MINUTES UAF STAFF COUNCIL MEETING #123 Wednesday, February 7, 2001 Wood Center Ballroom I Scott Culbertson called the meeting to order at 8:45 a.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBER EXCUSED: Allen-Luopa, J. Miller, L. Baergen, A. (for M. Seymour) Bywater, C. MEMBERS ABSENT: Carlson, K. Brown, E. Comstock, S. Dekerlegand York, D. Crews, J. Gray, D. Cross, G. (for H. Simmons) Renfro, C. Culbertson, S. Hagen, D. OTHERS PRESENT: Hazelton, G. Banks, S. Howdeshell, S. Dix, N. Jackson, V. Lind, M. Ledlow, L. Mosca, K. Linn, A. (for L. Evans) Sharpton, S. McCrea, S. Skrob, J. Moore, D. Swazo, N. O'Neill, R. Whitney, J. Parzick, J. Wilson, D. Whitehorn, J. B. The minutes to Meeting #122 (December 8, 2000) were approved as approve via e-mail. C. The agenda was adopted as distributed via e-mail. D. President's Report S. Culbertson Carolyn Sampson Memorial Scholarship The Administrative Committee unanimously approved two $1,000 scholarships for FY02. Last year Staff Council awarded a $1,500 scholarship. Staff Council will be starting their annual fund raising in March for the scholarship. The raffle drawing will be at the staff longevity awards program May 17. Orientation Meeting There was a very good turnout for the staff orientation meeting on January 31. President Culbertson thanked all the new representatives and alternates for attending. Annual Leave - There was discussion at the last Staff Alliance meeting on cashing out annual leave over 240 hours. However, nothing new has transpired. This will be addressed at the next Staff Alliance meeting. Janet Jacobs expressed support for this program. A representative asked about donating annual leave for another employees use. At this time there isn't a mechanism for this. Sick Leave - A representative asked about cashing out sick leave when an employees leaves the University and also credit the sick leave towards retirement. Currently, sick leave is not fully funded, so employees are not able to cash out the sick leave. In the past, former legislators have tried unsuccessfully to get sick leave credit for PERS. Staff Affairs addressed this last year and legislation would be needed to enact this process. Staff Affairs will address this issue again. II Governance Reports A. ASUAF S. Banks Stacey Banks thanked Staff Council for the opportunity to speak at the meetings. ASUAF will be kicking off their big lobbying campaign shortly. The program this year will be a check campaign. ASUAF will also be doing the legislative trading cards again this year. Child Care Program - ASUAF is working on a child care program for students. This is a major issue for students pursuing a degree as child care can be very expensive. Grant programs are being looked at and possible locations for a child care facility on campus. ASUAF is also working with TVC on this issue. Student Saver Program - ASUAF is working on a program where students would getting discounts from local businesses. Stacey Banks will be out of town for three weeks in March on National Guard duty. Solvig Peterson, president-elect, will be covering Stacey Banks duties. ASUAF is working on ways to better serve the students at TVC. If you have any recommendations, contact Stacey Banks at fypres@uaf.edu. Student Recreation Center - There was an open forum February 6 and one issue that come up is children at the SRC unsupervised. ASUAF is working on this issue and wants the SRC to be a safe family oriented facility. President-Elect McCrea asked if the question has come up regarding the need for an additional part-time or full-time employee. Stacey Banks stated that this has come up and at this time there are funding problems that do not allow the additional staffing. Security in the locker rooms has also been a major issue after the recent thefts. B. Faculty Senate N. Swazo The Faculty Senate replaced the policy on dual enrollment. A secondary school student will be allowed to dual enroll when they meet the course prerequisites. The students GPA is not a requirement any longer. Chancellor Lind has approved the dual enrollment policy motion. Evaluation of Administrators - The point of the policy is to ensure that administrators go through regular evaluation. Next year, the provost, SFOS dean, Graduate School dean, and CRA dean will be up for review. However, with the announcement of Dean Gabrielli's return to teaching, the CRA dean will not be evaluated at this time. The motion recommends that staff serve on this ad hoc committees, but the Senate could not mandate another body to serve on a Senate committee. C. Alumni Association C. Branley - No report. III Chancellor's Remarks M. Lind Chancellor Lind distributed a flier on Building a Stronger University. The information will be distributed to legislators, alumni, and the community. The brochure outlines how the University is using the additional funding through meeting Alaska's employment needs, developing Alaska's leaders, diversifying Alaska's economy, and ensuring academic quality. Classic first-time freshman increased 15.8% and an overall increase in enrollment of 5.4%. The strategic plan is outlined as well and initiatives for Alaska's future. Brochures are available through University Relations. College Town Dinner - Chancellor Lind will be a keynote speaker at the College Town dinner February 8 at the Chena River Convention Center. Highlights from the Alaska renaissance project will be presented, as well as UAF's plans for the future. Members of the community and University will be attending the dinner. Representatives commended Chancellor Lind on how the additional resources have been used to improve the student's experience at UAF. Information is available on the web on the initiatives and the University is accountable for the additional funding. Chancellor and Mrs. Lind will be hosting a luncheon with the outstanding student employees of fall semester Kirsten Stiehm from the Museum and Lucas Clooten from the Music Department. IV Guest Speaker Debbie Wilson, Acting Director, Dining Services Dining Services was created in March 1999 after a group of students approached the Board of Regents wanting to see changes. The West Ridge Cafe was renovated over the holiday break. Menu options have been increased, as well as the seating capacity. Lunch at the Pub is restaurant style from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesdays throughout the semester there will be entertainment in the Pub. Dining Services will deliver lunches to outlining areas. Lunches range from salads to sandwiches. Gift baskets are also available through Dining Services and prices range from $10-15. Debbie Wilson brought in a gift basket. Sue Sharpton was the lucky winner of the gift basket. Representatives asked for the delivery service be expanded to the Downtown Center and the Harper Building. For more information, contact Dining Services at 474-7510 or on line at http://www.uaf.edu/food/. V The Council took a five minute break. VI Committee Reports A. Staff Affairs G. Hazelton Staff Affairs met on January 23. Continuing projects include Senate Bill #9, staff training, and remaining issues brought up in the Staff Council survey. New business included expanded programs, similar to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, for Veterans Day. The committee was not in favor of pursuing Veterans Day as a University holiday. The committee is in favor of an informational forum on the current unionization efforts. The next meeting if February 20 at 9:00 a.m. If you have any questions regarding Staff Affairs, contact Gabby Hazelton at G.Hazelton@uaf.edu. B. Elections, Membership & Rules D. Dekerlegand York Rory O'Neill gave a brief report. The committee is working on finishing up the work on the issue of recall for the bylaws. The committee outlined their work for the spring semester. The next Elections, Membership and Rules Committee meeting has not been confirmed since the February 12 meeting has been canceled. C. Rural Affairs B. Oleson - No report. D. University Advocacy S. Comstock The committee is planning the fourth campus tour on Thursday, March 1 at 10 a.m. starting in the Wood Center. Rural representatives that will be attending the Staff Council meeting and are encouraged to participate in the campus tour. The tour is also open to faculty. If you are interested in this tour, contact Sarah Comstock at fnsrc1@uaf.edu. UAF Day at South Side Community Center - The committee has been working on a UAF Day at the South Side Community Center for over a year. If your department is interested in participating in the UAF Day at the South Side Community Center, contact Sarah Comstock at fnsrc1@uaf.edu. The next committee meeting will be on February 14 at noon in the West Ridge Cafe. E. Ad Hoc Staff Longevity Program S. McCrea The Staff Longevity Awards Program will be on Thursday, May 17. There will be a number of changes to the awards program this year. The picnic will be combined with the awards program. Staff can get their food and sit down and enjoy their food during the awards program. The 5 and 10 year award recipients will have their names read when they receive their awards. The theme this year is UAF Staff Spirit Day. The Bookstore will be having sales a few days prior to the awards program in case staff would like to get new apparel items. Door prizes will be given out throughout the awards program. Then the Staff Council raffle will take place at the end of the awards program. Chancellor Lind will be at the awards program. Chancellor's Recognition award will also be presented at the Longevity Awards program. Information and nomination forms are available on the web at: http://www.uaf.edu/uafgov/www/chanrecog.html http://www.uaf.edu/uafgov/www/nomform.html There will also be entertainment during the program. If you are interested in providing entertainment, contact Alice Baergen at fnajb@uaf.edu. F. Ad Hoc Staff Picnic S. Howdeshell The committee met on February 5 and Stacey Howdeshell and Bev Frey were elected co-chairs. The committee is in the process of gathering raffle and door prizes. Confirmed raffle prizes include an annual SRC pass, two reserved hockey tickets, a lazy Susan, necklace and earrings from Columbine Creations, and two Top of the World tickets. Confirmed door prizes include a month SRC pass, items from the Bookstore, and earrings from Soul Star Arts. The committee asked representatives to forward recommendations for possible door prizes or raffle prizes to the Governance Office at fystaff@uaf.edu. Raffle tickets will be available at the March 2 Staff Council meeting. VII New Business A. Discussion on Unionization Forum President Culbertson stated that Staff Council would like to set up a forum on the unionization effort to enable staff to make an informed decision. Members from the union and administration would answer questions. Representatives asked if there would be a Staff Council if there was a union. Also would exempt and non-exempt staff be included in this union. It is uncertain and these types of questions will be answered at the forum. Representatives suggested soliciting questions ahead of time and also have a question and answer portion. Representatives discussed dates and times, which would be convenient for staff. Also representatives stated they did not want to have this as an adversarial forum. A moderator should facilitate the forum. Representatives expressed concerns about supervisors allowing staff attend the forum. President Culbertson stated he would speak to the Chancellor regarding this. A motion was made and seconded to have an informational forum in a question and answer manner with both parties present. The forum will try and be scheduled on March 2 at 3:30 p.m. MOTION PASSED (18 yea, 1 nay) ============ The UAF Staff Council moves to have an informational forum on unionization in a question and answer manner with a representative from the union and a representative from Administration present. Also, a moderator will facilitate the forum. EFFECTIVE: Immediately ******************** B. Upcoming Meetings February 14, Advocacy, Noon, West Ridge Café February 15, Ad Hoc Staff Longevity, 1:30 p.m., Wood Center Conference Room A February 19, Ad Hoc Picnic, 10 a.m., Wood Center Conference Room B February 21, Administrative, 10 a.m., Wood Center Conference Room B February 26, Advocacy, Noon, Wood Center Grill VIII Comments and Questions Policy on Salary Administration Representatives asked if Staff Council will be able to see the draft policy on salary administration and provide input. Representatives expressed concerns about lack of staff input at the drafting stage. President Culbertson will check on this at the next Staff Alliance meeting. Battle of the Wits - The College Bowl team has challenged the Chancellor and his senior staff to a match on February 8 at 1 p.m. in the Wood Center Multi Level Lounge. IX The meeting was adjourned at 10:45 a.m. Tapes of this Staff Council meeting are available in the Governance Office, 312 Signers' Hall, if anyone wishes to listen to the complete tapes. Submitted by Kathy Mosca, secretary, Staff Council.