§18B-7-1. Legislative intent and purpose.

(a) The intent of the Legislature in enacting this article and articles eight, nine and nine-a of this chapter is to establish basic human resources policies applicable to public higher education capable of, but not limited to, assisting the governing boards in meeting the following objectives:

(1) Implementing contemporary programs and practices to reward and incentivize performance and enhance employee engagement;

(2) Providing benefits to the citizens of the State of West Virginia by supporting the public policy agenda as articulated by state policymakers;

(3) Assuring fiscal responsibility by making the best use of scarce resources;

(4) Promoting fairness, accountability, credibility, and transparency in personnel decision making;

(5) Providing for job requirements and performance standards for classified staff positions with annual job performance evaluations for classified staff, and provisions for job performance counseling when appropriate.

 (6) Reducing or, wherever possible, eliminating arbitrary and capricious decisions affecting employees of higher education organizations as defined in section two, article nine-a of this chapter;

 (7) Creating stable, self-regulating human resources policies capable of evolving to meet changing needs;

 (8) Providing for institutional flexibility with meaningful accountability;

 (9) Adhering to federal and state laws;

 (10) Adhering to duly promulgated and adopted rules; and

 (11) Enhancing the sharing of best practices throughout the state higher education system.

 (12) Providing current, reliable data to governing boards, the commission, the council, the Governor and the Legislature to inform the decision-making process of these policymakers.

(b) To accomplish these goals, the Legislature encourages organizations to pursue a human resources strategy which provides monetary and nonmonetary returns to employees in exchange for their time, talents and efforts to meet articulated goals, objectives and priorities of the state, the commission and council, and the organization. The system should maximize the recruitment, motivation and retention of highly qualified employees, promote satisfaction and engagement of employees with their jobs, promote job performance and achieve desired results.

(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a human resources strategy that is fair, accountable, credible, and transparent. In recognition of the importance of these qualities, the human resources strategy outlined in this article, together with articles eight and nine-a of this chapter, is designated and may be cited as “ FACT for Higher Education”.

(d) It is the intent of the Legislature to require each higher education organization to achieve full funding of the minimum salary levels for classified employees established in section six, article nine-a of this chapter.