Present:   Sara Clayton, Michele Crase, Marcia Dick, Ada Hetland, Linda Jennings, Glenda Jones, Theresa Kinniry, Joe Koch, Jay Monteiro, Andy Small, and LaRonda Thuestad.

Excused:  Elizabeth Buck, Judy Burgess, and Dena Olson

Guests:   Sue Altenburg, Tim Griffin, Susan Manlove, Jeannette Papucci, Leslie Pergement-Nenia, Dave Rathke, Dedrie Rudolph, Rachel Turner, and Dawn Vaughn.
 

I.     Call to Order

        The meeting was called to order by President Sara Clayton at 8:35 a.m.  Clayton introduced Rachel Turner, newly elected OSC member, to the Council and
        had the Council members introduce themselves to Turner.  Turner has been at Northern Illinois University for about 3½ years and works as a graphic designer
        in the Imaging Unit of Media Services.  Her term of service on the OSC will begin July 2003.

II.     Approval of Agenda

        A motion was made to approve the agenda.   The motion was seconded and passed.

III.   Approval of Minutes of May 8, 2003, Meeting

        A motion was made to accept the minutes after moving Guests to New Business.  The motion was made and seconded.  Joe Koch had a procedural question
        for the parliamentarian.  Question:  Can the Chair make a motion?  The parliamentarian found no ruling against it, so the motion made by the chair in the May
        2003 meeting will stand.

IV.  Treasurer’s Report

        No report.

V.     Announcement/Correspondence

    1.     Clayton distributed copies of a memo to go out from HRS regarding the Flexible  Schedule Option Policy for NIU employees during the week of July 4,
            2003.

    2.     Clayton passed around a copy of the letter she sent to President Peters, along with a  petition of 200 names, after the May 8, 2003, Council meeting.
            Clayton received a  letter from President Peters stating that he appreciated OSC efforts and that he had  passed her letter and the petitions on to the Board
            of Trustees.  The president will be  presenting a recommendation to the Board of Trustees for staff salaries for FY04 on  Thursday, June 19, 2003.

    3.     Donna Smith passed around a copy of the ISU Open Line Newsletter for April 15, 2003,    and May 20, 2003.

    4.     Andy Small distributed a packet of helpful information about Northern Illinois University to   the Council.

    5.     Clayton passed copies of the BOT Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and Personnel    Committee, the Finance, Facilities, and Operations Committee, and
            the Legislation, Audit, and External Affairs Committee report around the Council.

    6.     Marcia Dick distributed copies of the NIU Women’s Basketball Golf outing to the Council.  This is the major fundraiser for the year.

VI.     Committee Reports

    A.     Personnel/Staff Developments/Benefits.   No Report.

    B.     Elections and Appointments

            Michele Crase distributed copies of the FY04 schedule of meetings to each Council member.  Crase then talked about the OSC committee vacancies for
            2003-04 and read Committee Interest sheets from new applicants.  The Council voted on each of those committees that had candidates.  The Council was
            encouraged to consider applicant’s record of attendance for future committee openings. Representation is what the shared-governance system is all about.

            Campus Parking Committee:  Incumbents Dave Bass and LaRonda Thuestad were re-elected.
            Campus Parking Appeals Committee:  Incumbent Lisa Reynolds re-elected.
            Computing Facilities Advisory Committee:  John Tobias elected.
            Unity in Diversity Steering Committee:  Rita Reynolds re-elected.
            University Benefits Committee:  Pamela Rosenberg elected.
            Outstanding Service Awards Selection:  Beverly J. Patton, Nancy Schuneman, and Sue Stelling appointed.
            Personnel/Staff Dev/Benefits Committee:  Diana Ramp appointed.

            Nominations were then taken for officers for the Operating Staff Council and were as follows:

            President  – Sara Clayton
                               Marcia Dick
                               Linda Jennings
                               Joe Koch

            Vice-President  - Marcia Dick
                                       Linda Jennings
                                       Joe Koch

            Secretary  -   Gay Campbell
 

            Treasurer -   Elizabeth Buck
                               Glenda Jones
                               Jay Monteiro

            Voting will take place at the July 2003 meeting.   The Council will also nominate an Ex-Officio member and two alternates for the University Council.

    C.     Public Relations

            Joe Koch reported that the committee met and that the Northern Staff News is about ready for distribution.  The committee is working on an outline for an
            Operating Staff Council handbook for new Council members.  This will be presented to the Council next month for input.  Koch also announced the OSC
            Dinner scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on June 19, 2003.  Koch announced that the OSC brochure would be reprinted this year.

    D.     Visiting Committees

        1.     University Benefits.   The Council had a copy of the University Benefits Committee Annual Report for 2002-2003 to read.  Scott Mooberry sent his
                apologies for not being able to come and go over the report with the Council.

        2.     Dick reported on the trip to the Civil Service Systems Office on May 21, 2003.  It was a full day and two vans of people went from NIU, including three
                civil service employees that were not Council members.  Each attendee received a packet of  information.  Tom Morelock led the day’s events.  He
                informed attendees there were 1300 Civil Service classifications statewide and that over 26,000 exams were given last year.  The systems office has been
                collapsing and condensing some of the classifications so that like classifications can be grouped together.  Morelock talked about how the examinations
                are being revised.  Currently, they are going to revise the exams for Cook, Kitchen Helper, and Printer.  The Secretarial exam has just been revised.
                One of Morelock’s goals is that many of the exams could be done via computer at campus HR offices.  An applicant would know their score and their
                place on the register before they left the HR office.  Morelock explained the different work categories: learner, trainee, and the pilot program with the
                Business Administrative Associate.  After lunch the topics of discussion were compliance issues, audits, discharges, and demotions.  Morelock
                complimented NIU’s Operating Staff Council and said they were strong advocates for staff concerns.  Equipment in the Systems Office has been
                upgraded.  Morelock ended the day by repeating his three main goals for the systems office as: making the process of demotions and discharges more
                user friendly, making tests available electronically with automatic scoring, and electronic interfacing with each campus in the system.

    E.     EAC.  No report.

    F.     UAC.  No report.

    G.     University Council.   No report.

    H.     Special Events Committee.

            LaRonda Thuestad reported that planning is moving ahead for StaffFest 03.  Clayton has sent a letter to the food servers and Thuestad is already getting a
            response.  New hats and visors were ordered this year from Priority Promotions in Sycamore.  Crase and Small will prepare a poster board with all Council
            members and committee representatives names on it for display.

VII. Old Business

    A.     Grievance Procedure Committee

            1.     Donna Smith requested that a small group work together for constituency input for the University Council’s first meeting in the fall.  Volunteers for that
                    group were Marcia Dick, Theresa Kinniry, Jay Monteiro, and Donna Smith and they plan to meet mid-July.

VIII. New Business

    A.     Guests

            The Council and the IEA-NEA union representatives introduced themselves to each other.  Spokesperson for the Civil Service Employees Association,
            CSEA, was Leslie Pergament-Nenia.  At the May meeting of the Council, CSEA presented a petition signed by 200 NIU civil service employees calling on
            the OSC to oppose a pay freeze for the 2003-04 academic school year.  It is their understanding that the OSC did, in fact, pass their petition along to the
            administration and they thanked the Council for that effort.
 
            The association asked the Council to adopt a resolution in support of an adequate pay increase for the upcoming fiscal year.  They asked if the Council
            could be counted on to take a stand in passing such a resolution and presenting it at next week’s BOT meeting on Thursday, June 19, 2003.    Discussion
            followed Ms. Nenia’s request.

            Linda Jennings read from the President’s report of May 2003 and reminded everyone in the room that the BOT was directing the Administration to identify
            funds that could be used for raises in the coming year.  The commitment to improve faculty and staff salaries remains the president’s number one priority and
            that commitment has not changed. The administration is working in earnest on salary increases for FY04. President Peters said he would be presenting a
            salary plan to the BOT at the June 19, 2003, meeting.

            After further discussion, motion was made that Clayton take forward the salary concern to President Peters.  Clayton would then contact Nenia.  Motion
            was seconded and passed.  The CSEA representatives then left the meeting.

IX. Adjournment

A motion was made to adjourn the meeting at 11:30 a.m.   Motion seconded and passed.
 
 

Respectfully submitted,
 
 

Gay Campbell
OSC Secretary