November 1997

Staff Advisory Council Minutes
Thursday, November 13, 1997
LaFortune Student Center - Notre Dame Room
1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

 

Present: Sue Baum-Lentine, Debra Bennett, Jan Blazi, Larry Born, Rachel Boyd, Dan Brazo, Phyllis Campbell, Tammy Chapman, Victoria Cotton, Gina DeLaruelle, Debbie Fox, Toby Green, Rita Grontkowski, Mary Anne Hoebeke, Carl Hubbard, Pam Jobin, Chuck Klein, JoAnn Longenecker, Norma Mezykowski, Don Newsom, Sue Penrod, Diane Schlatterbeck, Doris Smuda, and Fred Sonneborn.

Absent: Rhonda Barkley, Carl Hubbard, Michael Purnell, Jennifer Schafer, Amy Tremel, and Scott Uekert.

HR Liaisons: Angela Knobloch, Rich Nugent, Rita Winsor, and Pam Zarazee.

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

I. Approval of Minutes from the October 9, 1997 meeting
Chuck Klein made a motion to accept the October 9, 1997 minutes. Phyllis Campbell seconded this motion. A vote was taken and all members present were in favor of the motion.

II. Web Page Update
Phyllis Campbell informed the Council that a meeting was held to discuss who will be responsible for updating the web page. Scott Uekert has volunteered to handle the Council's web page.

III. Hire Date vs Calendar Date and Staff Pension Plan Information Sheets
Rita Winsor, Assistant Director for Human Resources, obtained feedback from the Council on the Staff Pension Plan Information Sheets that Council members received at the last meeting. The Council agreed that having a pension plan information sheet is very informative and helpful to the staff. Suggestions from the Council on the information sheet included: *Staff feel a need to have these statements sent to them at least every other year *Staff like the prediction component *The form allows an individual to begin to plan and prepare for retirement *Add to the form if you have 10 years of service or more what figure would you earn if you have to be on a disability retirement

Rita Winsor began discussing the issues involved with changing a person's vacation eligibility to be based on anniversary date rather than the July 1st date. Rita shared with the Council that the Department of Human Resources is in favor of this idea, however making a change such as this requires the assistance of other departments across campus, specifically accounting and administrative information services. These other departments, including Human Resources have certain priorities they are currently needing to complete before they can move on to this topic. The Council emphasized that they would like to know if the University is committed to and wants to go forward on making the anniversary date for vacation eligibility a reality.

Rita shared with the Council that I.D. cards are tentatively planned to be distributed early in 1998.

Rita was asked by the Council to come back and discuss the effect that the July 1st date has on tuition benefits, year of service and the pension plan.

IV. Performance Management Information Session
Angela Knobloch, Senior Training and Development Consultant presented to the Council the Performance Management Information Session. These optional information sessions are for all non-exempt staff and for those exempt individual contributors who do not have supervisory responsibilities. These sessions are currently taking place in the departments across campus who have January increases and will be available in early 1998 for those staff up for a July increase.

Rita Grontkowski shared with the Council that the Women's Committee had their first meeting and elected officers. Rita Grontkowski is the Chair, Diane Steele is the Vice Chair, and Laura Manship is the Secretary.

Rich Nugent shared with the Council that a third Shuttle Bus is being discussed to assist University employees. Information on the confirmation of the Shuttle Bus implementation date, routes and times will be announced via a University voice mail message and flyers across campus as soon as it becomes available.

Gina DeLaruelle made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 3:10 p.m. Don Newsom seconded the motion. A vote was taken and all members present were in favor of this motion.

Respectfully Submitted,

Communications Committee