MINUTES UAF GOVERNANCE COORDINATING COMMITTEE MEETING #33 Monday, January 20, 1997 Wood Center Conference Room A I Catherine Wheeler called the meeting to order at 10:13 a.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT: Craven, J. Andrews, S. Martin, W. Dexter, C. Matheke, G. Long, P. Pierce, R. Lynch, D. Putnam, N. Watkins, B. Robinson, T. Wheeler, C. OTHER PRESENT: Mosca, K. B. The minutes to Meeting #32 (December 16, 1996) were approved with a clarification regarding the distribution of the most recent version to the grievance policy regarding hostile workplace and retaliation. Wanda Martin, Chair of the Grievance Council stated that the Council had not received the latest version and neither had UAA Grievance Council. A clarification was also made to the minutes of Meeting #31 (December 2, 1996) in which the NCAA stated that the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee as a whole, and not just the chair should take a more active role. C. The agenda was adopted as distributed via e-mail. II COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Intercollegiate Athletics Committee - T. Robinson The committee is coordinating schedules to set their spring meeting time. Topics for the spring will include academics and some other clarifications. B. Academic Computer User¹s Committee - B. Watkins No report available. C. Grievance Council - W. Martin The Council needs two classified staff and a faculty member to fill vacancies. Staff Council is working on the staff positions. The Faculty Senate is working on the faculty vacancy. There are five hearings coming up. The Council thanked the Governance Office for their assistance. The Council has developed standardized replies which will incorporate consistency in the whole process. The Council has also established a tracking and distribution log. Attorneys continue to be more involved in the process. The Council will automatically request counsel representation. At this time, there are four faculty grievances and one Apt grievance. Concerns were expressed over the number of grievances and discussion took place on how to avoid this in the future. The Council feels that the process should be informal. However, this has not been the case with the increase of attorneys in the process. The Council has been working on clarifying the process so that it is clear to everyone involved. The Council recommends mediation to resolve the situation. The Council feels strongly that the grievance should be heard in a timely manner. This has not been the case when dealing with attorney's schedules and UAA has expressed the same concerns. Coordinating Committee members expressed concerns regarding the process as a whole. The issue of retaliation needs to be addressed in the grievance policy with a clear and concise policy. A request was made of the Grievance Council to draft a paragraph which clearly outlines the issues they would like the local governance bodies to address. D. Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Public Safety, Transportation and Parking - C. Dexter Charlie Dexter was not able to attend the meeting and called in his committee report to the Governance Office. The committee is working on three issues: rates for next year, signage around campus, and number of departmental reserve parking spaces. Forward any comments you have regarding these issues to Charlie Dexter at ffcnd@aurora.alaska.edu. E. Rural Affairs - S. Andrews No report available. III OTHER BUSINESS A. Discussion on Academic Computer Users Committee Ming Jiang is the new chair of the committee. Nothing official has come from the meeting with the Provost regarding this committee and the item will be addressed at the February meeting. B. Discussion on Motion to Delete Health Issues Staff Council did not pass the motion to delete this committee, while the Faculty Senate approved the deletion of the committee. ASUAF has not acted on this issue. The Council feels that this committee could focus their efforts on such issues as a wellness program and thus, feels that there is a need for it. There are a number of areas the committee can be working on. Grant Matheke volunteered to chair a reconstituted committee and include people who are presently sitting on the Statewide Task Force on Health Benefits. This committee could be instrumental in decreasing health costs for the University by establishing a wellness program. A recommendation was made to take this issue back to the local governance groups. IV GOVERNANCE REPORTS A. ASUAF - C. Wheeler Senate elections will take place in February. The student Regent position will be vacant when Joe Hayes graduates in the spring. Each campus will forward a name and the Governor will make the selection. The student Regent needs to be a full-time student and the appointment is for two years. A student position on the post-secondary education committee is also up for re-election. This position is also selected statewide. B. Faculty Senate - J. Craven The Senate will have a face-to-face meeting in February. The Chancellor has approved the Senate's new policy on the no basis grade, incomplete, and withdraw. The policy is effective fall 1997. C. Staff Council - R. Pierce The Council will meet in February and committees are continuing to meet. The Staff Training Committee has developed a supervisory training program which will kick off on January 23. The intent of the program is to train supervisors and give them skills and tools which will hopefully alleviate grievances and increase morale. The training is mandatory for staff supervisors. However, this training cannot be mandatory for faculty supervisors because they are in labor negotiations. Although, it has been strongly recommended by the deans and directors. The Chancellor has given her full support for this program. The Council is also working on a recognition program and the longevity recognition program. The Job Evaluation Project results will be announced shortly. There were a large number of participants in the RIP program. V ANNOUNCEMENTS A. The next meeting is scheduled for February 17, 1997 at 10:00 a.m. in Wood Center Conference Room A VI The meeting was adjourned at 11:10 a.m. A tape of this Governance Coordinating Committee meeting is in the Governance Office, 312 Signers¹ Hall, if anyone wishes to listen to the complete tape. Submitted by Kathy Mosca, Staff Council Secretary.