service Brooks.
Judy Brown, an Office Specialist Systems II, is just one of more than between 70 members of the Association of Civil Service Employees who recently received layoff notices and gathered Tuesday in hopes of retaining their jobs.
"At first I kind of expected [the notice]," said Brown. "But when I actually saw it, I was in utter shock, and I couldn't believe it happened. You can't understand until you're hit with it what you have to go through."
Brown added that she does not enjoy the process of bumping, but knew it was essential for putting food on the table and supporting her 21-month-year-old child.
SIUC employees who received a layoff notice July 18 met for an hour at the auditorium Tuesday afternoon. Although the meeting was open to any civil service worker who felt the current layoff situation might eventually affect them, it was geared specifically toward those employees who previously received notices.
Two weeks ago, 82 SIUC employees were presented with layoff notices, which essentially gave them four options; accept the notification, resign, retire or bumping for employees with seniority. In the process of bumping, the employee with the greatest amount of seniority is permitted to shift into the position of the person under them, taking their job, but allowing someone who may have otherwise been out of work to maintain a position on campus.
Those who decided not to accept any of the options have gathered for a meeting prior to Tuesday. Shortly before notices were handed out, 140 members of ACSE came together to discuss their options in case they were laid off. This time they were accompanied by Human Resources Director Kathleen Blackwell and Jennifer Watson. Blackwell and Watson answered audience questions, as well as a list of civil service employee's top inquiries compiled by Pommier.
First and foremost, a question on many ACSE members minds was how exactly they're elimination was initially decided upon. This, according to human resources, was a decision reached by the individual head of each department.
They went on to inform those in attendance of several important details if and when the layoffs officially take place, such as whether or not they will collect unemployment, their current salary, and what will happen to their status with SIUC if they turn down an alternative job they are offered.
Immediately after being laid off, employees will have the opportunity to bump employees below them, as a result, taking on that worker's salary. The University will do its best to find jobs for these employees through vacancies already on campus and will offer these positions to the worker, giving them three chances to accept the job offered by the University. Following these opportunities is the decision as to whether the worker will receive unemployment, which is determined by the state of Illinois.
There will be another meeting for those coping with recent layoffs. The meeting will take place Thursday in the same location from noon to 1:30 p.m. and will consist of a 90-minute presentation by licensed clinical counselor and doctoral candidate, Debra Pener. The presentation will be titled "Coping with Uncertainty; Dealing with Unplanned Changes in Life."
Despite meetings meant to deal with the anxiety and frustrations of being laid off, Pommier said she is confident the situation will end in a fairly positive light for Brown and other potentially displaced employees.
"I met with Chancellor [Walter] Wendler and he seemed truly troubled by the situation," said Pommier, who added that elimination of these ACSE positions would only account for $570.000. "We need these employees so we can be better prepared to serve students when the semester begins."
