(a) The commission and council jointly shall maintain a uniform system for classifying jobs and positions of organization classified employees.

(b) Pursuant to the rule authorized in section seven of this article, the commission and council jointly shall establish and maintain a job classification committee.

The rule shall contain the following provisions related to the job classification committee:

(1) A systematic method for appointing committee members who are representative of all the higher education organizations and affected constituent groups, including specifically providing for membership selections to be made from nominations from these higher education organizations and affected constituent groups;

(2) A requirement that an organization may have no more than two members serving on the committee at any time and the combined membership representing various groups or divisions within or affiliated with an organization in total may not constitute a majority of the membership; and

(3) A requirement that committee members serve staggered terms. One third of the initial appointments shall be for two years, one third for three years and one third for four years. Thereafter, the term is four years. A member may not serve more than four years consecutively.

(c) Powers and duties of the committee include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Modifying and deleting jobs and assigning job titles;

(2) Reviewing and revising job titles to make them consistent among organizations, including adopting consistent title abbreviations;

(3) Establishing job worth hierarchies and data lines for each job title;

(4) Classifying jobs, establishing proper pay grades and placing jobs in pay grades consistent with the job evaluation plan;

(5) Determining when new job titles are needed and creating new job titles within the system;

(6) Recommending base pay enhancements for jobs for which the application of point factor methodology produces significantly lower salaries than external market pricing. The committee may exercise this authority only if it reevaluates each job annually to make a determination whether the enhancement should be continued;

(7) Recommending a procedure for performing job family reviews;

(8) Determining appropriate career ladders within the classification system and establishing criteria for career progression; and

(9) Hearing job classification appeals prior to commencement of the formal grievance process pursuant to commission and council rule.

(d) The committee shall meet monthly if there is business to conduct and also may meet more frequently at the call of the chair. A majority of the voting members serving on the committee at a given time constitutes a quorum for the purpose of conducting business.

(e) The commission and council shall use an appropriate methodology to classify jobs. The commission and council jointly may adjust the job evaluation plan, including the factors used to classify jobs and their relative values, at any time.

(f) No later than July 1, 2012, the commission and council shall have in place an up-to-date job description for every classified job.

(g) The commission and council shall develop a position information questionnaire to be used by all organizations to gather data necessary for classification of positions within the job worth hierarchy.