MINUTES UAF STAFF COUNCIL MEETING #122 Friday, December 8, 2000 Wood Center Carol Brown Ballroom I Scott Culbertson called the meeting to order at 8:50 a.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS EXCUSED: Anderson, L. White, P. Baergen, A. Brown, E. MEMBERS ABSENT: Bywater, C. Gray, D. Comstock, S. Ledlow, L. Culbertson, S. Rogers, P. Dekerlegand York, D. Seymour, M. Evans, L. Hagen, D. OTHERS PRESENT: Hazelton, G. Alshire, A. McCrea, S. Aronow-Brown, L. OšNeill, R. Chapman, C. Parzick, J. Cunningham, J. Powell, D. Howdeshell, S. Renfro, C. Lind, M. Segla, D. (for R. Candler) Mosca, K. Simmons, H. Potrikus, L Whitney, J. (for K. Carlson) Seay, D. Stanley, L. Wartes, D. Williams, F. B. The Minutes to Meeting #121 (November 8, 2000) were approved as distributed via e-mail. C. The agenda was adopted as distributed via e-mail. D. President's Report Provost Academic Planning Meeting President Culbertson attended the Provost academic planning meeting on December 6. Guidelines were discussed regarding the additional funding that the University has received. Compensation - Staff Alliance will address the executive summary on compensation at their next meeting, December 12. Some how, the resolution that Staff Council did not pass was widely distributed to Statewide Administration and was not well received and was a set back. The confusion was cleared up, and the Staff Alliance will address the executive summary. Some of the Alliance members did not have time to review the executive summary prior to the December 8 Staff Alliance meeting. Some rewording may be recommended by the Alliance. President Culbertson will keep the Council up-to-date on this topic. Representatives expressed concerns regarding the lack of action on the executive summary thus far. Representatives are not trying to be hostile, but compensation is a major issue of concern with staff. II Governance Reports A. ASUAF - S. Banks - No report. B. Faculty Senate - L. Duffy - No report. C. Alumni Association - C. Branley - No report. III Committee Reports A. Staff Affairs - G. Hazelton The Staff Affairs Committee met on November 28 and is working on PERS credit, geographic differential, and addressing items from the staff survey this fall. The committee submitted their list of top five issues. The next Staff Affairs meeting is scheduled for January 23 at 9:00 a.m. B. Elections, Membership & Rules - D. Dekerlegand York The Elections, Membership & Rules Committee met on November 13 to address proxy voting, recall, and their listing of the top issues facing the University. Representatives were asked to provide input on the questions that were distributed via e-mail regarding proxy voting. The issue of recall in the Bylaws will need further review. The committee also addressed the addition of Unit 14 for the International Arctic Research Center. 1. Motion to Establish Unit 14 Initially, the committee was in favor of establishing a separate unit for the IARC staff. However, after receiving the listing of staff from International Arctic Research Center, there is only 14 non-exempt and exempt staff and the rest are paid from other sources. In light of this information, the committee recommends withdrawing the motion. Representative Evans made a recommendation to move them to Unit 10. However Unit 10 already has two representative and two alternates. The IARC staff would not receive their own representative. Another recommendation was made to increase the number of representatives to four in the Bylaws for units with more than 150 members. Discussion continued on this motion. The committee will discuss representation at their next meeting and set minimum numbers for units and look at increasing representation in larger units. The committee withdrew the motion. MOTION WITHDRAWN ================ The UAF Staff Council moves to create Unit 14 which will consist of the exempt and non-exempt staff from the International Arctic Research Center (IARC). There will be one representative and one alternate. EFFECTIVE: Immediately RATIONALE: The staff from the International Arctic Research Center have requested that they be a separate unit. At this time they are under Geophysical Institute which is an extremely large unit, 165 staff, for only three representatives. ****************** 2. Election Results for Odd Numbered Units Congratulations to the following staff: ELECTION RESULTS FALL 2000 ODD NUMBERED UNITS UNIT 1 Representative: Heidi Simmons Alternate: Geraldine Cross UNIT 3 Representative: Andrew Balser Representative: Diane Gray Alternate: Joyce Whithorn Alternate: Virginia Vona UNIT 5 Representative: Jean Crews Representative: Larry Ledlow Representative: Rory O'Neill Alternate: Sue Sharpton Alternate: Darlette Powell Alternate: Jane Nanto UNIT 7 Representative: Alice Baergen Representative: Sarah Comstock Representative: Tyrone Burkhead Alternate: Stacey Howdeshell Alternate: Suzanne Noll Alternate: Jeannette Skrob UNIT 9 Representative: Veronica Jackson Representative: Donna Moore Alternate: Vacant Alternate: Vacant UNIT 11 Representative: Joyce Allen-Luopa Representative: Linda Miller Alternate: Yolanda Esters Alternate: Vacant UNIT 13 Representative: Casey Bywater Representative: Kim Armstrong Alternate: Jacqueline Bales Alternate: Vacant C. Rural Affairs - H. Simmons The Rural Affairs Committee met on December 5. The committee discussed the registration policy for the rural sites pertaining to deferred payment policy. Each rural campus has their own policy and this is very confusing to students and staff. The committee will ask the Executive Dean to set a unified deferred payment policy. The committee also addressed supervisory training. The rural sites do not feel like there is enough structure for training at the rural sites. The committee will work with the Executive Dean, his assistant, Debra Hagen, and Carolyn Chapman to discuss setting up a formalized method for rural supervisory training. The next committee meeting is scheduled for February 6 at 9:00 a.m. and Jennifer Youngberg will do a presentation on Family Medical Leave. Representative Simmons will be on leave for the February Staff Council meeting. D. University Advocacy - L. Evans The committee met on November 15 and 27. The campus tour took place on Friday, November 17 with 21 staff participating in the tour. The tour consisted of the Wood Center, Chancellor Lind's house, the McClean house, aviation and culinary arts programs at Hutch, the Student Recreation Center where Michelle Combellick discussed the UAF Life program, the Natural Science Facility, and the Museum. The tour was very well received as stated on the evaluations. The next tour will be in March. Representative Simmons requested the next staff tour be in March when the rural representatives will be in town. The committee is also working on a UAF day at the Southside Community Center. The next committee meeting is on December 13 at noon. IV Chancellor's Remarks - M. Lind Chancellor Lind thanked Staff Council for the opportunity to speak at the December meeting. Chancellor Lind addressed the Bethel Chamber of Commerce on the importance of the Kuskokwim campus. He also addressed the local chapter of the American Society of Foresters regarding support for programs in natural resources management. Chancellor Lind spoke with a group of educators on December 7 regarding teacher education, which is a top priority at UAF. Teacher preparation is a very important aspect at UAF. The future of UAF is very positive and staff plays a big part in this. President Hamilton has done an outstanding job in getting people to look at the University in a different manner. Board of Regents - The Board of Regents approved the budget request of $16.5 million for operating and the capital budget of $85 million. Funding to complete the Museum was included in that budget. Funding for projects at the extended sites was combined. The Board of Regents passed the renaming of the Ballroom to the Carol Brown Ballroom. Carol Brown was a former staff member at the Wood Center who had been with the University for a number of years. The new extension of Loftus road will be named Thompson Drive in memory of former Regent Morris Thompson, his wife, and daughter. Strategic Plan - Chancellor Lind thanked staff for their comments on the draft of the strategic plan. Each of the strategies after the major goals will be worked on and include indicators and performance measures. The strategic plan will guide UAF over the next five years. Chancellor Lind stated that being the Chancellor at UAF has been a great opportunity. Representatives asked about a new research building being proposed. The Chancellor stated that the Board approved planning funds for a new research facility. Provost Reichardt has put together a group to draft up the use of the building and who will be housed in that building. Vice Chancellor Williams stated that the planning is underway and has been fast tracked, but will take time. V Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services Remarks - F. Williams Vice Chancellor Williams stated that the growth of research at UAF has been outstanding thanks to faculty and staff. A few years ago research dollars coming into the University totaled $35-40 million and this last year research dollars totaled $78 million. Tech Refresh Program The plan is to invest in desktop computers for faculty and staff, which will allow departments to replace desktop computers on a three year cycle. This is a major investment. The first year departments would be heavily subsidized, the second year would be 50% subsidized, and the third year departments would be subsidized 25%. Information is being distributed to departments shortly. Representatives asked for increased staffing to help maintain these new computers. Currently there is a delay in getting tech support. Holiday Closure - The University will closed between Christmas and the New Year. Supervisors will decide if there is work to be done and under what conditions it will be done. Vice Chancellor wished everyone a happy holiday. Representatives asked the status of the food service director position. Vice Chancellor Williams stated that stage two screening will be completed on Monday. VI The Council took a five minute break. VII Guest Speaker - Dale Seay, Statewide Human Resources TOPIC: Reclassification Dale Seay thanked Staff Council for the opportunity to speak at their meeting. Dale was hired in May to take a look at the classification system at the University. Dale Seay spent the summer talking with a wide range of the employees at the University to see what are the issues. There are a lot of concerns regarding the existing compensation program. The intent of Statewide Administration was to bring forward a proposal to the Board of Regents in the fall. Due to a death in Janet Jacobs family, the proposal was not presented at that time. The issue of compensation program was discussed again in early November. Yesterday, Janet Jacobs and Dale Seay met with President Hamilton to present their compensation proposal. The President had a number of questions and there hasnšt been any decision. One positive outcome of the initial meeting was that President Hamilton would like to have ongoing discussions on HR issues with the Presidentšs Council. The President's Council is make up of the chancellors, President Hamilton, and sometimes Jim Johnson, Wendy Redman, and Joe Beadle. President Hamilton asked what are going to be the control points on this proposal. There has to be some sort of checks and balances. All the concerns that President Hamilton brought up were aspects that Dale Seay and Janet Jacobs had discussed. A number of issues will be looked at with the compensation package. The plan will take approximately three to five years to implement. The specifics of the proposals include classification. Remove the JEF system and replace it with a job family descriptor. Currently there are over 2,100 different JEFs. For example, have one document for electrical engineers, one document for mechanical engineering. This will give the essence of what the job will do, not the details. The supervisor and employee will work on the details of what the job will entail. A starting engineer comes in at a range 77 and goes up as high as 83. The document would detail the different levels of an engineer. Eliminating the JEFs can speed up the hiring process. The supervisor would not have to draft a new JEF before each position can be advertised. The job family descriptor gives more latitude to the supervisor. Representatives asked for an outline on this proposal. Since the program has not yet been approved by President Hamilton, Dale did not feel comfortable with that. Carolyn Chapman stated that there are already job descriptions established and this information will be used. Engineers and Purchasing already have job families. The next step is what do these jobs have in common in the job families and what does it take to move to the next level. The Hay tool will still be used as a bench mark. Dale Seay has spoken with Staff Alliance and UAA regarding this process, along with a number of supervisors at the University. The process is streamlining. This will be a gradual process. Some changes will occur in the next calendar year. Members of the audience stated that a number of the staff are off in the summer and were not aware of the reclassification. Also concerns were expressed regarding the lack of communication on this topic. Staff Council thanked Dale Seay for speaking at the meeting and asked him to provide and update at the March meeting. MOTION PASSED (unanimous) ============= A motion was made to have extend the meeting time. EFFECTIVE: Immediately ******************** VIII New Business A. Motion on Top Issues Facing UAF The motion was developed of the top five issues facing UAF which Dana Thomas requested at the November meeting. A question was raised regarding red-line salary. This issue can be addressed in ensuring a competitive compensation package. MOTION PASSED (unanimous) ============== Per the request of Dana Thomas at the November 8, 2000 Staff Council meeting, the UAF Staff Council moves to submit to the UAF Accreditation Team the following list of issues facing the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The listing is in no particular order. *Recruitment, retention, on-going training, and provide career advancement opportunities. *Ensure adequate staffing and faculty levels to meet UAF mission. *Continued increases in state funding levels for the University to meet operating costs and to allow for growth in programs, students, staff, and faculty. *Continued recruitment and retention of students. *Ensure competitive compensation and benefits/health care package to attract and retain qualified employees. *Governance representation/participation EFFECTIVE: Immediately RATIONALE: Emphasizing student recruitment and retention should be the top priority for all UAF employees. Ensuring adequate staffing and faculty levels enhance a students experience and contribute to student recruitment and retention. Continued state funding allows for the University to enhance existing programs and develop new ones, hire additional staff and faculty, and enhance and maintain buildings. Governance representation and participation is essential for staff to know that they have a voice in what happens at UAF. A competitive compensation package will enable the University to hire the best faculty and staff to ensure that the students receive a quality education. ****************** B. Motion to Establish Ad Hoc Picnic Committee After a brief discussion, the following motion was passed with unanimous approval. If you are interested in serving on this committee, contact your Staff Council representative or the Governance Office at fystaff@uaf.edu. MOTION PASSED (unanimous) ============= The UAF Staff Council moves to established an Ad Hoc Picnic and Raffle Committee to organize the 2001 staff picnic on May 17 and raffle for the Carolyn Sampson Memorial Scholarship. The raffle drawing will take place at the picnic. The following people have agreed to serve on the committee: 1. Bev Frey 2. Cindy Hanson 3. Kathy Mosca 4. Tim Stickel EFFECTIVE: Immediately RATIONALE: The 2001 staff picnic will take place on May 17 immediately following the Staff Longevity Awards Program and planning needs to begin immediately to organize the event and raffle. The raffle drawing will take place at the staff picnic. ******************* C. Motion to Establish Ad Hoc Committee to Organize the Staff Longevity Awards Program After a brief discussion, the following motion was passed with unanimous approval. If you are interested in serving on this committee, contact your Staff Council representative or the Governance Office at fystaff@uaf.edu. MOTION PASSED (unanimous) ============= The UAF Staff Council moves to established an Ad Hoc Committee to Organize the Staff Longevity Awards Program on May 17. The following people have agreed to serve on the committee: 1. Lydia Anderson 2. Alice Baergen 3. Scott McCrea 4. Darlette Powell EFFECTIVE: Immediately RATIONALE: Planning needs to begin immediately for the 2001 staff longevity awards program on May 17. ******************* D. Distribute 2001 Staff Council Calendar The 2001 Staff Council calendar was distributed. The photos this year feature flowers from the Georgeson Botanical Gardens and were taken by Jan Hanscom and Cal White. Special thanks goes to darleen masiak who chaired the Calendar Committee. Contact your Staff Council representative for a calendar. E. Upcoming Meetings December 13 - University Advocacy, Noon, Gambardella's January 22 - Elections, Membership, and Rules, 10 a.m., Wood Center Conference Room A January 23 - Staff Affairs, 9 a.m., Wood Center Conference Room B January 30 - Administrative, 10 a.m., Wood Center Conference Room B January 31 - Special Orientation Meeting for New Representatives and Alternates, 10:30 a.m., Wood Center Memorial Conference Room February 6 - Rural Affairs, 9 a.m., Wood Center Conference Room A February 7 - Staff Council 8:45 a.m., Wood Center Carol Brown Ballroom F. Comments and Questions President-Elect McCrea stated that next year he is going to take a proactive approach to governance. He does not like the adversarial approach of conducting business and if the Council would prefer that approach, than they should think about selecting another individual. Representatives stated that a body such as this is enriched by a variety of views and approaches, but that the adversarial approach is not the most productive. John Cunningham, from United Academics, spoke briefly to the Council and distributed some information about unionizing. If you would like more information, contact United Academics at 474- 2461. IX The meeting was adjourned at 11:18 a.m. Tapes of this Staff Council meeting is available in the Governance Office, 312 Signers' Hall, if anyone wishes to listen to the complete tapes. Submitted by Kathy Mosca, Staff Council secretary.