Question:  Is there any official statement about “quality of life” or mission of Texas State with regard to employees?

Answer: Go to the Home Page of Texas State on our website at http://www.txstate.edu/. There is a button at the top left hand side called, “about Texas State.” If you click on that button, you will find several topics that relate to your question. They are Mission Statement, Value Statement and Core Values. Each of these describes the values that are important to both employees and students of the university.

Question: Why are we getting fewer holidays each year?

Answer: Employees are entitled to a paid day off from work on national and state holidays observed by the State. These holidays are specified by the Legislature. An employee is eligible to receive the holiday if the holiday does not fall on a weekend and the employee is not on leave without pay (LWOP).

Institutions of higher education may establish their own holidays in accordance with academic schedules. However, the number of observed holidays may not exceed the number of holidays observed by state agencies. If a holiday would normally fall on a Saturday, even though we move that holiday to accommodate our academic calendar around the Christmas Break, we cannot use that holiday because it normally fell on a weekend.

There are 17 holidays recognized by the State. Normally we get about 12-15 holidays per year depending on whether or not they fall on a weekend. In FY2004 we had 15 holidays. Two holidays fell on the weekend. They were Emancipation Day (6/19) and Independence Day (7/4). Next fiscal year we only have 12 holidays. The five that will be falling on a weekend are Christmas Day (12/25), Day after Christmas (12/26) New Year’s Day (1/1), Emancipation Day (6/19) and LBJ’s Birthday (8/27). This is why we will be using more Energy Conservation Days in the coming year.

Question: What is the earning type identifier “TOOL” refer to on my June pay voucher? In the Earnings block of my June pay voucher, I have two entries: REG and TOOL. The REG I can figure out, but the TOOL identifier is a mystery.

Answer: Sometimes faculty members teach additional classes beyond their normal contract. This is called “teaching out of load” or TOOL for short. The faculty member is being paid above their regular salary to teach the additional course outside of their normal teaching load. Teaching overloads are normally paid on a ‘per course’ basis meaning they are usually paid the amount a “per course” instructor would be paid for the course.