November 2001

 

Notre Dame Room, LaFortune Student Center 

 

1 p.m. to 3 p.m. 

 

Present: Kimberly Ault, Debra Bennett, Deb Fox, Rita Grontkowski, Fred Kraus, Stephanie Maenhout, Dee Milzarek, Maria Wilk, Marv Pruett, Samantha Qualls, Valerie Schroeder, Kathy Stopczynski, Leona Strickland, Cyndi Sykes, Holly Webb, and Melodie Wise. 

 

Absent: Norma Frost, Tricia Ford, Kay Herrity Pam Jobin, Rick Kane, Karen Kirkpatrick, Wanda Lansford, , Bobbi McMahon, Nancy Mitchell, Jane Nielson, John Saylor and Fred Sonneborn. 

 

HR Liaisons: Sarah Misener and Sue Prister. 

 

Melodie Wise, Chair began the meeting at 1:02 p.m. and welcomed Eric Schramm who was sitting in for Jane Nielson. 

 

I. Approval of the Thursday, September 13, 2001 Council Minutes 

 

Deb Fox made a motion to accept the Thursday, September 13, 2001 Council minutes. Holly Webb seconded this motion. A vote was taken and all present Council members were in favor of this motion. 

 

II. Committee Reports 

 

-Promotion Committee 

 

Nothing to report at this time. 

 

-Parking Committee 

 

Nothing to report at this time. 

 

-Parking Appeals Committee 

 

Nothing to report at this time. 

 

-Elections Committee 

 

Nothing to report at this time. 

 

-Ad-Hoc Committee on Women's Issues 

 

Rita Grontkowski shared with the Council the "Lunch and Learn" and Lecture Series programs for the next six months: 

 

November 15, 2001 - Chandra Johnson, Assistant to the President, will be speaking in the South Dining Hall, Hospitality Room for the Tribute to Women Series. (Lecture Series) 

 

December 2001 (date to be announced) - Stress management and relaxation ("Lunch & Learn") 

 

January 9, 2002 - St. Joseph Emergency Planning ("Lunch & Learn") 

 

February, 2002 (date to be determined) (Lecture Series) 

 

March 13, 2002 - the Spring Women's Fair will be held in LaFortune Center during the week of spring break. 

 

April, 2002 (date to be determined) - Spring Planting ("Lunch & Learn") 

 

-Ad-Hoc Committee on Drug Testing 

 

Sarah Misener stated that a draft recommendation was presented to a portion of the members of the Human Resources Advisory Group (formerly known as the HRPG). To gain support for the recommendation, before submitting it to the officer group, a meeting is being scheduled to bring the full committee the detailed recommendation and research upon which it was based. 

 

-Ad-Hoc Redistricting Committee 

 

Melodie Wise told the Council that this ad-hoc committee is in the process of pulling information together and their intention is to have a recommendation on redistricting in place before the next committee election after the first of the year. 

 

-Web Page Update 

 

Samantha Qualls stated the web page had 57 hits in October and 6 hits so far in November. Council members shared that several of them had difficulty accessing the Staff Advisory Council web site from the Human Resources home page. Sarah Misener will look into this problem. Note: Since this meeting access to the Staff Advisory Council web site is possible directly from the Human Resources web site. 

 

-StaffNews Article 

 

Kathy Stopczynski opened the discussion as to whether the minutes in the StaffNews were timely. Because of the time lapse between the Council meetings and the deadline of the StaffNews several Council members agreed that the minutes were dead news by the time of publication. Minutes posted on the Staff Advisory web site would be out within a week after the Council meeting. Eric Schramm shared with the Council the importance of still maintaining a hard copy of the minutes for those who did not have access to the web. 

 

III. Shuttle Bus Discussion 

 

Sarah Misener shared with the Council that a meeting took place with Doug Marsh, Director, Facilities Engineering, to discuss the scheduling of the Council's ad-hoc committee to meet with site planning consultants on the issues of parking and shuttle service. This ad-hoc committee includes Kay Herrity, Norma Frost, Kathy Stopczynski, and Stephanie Maenhout. In preparation for the meeting ad-hoc committee members were asked to talk to people in their area to find out what issues need to be addressed regarding parking and the shuttle. The Ad-hoc committee will then met with a traffic and parking consultant group the University has hired to research the current issues on campus and forward information to the consulting group working on the University's master plan. This meeting is expected to take place in December. 

 

IV. Absenteeism at Council Meetings 

 

Melodie Wise distributed a sheet that summarized the absenteeism of the Council members at meetings in 2001. Melodie started the discussion by saying that if a Council member knows he or she will not be able to attend a meeting they must notify someone on the executive committee or Sue Prister in Human Resources, this will be counted as an excused absence. Reference was made to the Staff Advisory Council By-Laws and the appropriate section was shared with the Council; two or more consecutive absences from Council meetings are grounds for dismissal from the Council. A discussion took place in which members shared how important it is not to miss meetings and possible reasons for Council members not attending. Deb Fox stated that Staff Advisory Council Members have permission to attend the meetings and if they repeatedly cannot get away from work to attend Sarah Misener should be made aware of this. The suggestion was made to possibly have alternates from the same district. Melodie stated that the redistricting would help this situation. 

 

V. Miscellaneous Discussion 

 

A question was raised as to whether or not football tickets payments could be a payroll deduction. Sarah Misener will gather information on this idea and bring to the Staff Advisory Council. 

 

In a discussion about the Open Enrollment Process Valarie Schroeder shared with the group that the dental and medical applications for Open Enrollment on the Web were not accessible. Sarah said she would look into this. 

 

Holly Webb asked Sarah Misener who decides on the insurance choices employees are given. Sarah explained to the Council that it is a detailed process in which the Office of Human Resources reviews data and requests proposals from vendors. Sarah explained that over the last year the University reviewed benefit plans and choices as a part of the Total Rewards and Recognition Study. As part of that study focus groups were also conducted on healthcare issues. Valerie Schroeder shared with the group that she was a part of a focus group facilitated by Watson Wyatt in which employees were asked about healthcare insurance. In response to a question raised regarding the study Sarah Misener agreed to arrange for Bob Foldesi, Associate Vice President for Human Resources, to visit the Staff Advisory Council and provide an update. 

 

A discussion took place on the possibility of having guests attend the January Council meeting with the intention of gaining interest in membership prior to the elections of new members to the Staff Advisory Council. The discussion will continue at the next Council meeting. 

 

VI. Set the Agenda for the December 13, 2001 Council Meeting 

 

I. Approval of the Thursday, November 8, 2001 Council Minutes 

 

II. Committee Reports (including the Elections Committee) 

 

III. Shuttle and Parking Update 

 

IV. Absenteeism Issue Discussion 

 

V. Guests at January Council Meeting 

 

VI. Set the agenda for the January, 2002 Council Meeting 

 

Deb Fox made a motion to adjourn the Council meeting at 2:30 p.m. Samantha Qualls seconded this motion. A vote was taken and all present Council members were in favor of this motion. 

 

Sincerely, 

 

Promotion Committee