OPERATING STAFF COUNCIL MEETING
MINUTES 5/11/06
8:30AM –
Present: Elizabeth Buck, Gay Campbell, Sara Clayton,
Marcia Dick, Margie Foshe, Linda Jennings,
Theresa Kinniry, Joe Koch, Nancy Schuneman, Andy
Small, Julia Sober, LaRonda Thuestad, and
Rachel Turner.
Absent: Glenda Jones and Jay Monteiro
Guests: Tim Griffin and Jodi Tyrrell
President Rachel Turner called the regular meeting
of the Operating Staff Council to order at 8:35 a.m. on Thursday, May 11, 2006.
A motion was made to accept the agenda. The motion was seconded and passed.
III. Approval
of Minutes of the April 13, 2006, Meeting
A motion was made to accept the minutes. 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.
A. Turner
announced that Jason Hutchison had officially resigned from the Council because
of a change in his work schedule. In an
e-mail to Turner, Hutchison expressed his regret for having to leave the
Council and wished the Council luck in future endeavors.
B. Turner passed around a copy of the letter that was sent to Steve Cunningham expressing the Council’s gratitude to Cunningham and the administration for their prompt decision regarding the four-day work schedule for summer.
C. Turner thanked those Council members who attended the provost search forums. She
said a decision will likely be made soon.
D. Turner reported that the Faculty Senate talked about members’ terms. Paul
Stoddard was re-elected as president of the Faculty Senate.
E. Turner said the Operating Staff Council Awards Banquet went very well. There were a
variety of speakers and live music was provided. Bobbie Cesarek, Chair of the SPS
Council, sent a letter of congratulations to the winners of the Outstanding Service Awards. Danell Nixon, one of the recipients of the award, sent an e-mail thanking the Council.
F. The schedule for next year’s meetings has been established, with the exception of
January. Because there are no rooms available in the HSC in January, an alternate
meeting site will have to be found.
G. Linda Jennings said that she was told that in one department the summer hours were
7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It was pointed out that the flex hours worked are not negotiable per department. There was also some discussion about break times. Andy Small said some custodial employees told him they were not allowed to leave the building during their break time. Jodi Tyrrell said the workers should consult their union representative about this.
H. Sara Clayton said that mandatory supervisor training was talked about at the EAC
meeting. Turner said a meeting has been scheduled to talk about this at the workplace issues subcommittee of the SPS Council. Tyrrell pointed out that there are a variety of supervisor training courses offered by Human Resources, but Clayton pointed out that the training is not mandatory.
A.
Personnel/Staff Developments/Benefits –
Clayton reminded the Council that the Benefits Fair
was immediately following the meeting.
B. Elections and Appointments –
Joe Koch reported that ballots for the Council
vacancies would be accepted until May 15th. He said once all of the ballots are in,
several Council members would be asked to tally the votes. He also said there were several vacancies on
several committees and commissions. He
said information about the available slots on various committees and
commissions would be sent out after the ballots for Council elections were
received.
Tim
Griffin pointed out that a representative from the Operating Staff who had been
chosen as a representative
for one of the committees that
attended one meeting in two years. Elizabeth Buck reported that one of the
committees she was assigned to never contacted her about the meeting schedule. Nancy Schuneman suggested that someone be
appointed to look into this. Turner
referred the matter to the Elections and Appointments Committee for action.
There was discussion concerning information in this
year’s ballots for Operating Staff elections.
The instructions on the first page said to vote for 6 candidates and the
instructions on the ballot itself said to vote for 5. It was decided that all ballots would be
counted and if there were a number of votes for 6 candidates, and it appeared
it would effect the outcome of the voting, other options would be considered.
C. Special Events –
LaRonda Thuestad reported that
invitations to the annual StaffFest luncheon have been sent out. She said there are 1724 full time, 789 extra
help and 855 retired employees for a total of 3368 potential participants this
year.
D. Public
Relations
also said that one
application for the Dependent Award scholarship has been received.
Dick asked how many times
the same person can win the award. It
was pointed out that
the award can be won 5 years
by the same person.
E. Visiting Committees/Guests. –
Tyrrell said she can ask to
Steve Cunningham to come and speak to the Council about pension and
increments. It was decided that June
might be a good month for him to come.
F. EAC – No Report.
G. UAC – No Report.
H. University Council –
1. Marcia Dick reported that a draft of a
new course evaluation form was handed out.
She said they are trying to devise a way that the forms could be filled
out on line. Testing services and
Faculty Development have been enlisted to help with this process.
2. Dick said the Council also mentioned
the Tax Credit Plan that would offer a tax break based on the students’ grades
has been modified. The plan will now
also include the consideration of the household income in making eligibility
determinations.
3. There was no Capitol Bill, and there
was some discussion about creating a critical capitol maintenance fund for
various projects on campus.
4. The Annie Glidden road toll booth will
be closed for repair until school starts in the fall.
VII. Old Business – None.
VIII. New Business - None.
IX. Adjournment – The meeting adjourned at 10:00 a.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Theresa Kinniry
OSC Secretary