OPERATING STAFF COUNCIL MEETING
MINUTES
10/13/05
8:30AM –
Present: Elizabeth Buck, Gay Campbell, Marcia Dick,
Margie Foshe, Jason Hutchison, Linda Jennings,
Glenda Jones, Theresa Kinniry, Joe Koch, Jay
Monteiro, Nancy Schuneman, Andy Small, Julia Sober, LaRonda Thuestad, and
Rachel Turner.
Absent: Sara Clayton
Guests: Steve Cunningham, Tim Griffin, Jodi Tyrrell
The regular meeting of the Operating Staff Council
was called to order at 8:40a.m. on Thursday, October 13, 2005, by President
Rachel Turner.
A motion was made to accept the agenda. The motion was seconded and passed.
III. Approval
of Minutes of September 8, 2005, Meeting
A motion was made to accept the minutes with a recommendation to clarify changes. The motion was seconded and passed.
IV. Approval
of Minutes of September 22, 2005, Special Meeting
A motion was made to accept the minutes. The motion was seconded and passed.
V. 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. LaRonda Thuestad passed around a “Thank-you “ card for
the food and building service workers at the StaffFest luncheon. Several members of the Council had not yet
signed it.
B. Marcia
Dick reported that the library’s penny campaign fundraiser would continue at
the last home game against
C. Joe
Koch reminded the Council that the new Barsema Alumni and
D. Turner passed around a copy of the Annual report for the
University Benefits Committee. She also
sent around a memo about the new Medicare benefit situation. She also sent around an e-mail about the
Family Military Leave Act, which allows family members of a soldier to take
leave if the soldier is deployed. Turner
also passed around the official resignation letter from former president Donna
Smith.
E. In her meeting with President Peters, Turner reported that a
search committee will soon be formed to find a new Provost. Turner said the OSC will have a rep on the
committee. She also said there is a lot
of interest in who will replace Jim Hacking at the SURS office. Turner said it is likely that OS will get a
raise in January.
A. Personnel/Staff
Developments/Benefits
Dick
presented the latest version of a letter for break usage time flexibility. There was some confusion about what exactly
we were proposing . After some
discussion, It was decided that the proposal should be addressed by the
Wellness office and the Council should support them in that effort.
The
second issue had to do with asking the administration to extend the summer
four-day work week by starting it on May 15 and continuing until August
15. It was noted that August 15 may be
too late since departments have to get ready for new students. Koch made a motion that the matter be
referred back to the benefits committee for further consideration.
B. Elections
and Appointments.
Ballots were distributed to the Council so that a
new second voting member, as well as an alternate, for the University Council
could be elected. The spots were left open
with the departure of former President Donna Smith and the subsequent election
of Turner to President. Dick was named
the second voting member and Linda Jennings and Sara Clayton tied for the
alternate position.
C. Public Relations
Committee chair Jay Monteiro reported that six
applications were submitted for the OS
Dependent Award. Ashley Buie and Steve
Clark were named this year’s recipients of the awards. Monteiro will contact them and invite them to
the November meeting of the Council.
D. Visiting Committees/Guests
Steve Cunningham said
that flu shots will be available, but that employees will have to go to the
DeKalb County Health Service office to get them. They will not be at NIU anymore.
He said the 1% January
increment will likely go through. He
also said that the supplemental clerical increments are being looked at and to
include a broader class of positions.
Cunningham said the
Public Act on Medicare only applies to those people who were hired prior to
March 1, 1986. Anyone hired after that
already pays into the system. Cunningham
said it only affects about 379 people on campus. Cunningham said the plan is being
administered through the SURS office. Cunningham will get clarification on who
should be contacted for more information regarding the act.
Cunningham also said that
Public Act 94-004 from SURS eliminated the money purchase option for new
employees as of July 1, 2005. The new
act only funds SURS at 50% for the next two years. Cunningham said that
F. UAC – No Report.
G. University Council
Dick reported that
President Peters said there will be some capital funding which could mean
renovation and upgrades, especially to the Stevens building. She said money was also obtained for the
chiller on west campus. A request was
made at the meeting to install handicap accessible doors at Cole Hall.
Dick also said there was
talk of making the campus more bicycle friendly as more and more people opt to
ride bikes to campus. She also pointed
out that there is some discussion about having a bus shuttle service to the
train station in Elburn. Someone mentioned
that with the construction of the new Athletic and
Dick said that Brian
Hemphill was asked to conduct an assessment of student housing on campus.
H. Special Events –
Thuestad reported that
she looked into the cost of purchasing new shirts. She said that the Polo-style shirts are close
to $20 each. She said the T-shirts
purchased in 2000 were only $8.17 each.
Other options are being looked into.
VIII. Old Business –
A. Mail Distribution
Turner drafted a letter addressing the fact that many operating staff do not get their mail on campus. This is an ongoing process and the letter is the first step in trying to find a solution.
B. Meeting Attendance
Koch reported that there
is currently nothing in the constitution or bylaws about meeting
attendance. Koch said we may want to
discuss it. It was decided that the
Executive Board might want to address the issue.
C. Ride-Share Program
Jodi
said she will check with SAC.
D. Turner, Theresa Kinniry and Jason
Hutchison attended the Council of Councils meeting at
IX. Adjournment – The meeting adjourned at 11:15 a.m.