OPERATING STAFF COUNCIL MEETING
MINUTES
4/14/05
8:30AM –
Present: Elizabeth Buck, Gay Campbell, Marcia Dick,
Margie Foshe, Linda Jennings, Glenda Jones, Joe
Koch, Jay
Monteiro, Nancy Schuneman, Donna Smith, LaRonda Thuestad, and Rachel
Turner.
Absent: Sara Clayton, Michele Crase, Theresa
Kinniry and Andy Small.
Guests: Jodi Tyrrell, Dr. Brian Hemphill, Dr. Donna Simon, Dr. Steve Cunningham, and Deb Haliczer
President Donna Smith called the regular meeting of
the Operating Staff Council to order at 8:40 a.m. on Thursday, April 14, 2005.
A motion was made to accept the agenda. The motion was seconded and passed.
III. Approval
of Minutes of March 10, 2005, Meeting
A motion was made to accept the minutes with no changes. The motion was seconded and passed.
IV. Treasurer’s Report
The treasurer’s report was presented for discussion.
A motion was made to accept the Treasurer’s report. The motion was seconded and
passed.
1. LaRonda Thuestad shared two handouts Larry Salberg sent from
SURS.
2. Glenda Jones passed around some literature of the Journalism Award, the Strickland Award, and information about a Mother’s Day Gift.
3. Smith said there was a workshop that she planned to attend later in the day entitled “E-mail for You.” She will also be attending the Northern Star Reader Advisory Board meeting on 4/29.
4. Smith shared correspondence from a constituent regarding the 4-day workweek. Discussion followed and comments were made about the timeliness of notification in regards to day care, elder care, and second jobs.
5. Smith received two e-mails from Debbie Haliczer. One reported that Shey Lowman is home recovering from a detached retina. The other dealt with future ethics training and that state agencies have been asked for input.
6. Abby Chemers’s husband died of cancer. Smith sent her a card from the Council.
7. The ISU newsletter was routed.
A.
Personnel/Staff Developments/Benefits - Did
not meet.
B.
Elections and Appointments.
1. Rachel Turner passed out ballots for the OSC
election that will take place. They are
ready
for the printers. They should be in everyone’s mailbox next
week.
C. Public
Relations.
1.
There was discussion about the Outstanding Service Awards.
2.
Theresa Kinniry has made the changes to the Council handbook for new
members.
3. There
was discussion about the Wellness Fair.
The door prizes were claimed.
The 50/50 drawing brought in a total of $59. Half of that amount went to the winner. Turner will post the winner on the web page.
D. Visiting Committees/Guests
1. Dr. Brian Hemphill and Dr. Donna Simon from
Student Affairs gave a PowerPoint
presentation. The presentation began with the four goals
for Student Affairs: 1) Student-
centered service, 2) Partnerships
focused on student learning, 3) Establishing an inclusive
community, 4) Actively building
collaborative relationships.
Areas for improvement include: 1) Teamwork, 2) Good to GREAT, 3) Enhancing
student-
centered culture, 4)
Re-gaining prominence on the national scene.
Potential
barriers are: 1) Provincialism, 2) Fear,
3) Selfishness, 4) Potential lack of
resources.
Student
Affairs has a 90-day initiative to:
Review Student Affairs organizational structure,
present a new
organizational chart, develop a Vision Statement and develop a
Statement.
Dr. Hemphill’s Philosophy: 1) Open door policy for staff and students,
2) ALWAYS act in
the best interest of students, 3) Work
hard and play hard, 4) Be passionate about
something.
“We will have successes and failures, but
we will succeed and fail together.”
The presentation was followed by a
question and answer session. Dr.
Hemphill and Dr.
Simon have been visiting departments
across campus. If anyone has questions,
please
call Dr. Hemphill at his office.
2. Deb Haliczer spoke about the upcoming Ethics
Training. It could be September
15-October
16 or October 27-November 29. It will be Internet based/online training
once again. Every
person who receives a paycheck has to go
through the training. If we have any
suggestions
for possible scenarios for the training,
please send suggestions to Haliczer by April 26.
3. Steve Cunningham spoke about the governor’s
proposed changes to the state’s pension
systems.
President Peters sent an e-mail update to all employees regarding the
six
proposed changes. No legislation has been filed as yet. It is important to let legislators
know our feelings. He does not know if the plans are to cover
current employees or newly
hired employees. He acknowledged the scope of the budget
problem. The current
governor did not create the problem but
is attempting to deal with it. There is
$500 million in
debt service along, $1.7 million is
actual yearly contribution. In 2016, the
state would have
to contribute $4.2 billion. Two of the six proposals deal with the
SURS. The SURS
accounts for 23% of the total state
retirees, TRS and SERS are the others.
The SURS
would have 38% of cuts with fewer members
than SERS. We will see a lot of activity
as
legislation moves forward.
It is important to let the governor and
your representatives know how you feel, but do not use
NIU computers, letterhead, phones, or any
NIU resources to send your personal opinion.
Use home computer, write a letter, or call
from your home phone or cell phone with
concerns.
The presidents of Faculty
Senate/SPSC/OSC will work with Dr. Peters as to the appropriate time to respond
to the governor. Communication with
employees was also discussed. It was
noted that the OSC has the greatest number of constituents without Internet
access at work and don’t receive e-mail notes and memos. Haliczer reported that the memo on Ethics
Training will be sent to everyone in hard copy.
Cunningham was asked
about the summer schedule/4-day workweek and it was stated that people need to
know as soon as possible so they can plan for day care, elder care, or additional
jobs. Cunningham stated that this is
budget driven, but the administration believes the university community is in
favor of the 4-day week. Margie Foshe
pointed out that gas savings could be a huge consideration. Cunningham noted that last year the
announcement was made on April 20. There
should be something coming about the same time this year.
Marcia Dick reported that 53 people in the library are very happy
with the equity raise.
Linda Jennings asked
about retirement legislation and are there any changes that we need to be aware
of as some people might need to retire now to take advantage of current
options. Cunningham replied that if
anything is changed, it will only affect the new employees. However, the money purchase calculation may
be eliminated. Sixty-six percent of
retirees retire under money purchase.
Cunningham also reported that “30 and out” would be eliminated if the
proposed changes are approved. Any
unconstitutional legislation would be challenged in court immediately.
E. EAC – No report.
Sara Clayton was attending the EAC meeting.
F. UAC -
1. Smith passed around minutes from the
Legislative, Audit, and External Affairs Committee of
the Board of Trustees. One point of interest is House Bill 476 –
naming rights – that gives
the state the ability to name buildings,
endowed chairs, etc., at any state institution.
Smith
also shared the packet from the Board of
Trustees meeting from March 24, 2005, at which
they approved items previously approved at
the BOT committee meetings.
G. University Council .
1.
See attached report from Sara Clayton.
H.
Special Events
1. LaRonda Thuestad reported that Dr. Williams
gave Smith permission to include extra help
people in this year’s StaffFest. We figure there will be an extra 450 (about
60% of the 753
extra help currently employed) people
attending this year. Smith passed out an
estimate of
attendees and costs that she shared with
Dr. Williams. Thuestad was only going to
send
invitations to retirees that live in
Illinois, but the Council said that all retirees should receive
an invite. We already have one door prize, a signed copy
of a book written Ralph Wallis. If
any one knows someone who has a business
and would like to donate something, they are
to contact Thuestad. We have24 hats and 16 visors, which should be
sufficient for our
servers for this year’s event.
VII. Old Business
A.
Retirees on
Committees – Council discussed retirees on committees. There was a consensus that a person elected
or appointed to a committee finish out their term if they happen to retire
during their appointment. But when
possible, current staff members should serve on committees. Smith will write to Cunningham regarding the
SURSMAC and asked Joe Koch as parliamentarian to look at rewriting the
Council’s bylaws to reflect this opinion.
VIII. New Business
IX. Adjournment – The meeting adjourned at 11:05 a.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
LaRonda
Thuestad
Acting OSC Secretary