April 1997

Staff Advisory Council
Thursday, April 10, 1997
LaFortune Student Center - Notre Dame Room
1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Present: Jan Blazi, Larry Born, Rachel Boyd, Dan Brazo, Phyllis Campbell, Tammy Chapman, Victoria Cotton, Pat Dillman, Julie Ferraro, Debbie Fox, Toby Green, Rita Grontkowski, Pam Jobin, Chuck Klein, Norma Mezykowski, Don Newsom, Sue Penrod, Tracie Santicola, Jennifer Schafer, Diane Schlatterbeck, Fred Sonneborn, Amy Tremel, Pat Trost, Scott Uekert, Barbara Wiggins, and Deanna Zukowski.

Absent: Rhonda Barkley, Sue Baum-Lentine, Ron Dokes, and JoAnn Longenecker.

Dan Brazo, Chair called the meeting to order at 1:08 p.m.

I. Discussion of Minutes from the March 13, 1997 Council meeting Jennifer Schafer made a motion to combine Agenda item #2 and #4 from the March 13, 1997 meeting as the Communications Sub-Committee. In addition, Jennifer stated that the Communication Sub-Committee would remain an ad-hoc committee. Larry Born seconded the motion. A vote was taken and 24 members were in favor, 1 member opposed. (One Council member arrived late and did not vote on this motion.)

Jennifer proposed to the Council the idea of having the current ad-hoc Communications Committee become a standing committee that would be added to the by-laws. Jennifer recommended the Communications Committee be added to the by-laws under Article VII, B., 3. Communications Committee
a. Shall be composed of three to four volunteers or appointees.
b. Duties and responsibilities shall consist of:
(1.) review and approve minutes from each Council meeting for distribution and publication.
(2.) and such other duties as the Chairperson or Council shall request.

This proposal will be given to the by-laws committee to review. The Council will then review this proposal and vote on it at the May 8, 1997 meeting.

II. Communicate Follow-Up Meetings on Classification Review Project Rich Nugent, Assistant Director for Human Resources, stated that the Department of Human Resources is currently scheduling Follow-Up Meetings for employees who have specific questions with regard to the Classification Review Project. He stated that these meetings are being conducted to allow staff an opportunity to ask specific questions they may have with regard to the project.

The meetings will begin the week of April 14, 1997 and continue throughout the beginning of the summer. Pam Zarazee, Human Resource Representative shared with the Council the areas that have had meetings scheduled for non-exempt staff which include: College of Arts and Letters, College of Engineering, School of Architecture, College of Business Administration, College of Science, Law School, Badin Hall, Brownson Hall, CCE, Center for Social Concerns, Kaneb Center, First Year Studies Bldg, Hesburgh Center, Upward Bound, LaFortune Student Center, Main Bldg, Pasquerilla Center, Corby Hall, Basilica, Corby Hall, Human Resources, Risk Management & Safety, and Snite Museum of Art.

In addition, Security has been scheduled and a meeting for all exempt employees has been scheduled.

Meetings yet to be scheduled include: Food Services, Athletics, University Libraries, OIT, Hammes Bookstore, Catalog Center, NITA, Student Health Center, Facilities Engineering, Facilities Operations, Laundry, Career and Placement, Telecommunications, Institute for Church Life, Center for Pastoral Liturgy and the Morris Inn. The Human Resource Representative from the specific areas, stated above, will be in contact with the necessary person(s) from those areas in the near future to schedule the meetings. If anyone has questions, please contact Pam Zarazee at 631-5619.

Dan Brazo asked the Council to address Agenda item IV in front of Agenda item III.

IV. Recording of Council Minutes Vote

Phyllis Campbell made a motion to allow the Human Resources Department to continue doing the Council minutes. The Communications Committee will continue to review minutes prior to distribution. Jan Blazi seconded the motion. A vote was taken and 24 Council members were in favor, 1 opposed. (One Council member arrived late and did not vote on this motion.)

III. Fill Vacancies on the various Ad-Hoc Committees

Dan Brazo reviewed the current list of ad-hoc committees: Tuition Benefits, Pension, Communications Committee, Communications Sub Committee, Women's Committee, and Pay Frequency (disbanded).

Dan stated that the Executive Committee and Elections Committee are the current standing committees. Dan felt there might be a conflict of interest if he remained on the Elections Committee. Therefore, he removed himself from the committee and Debbie Fox volunteered to replace him.

Dan stated that Larry Born represents the Council on the Parking Committee. Larry reported that a meeting has not yet taken place for the Parking Committee.

Dan asked for volunteers from the Council to join Diane Schlatterbeck on the Tuition Benefits Committee. Scott Uekert volunteered to join the committee.

The Pension Committee consists of Chuck Klein, Sue Baum-Lentine, and Toby Green. Chuck reported that the Pension Committee is moving forward and will report when they gather more information.

Rita Grontkowski stated that the Women's Committee has met and will report more information to the Council at a future time.

The Council discussed the possibility of getting staff that are not Council members to volunteer their own time to be involved with the various ad-hoc committees. The Council discussed this issue in depth and decided to table this discussion to a future meeting.

Council members continued to discuss and share their districts ideas on how the grievance procedure can be improved. The Council established an ad-hoc grievance committee consisting of Julie Ferraro, Jan Blazi and Tracie Santicola. This ad-hoc grievance committee is going to organize all the input received from each district representative and form a proposal to present and discuss with the Council at the May 8, 1997 meeting.

V. Old Business - Staff Grievance Procedure

Dan Brazo excused himself from the meeting. Phyllis Campbell, Vice-Chair, resumed meeting.

VI. New Business

Phyllis stated that the next topic to be discussed is night differential. Tracie Santicola read the current policy on page 45 of the Staff Employee Guidebook with regard to night differential. The Council discussed that night differential does not apply to every district.

The Council discussed reviewing the 1996 list of topics that has been used as a guide for meeting discussions. Pam Zarazee stated she would send out the list to all Council members with the minutes. The Council agreed to review the list and begin to prioritize items at the May 8, 1997 meeting.

A Council member asked Rich Nugent how long the appeal process will take? Rich stated that appeals are currently being accepted. The time line for an appeal to be filed is from Tuesday, April 1, 1997 through Friday, May 16, 1997 at 5 p.m. Rich added that a time limit on a response to an appeal has not yet been determined because the volume of appeals will greatly influence the process.

Rich clarified that if a position is upgraded to a higher level based on the appeal process, retroactive pay will be included taking into consideration the specific circumstances of the appeal, such as, the length of time in the position description submitted for an appeal.

Rich stated to the Council that football ticket applications have been sent out. Rich clarified to the Council that if a full-time regular employee chooses not to purchase tickets this year, and their status does not change, the individual will have the same opportunity to purchase tickets next year. Rich stated that any regular full-time employee who has not received their football ticket application by Wednesday, April 16, 1997 , should contact the ticket office at 631-7356.

Rich also stated that the basketball ticket allocation plan has not yet been finalized.
 

VII. Set the Agenda for the May 8, 1997 Council meeting

The tentative agenda for the May 8, 1997 meeting is as follows:

I. Ad-Hoc Grievance Procedure Committee
II. Night Differential Discussion
III. Review list of topics from 1996
IV. Old Business
V. New Business

If you have any items to add to the agenda, please contact Dan Brazo at 1-7081.
Larry Born made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 3:01 p.m. Tracie Santicola seconded the motion. A vote was taken and 26 were in favor, no one opposed.

Respectfully submitted,

Communications Committee