By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Padding the salaries makes a big difference when trying to fill open vacancies, just ask Barton Community College.
In June, the college in Great
Bend reported 65 job openings, and some of those positions were open for over
three years. In July, the Barton Board of Trustees voted to give all regular
staff an 8% pay increase and make sure all open positions offer market value
income. The number of regular positions open, as of Wednesday, was 18.
Barton Vice President of Administration Mark Dean knew the college was in
position to fix the staffing shortage with more than $19 million in cash
reserves.
"The pay increase made a huge difference," said Dean. "We had some positions that were vacant for a couple of years that we had no applications for. A couple weeks after the approved increase, we had two or three applications for those positions."
Just before the school year started last fall, all regular staff at Barton
Community College received a 7% pay increase. Barton President Dr. Carl Heilman
commended staff for working to fill many vacancies.
"I'm very grateful to the hard work of many managers and those supporting position vacancies during the search process," said Heilman. "They were able to find capable individuals and are able to fill our vacancies."
A list of available jobs at Barton can be found at bartonccc.edu.