Who Does What: Human Resources

The Office of Human Resources is responsible for providing needs analyses, recruitment, selection, and retention activities, salary and benefits administration, and provides reports and recommendations to the president and vice presidents, as requested, such as state reporting, performance evaluations, resolution of disciplinary and poor performance problems collegewide, grievance and complaint resolution procedures, and matters concerning employment law.

Don Kesterson, director of human resources – directs and oversees all human resources functions such as needs analyses, recruitment, selection, and retention activities, salary and benefits administration, state reporting, performance evaluations, disciplinary/poor performance problems, grievance/complaint resolution, and employment law matters

Assists in preparing annual College personnel budget
Monitors unemployment and Florida Retirement System (FRS) costs
College’s staff professional development educational grants coordinator
Professional Development Day chair for annual faculty/staff training
Provides disciplinary/performance issue guidance and grievance/complaint resolution

Melissa Bruns, coordinator of human resources – responsible for coordinating the day-to-day functions in the Office of Human Resources and providing assistance in personnel administration functions to support the other four staff members. Maintains effective customer service with both external/ internal HR customers.

Oversees/documents new employees’ data entry/employment status changes
Primary backup for benefits specialist position for billing reconciliation and payment
Conducts reference checks for applicants recommended for hire
Oversees the new hire employee onboarding process and facilitates new employee orientation.
Responsible for scheduling and tracking online Learning Management System training
Oversees fingerprinting/background checks and driver’s license checks
Prepares public records and subpoenas requests, including billing for staff time and materials
Ensures I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification and E-Verify submissions compliance
Coordinates monthly personnel actions taken to DBOT, such as personnel recommendations, annual reappointments, administrative/faculty contracts, and new employee introductions
Coordinates the employee service recognition program, including memos and certificates
Prepares distribution, and timely return of supplemental services agreements
Oversees volunteer service program, including, processing applications and volunteer understanding forms, conducting fingerprinting, and notifying departments of approval

Becki Lowery, employee benefits specialist – coordinates the College’s employee benefits programs under the leadership of the director for human resources.

Organizes yearly open enrollment program and oversees new hire and qualifying events enrollment processing in the online benefits program
Tracks benefit changes and balances monthly funding reports with third-party billing and Payroll Office
Prepares employee separation/retirement payout calculations for payroll processing
Acts as the College’s liaison with benefits providers
Provides orientation for medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and ancillary coverage options
Processes employee workers’ compensation injury claims
Provides information concerning the Florida Retirement System (FRS)
Maintains Sick Leave Pool membership and balance of hours
Responsible for identifying, processing, and tracking of requests for Family Medical Leave (FMLA)
Processes unemployment compensation claims
Processes internal work-study assistance requests
Chairs Wellness Committee and coordinates the Wellness Program

Cindy Eaton, personnel specialist for employment data services – directly responsible for the entry of new employees and personnel action forms into the Banner HR/Payroll database system.

Performs Banner updates for various reports and works closely with the Payroll Office to resolve concerns during payroll processing
Facilitates the faculty credentialing process and communicates with new instructors to provide credential documentation in a timely manner
Maintains current credentialed faculty/adjuncts list on Panther Central under the Human Resources tab
Performs data entry of faculty qualifications in Banner
Ensures new adjunct instructors are submitted monthly to DBOT for approval
Assists in annual review, continuation, and board approval of credentialed adjunct instructors
Facilitates the probationary/annual performance review processes

Sandy Ellis, personnel specialist for employee recruitment services – responsible for monitoring and maintaining the online employment applicant tracking system, interacting with applicants and screening committee members, and preparing external employment advertisements such as newspapers, publications, or electronic job boards

Responsible for processing applications, posting vacant positions, communicating with potential applicants, screening applications, following up with screening/interview committees, scheduling interviews, and notifying applicants when the position has been filled
Handles billing issues and prepares appropriate documentation
Assists in preparing and maintaining all “official” College position descriptions
Provides notification to departments of new hires, reassignments, and terminations
Performs employment verification requests
Reviews and audits overload/adjunct instructor letters of intent (LOI) to identify and assist in resolving pay or documentation issues

Hirell Bell, staff assistant I – completes welcome desk and clerical functions for the Human Resources Office, such as data entry, filing, copying, collating, answering the telephone, processing of daily mail, etc.

Provides limited clerical support for the benefits specialist during open enrollment and with internal/federal work-study processing
Verifies driver licenses and driving records and updates the College’s approved drivers listing
Schedules applicant interviews and performs employment verification, as needed
Reviews and audits overload/adjunct instructor letters of intent (LOI) to identify pay or documentation issues
Maintains birthday list posted weekly on Daily Connection

All offices and employees listed are supervised by Peter Elliott, vice president for administrative services.