MINUTES UAF STAFF COUNCIL MEETING #119 Wednesday, September 13, 2000 Wood Center Ballroom I Scott Culbertson called the meeting to order at 8:35 a.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT: Anderson, L. DeKerlegand York, D. Baergen, A. Seymour, M. Brown, E. Bywater, C. OTHERS PRESENT: Candler, R. Childress, B. Carlson, K. Daniels, W. Comstock, S. Esters, Y. Culberston, S. Fellerath, J. Evans, L. Kelly, T. Gray, D. Lind, M. Hagen, D. Linn, A. Hazelton, G. Mosca, K. Ledlow, L. Murawsky, N. McCrea, S. Whitney, J. O'Neill, R. Parzick, J. Powell, D. Renfro, C Rogers, P. Simmons, H. White, P. B. The Minutes to Meeting #118 (June 2, 2000) were approved as distributed via e-mail. C. President's Report President Culbertson welcomed the representatives back this fall. Reclassification - UA Human Resources was going to do a presentation on reclassification to the Board of Regents in October. However, there has been a delay and UA Human Resources is looking at a presentation in November, but this is tentative. The reclassification process will take about two years. Dale Seay, from UA Human Resources, will be asked to speak at the December meeting and update Staff Council on the reclassification process. Ice Cream Social Approximately 60 staff filled out a survey, including some from the rural sites. The results will be ready next week and will be available on the web. President Culbertson thanked Julia Parzick, Alice Baergen, Scott McCrea, Larry Ledlow, Darlette Powell, and Kathy Mosca for their assistance with the ice cream social and survey. II Governance Reports A. ASUAF S. Banks Stacey Banks has class and thus there was no report from ASUAF. B. Faculty Senate L. Duffy The Faculty Senate has not met this year. There will be a report at the October meeting. C. Alumni Association C. Branley No Report III Committee Reports A. Staff Affairs G. Hazelton Staff Affairs met on August 29 and received an update on reclassification. The committee set some goals for the year, which include reclassification, Senate Bill #9, staff involvement in governance, and the wellness benefits. The next Staff Affairs meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 27 at 9:00 a.m. in Wood Center Conference Room B. B. Elections, Membership & Rules P. White The committee will meet on Monday, September 18 and has set their meeting schedule for the entire year. The committee will be focusing their efforts on revisions to the bylaws. Also, odd numbered units will be up for election this year. The committee welcomes new member, Debra Hagen. C. Rural Affairs H. Simmons The Rural Affairs Committee has not met this semester and will begin having monthly meetings starting in October. Most staff at the rural campuses help with registration, thus no meeting in September. The committee will set there meeting calendar for the entire year and goals at the October meeting. All rural sites are encouraged to participate in the meetings. D. University Advocacy S. McCrea The committee will meet on Thursday, September 14 at noon. A new chair or co-chairs will be elected at this meeting, as well as when the first campus tour will take place. Alice Baergen will be joining the committee and other staff are encouraged to join the committee. The committee worked at the UAF Alumni hamburger booth this summer at the fair. E. Staff Training A. Baergen 1. Motion to Change Staff Council Meeting Calendar Commencement is May 13 this year and the Training Committee would like to change the May meeting date to the 16th to enable staff to attend the longevity awards program on May 17. Staff Council will now organize the longevity awards program with an ad hoc committee. After a brief discussion, the motion passed with unanimous approval. MOTION PASSED (unanimous) ============= The UAF Staff Council moves to revise their meeting schedule for May Meeting #126 from the May 9 to the May 16, 2001. EFFECTIVE: Immediately RATIONALE: Commencement is May 13 and changing the meeting to May 16, 2001 would enable more staff to attend the meeting and then attend the staff longevity awards program on May 17, 2001. ******************* The training committee met in August. Due to accreditation, training has been transferred to UAF Human Resources. This past year the Training Committee has worked with the training coordinator on supervisory training. In order to alleviate confusion, the training committee met and decided to disband the committee and focus efforts elsewhere. Representative Hagen, is the training coordinator and gave a brief update on the upcoming training. A training calendar has been distributed with the fall training schedule. Employees will be required to take five core classes and six hours of elective topics. Forward recommendations for future training topics and instructors to Debra Hagen at fndah@uaf.edu. After a brief discussion, the motion passed with unanimous approval. 2. Motion to Delete Staff Training Committee MOTION PASSED (unanimous) ============= The UAF Staff Council moves to amend the Bylaws as follows to delete the Staff Training and Development Committee. EFFECTIVE: Upon Chancellor's Approval RATIONALE: Training is now being coordinated through UAF Human Resources and the staff members on this committee can move to other committees to focus their efforts on other issues which affect staff. Delete = (( )) Add = CAPS Sect. 4 (ARTICLE VI. - COMMITTEES) B. PERMANENT COMMITTEES 1 The permanent committees shall be: a. Staff Affairs Committee b. Rural Affairs Committee ((c. Staff Training and Development)) ((d))C. University Advocacy ((4. Staff Training and Development a. The chairperson shall be elected from the committee. b. A representative from Human Resources will serve on the committee. c. The committee shall have the following responsibilities: 1. Assist the office of Human Resources with providing staff training throughout the year. 2. Organize the Staff Longevity Awards Program annually.)) ((5))4. University Advocacy ****************** IV Chancellor's Remarks M. Lind Staff members introduced themselves for Chancellor Lind. The new year has started with a great deal of enthusiasm. Enrollment numbers are looking good. Duckering is under renovation. Other renovation projects coming up include Brooks Building and the Museum expansion. The Museum received $5 million from Elmer Rasmuson for the expansion project. The Museum construction will probably begin in 2002, with completion expected by 2004. Representatives asked about Central Receiving being relocated off campus. Chancellor Lind wasnıt aware of this. Representatives stated that reclassification and compensation are major issues of concern for staff and they wanted administration aware of this. Representatives also asked about the status of the Fisheries Center in Juneau. Approximately $22 million is being requested for the Juneau Fisheries Center, with $18 million for the new Fisheries Center and $4 million to upgrade the Anderson building. The fisheries building is the second new capital project priority for UAF. The first priority is the Museum expansion, and the third is the Bristol Bay campus in Dillingham. This priority list will be submitted to the Board of Regents in October. The Board will finalize the capital budget in November. Chancellor Lind thanked Staff Council for their willingness to serve and for the important work that staff does at UAF. V Guest Speakers Terry Kelly, Director, Procurement & Contract Services; Bill Childress, Central Receiving; Yolanda Esters, Coordinator, Parking Services TOPIC: Parking Terry Kelly, Director of Procurement and Contract Services; Bill Childress, manager of Parking, Central Receiving, Property and Post Office; and Yolanda Esters, coordinator of Parking Services addressed Staff Council on parking. Last January discussion started regarding centralizing parking and the accountability. UAF Parking Services started July 1. The campus is extremely busy during the summer. Thus, the express buses will now run all summer. The standard decal price was reduced this year from $225 to $199. A goal of the Parking Services is to improve the parking on campus, such as paving more lots, increasing the number of head bolt heaters, etc. Long term planning will be looked at also. Representatives were asked why the gold decal prices were not lowered. Terry Kelly stated that staff and students are required to purchase a standard decal. This prices has to be fair and equitable. The gold decal is another story. The price of gold decals is market driven. The core lots are saturated with gold decals. The demand for gold decal spots have taken up a great deal of core spaces. The West Eielson lot is full, the Bunnell lot is not completely full, and the Fine Arts lot is almost full. Concerns were expressed over the gold decal spots which had to be moved because of construction on Duckering. Representatives expressed concerns regarding the tracking and accountability of parking revenue. Parking Services will be tracking funds. Utilization of the outer lots will be a priority, which meets the goals of the Master Planning Committee. Representatives commented on the positive changes that have taken place with parking, ads in the newspaper informing the community on where to park, increase signage, etc. President-Elect McCrea stated that a number of staff walk up from the outer parking lots and asked about having cross walks painted by the lower lot across from the Patty Center to make the walk up safer for everyone. Representatives asked Terry Kelly about Central Receiving moving off campus. Facilities Services is renting space at Attorneyıs Plaza on University Avenue and will be moving back on campus. This will be a substantial savings to the University. However, this means moving other units off campus, such as Central Receiving, which needs more space. Areas off campus are being looked at to house Central Receiving, but no final decision has been made. Concerns were expressed regarding the warm up huts in the parking lots, which have not been very warm. This will be addressed by Parking Services. Bill Childress stated that the Parking Service Attendants encounter a number of challenging situations each day with a level head and should be thanked for their outstanding work. Parking Services is not looking to make money off writing tickets. MOTION PASSED (unanimous) ============ The UAF Staff Council moves to extend the meeting time to finish business. EFFECTIVE: Immediately ******************** VI New Business A. Wellness Motion On August 29 President Culbertson and Representative Powell attended the Geophysical Institute Staff Council meeting, where concerns were expressed regarding the wellness benefits. Will Daniels, from the Geophysical Institute Human Resources is a guest at the meeting to answer questions. Staff at the Geophysical Institute had concerns regarding the wellness benefits and how things are coded when using the benefits. Since the motion has come out, there are avenues to help alleviate these problems. The Administrative Committee brought forth the motion to the whole Staff Council because wellness benefits are calculated on a calendar year and they wanted staff to have enough time to use this benefit. Representatives were asked to gather questions/concerns from their constituents and forward them to the Governance Office. Mike Humphrey has agreed to have a forum to address these concerns. Concerns were expressed regarding with mail in prescriptions and staff not getting their prescriptions in time. The Geophysical Institute Human Resources has received only about five inquiries about the wellness benefits. Representative Carlson stated that he has had problems with the wellness benefit. Concerns were expressed about losing the benefit, and how things are coded and doctors getting upset with the process until all the bugs get worked out. Representatives stated that it would not occur to staff to contact Human Resources for assistance when there is a problem with the wellness benefit. President Culbertson recommended surveying the staff and gather examples of how the wellness benefits isnıt working and contact UA Human Resources to address these concerns. President-Elect McCrea asked what efforts are being done by Blue Cross educating the physicians in the community with coding this new wellness benefit. A recommendation was made to have a card with information on the wellness benefit for employees which they could show the physicians and help alleviate the confusion with this benefit. A recommendation was made to have Mike Humphrey speak at the October Staff Council meeting and address the questions regarding the wellness benefits. Staff will be surveyed and questions will be forwarded to Mike Humphrey the end of September. The motion was tabled with one nay and one abstention. MOTION TABLED (1 nay, 1 abstention) ============= The UAF Staff Council request that the UA Human Resources and Blue Cross work toward clarifying the $400 wellness benefit provided to UA employees. Specifically, we request: (1) physician and employee education on opportunities to use this benefit, (2) clarification of who makes the determination of a wellness visit, (3) the procedure to follow if planned use of the benefit is unsuccessful, (4) an answer to the question of whether spouses and/or financially interdependent partners qualify for an $800 benefit each if they are both employed by the University system, and (5) a clear explanation of why separate appointments must be made if both diagnostic and wellness issues could be addressed in one visit. EFFECTIVE: Immediately RATIONALE: Many employees are unsuccessful in utilizing this benefit for various reasons: miscoding by the physician, misinterpretation by the insurance company, inconsistencies in definition of wellness between physicians themselves and employees as well. In addition, the requirement to separate wellness visits from diagnostic visits results in increased costs to the university through multiple office visit claims, additional sick leave time used and reduced worker efficiency. ******************* B. Staff Representative Needed for System The UAF staff position on System Governance is open for the coming year. System Governance is made up of faculty, staff, and students from throughout the UA system. System Governance addresses issues which affect all faculty, staff, and students and will be working on drafting a survey which will be distributed to all the political candidates this fall. The UAF staff representative need not be a member of Staff Council. There is not a great deal of time commitment involved in serving on this committee. If you are interested in serving, contact the Governance Office at fystaff@uaf.edu. C. Motion to Establish Ad Hoc Calendar Committee An Ad Hoc Committee was established to organize the 2001 Staff Council calendar. A motion passed with unanimous approval. MOTION PASSED (unanimous) ============= The UAF Staff Council moves to establish an ad hoc committee to organize the 2001 Staff Council calendar and the following people have volunteered to serve on the committee: 1. darleen masiak, Chair 2. Gabby Hazelton 3. Sarah Comstock 4. Larry Ledlow 5. Kathy Mosca EFFECTIVE: Immediately RATIONALE: Work on the 2001 Staff Council calendar needs to begin immediately in order to meet printing deadlines, so that the calendar can be distributed at the December 8 meeting. ****************** D. Draft Mission Statement At Staff Alliance concerns were expressed with the UA mission statement because it is very similar to the UAF mission statement. Staff Council did not see a concern with this and felt the new UA mission statement was good. VII Comments and Questions President Culbertson presented Kurt Carlson from ARSC and Rory OıNeill from Geophysical Institute with Staff Council mugs and thanked them for joining Staff Council. Raffle tickets are still available for the Staff Council raffle. The drawing will be October 6. President-Elect McCrea welcomed everyone back and reminded the representatives that he will be taking a position of marketing coordinator at TVC Downtown Center. VIII The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 a.m. Tapes of this Staff Council meeting are available in the Governance Office, 312 Signersı Hall, if anyone wishes to listen to the complete tapes. Submitted by Kathy Mosca, Staff Council secretary.