May 2007

Minutes

Staff Advisory Council

Thursday, May 10, 2007

1:00 – 3:00 p.m., 234 Grace Hall

 

Present:          Maureen Marnocha, Lorie Marsh, Paula Muhlherr, Bobbi McMahon, Joy Schosker, John Mackowicz, Patricia Smith, Sharon Konopka, Frederick Sonneborn, Diana Singleton, Kevin Jones, Kathy Troth, Joe Wheeler, Barb Wadley  

 

Excused:         Penny McIntire, Amie Davis, Marie Chavez Revak, Kathy Stopczynski, Janice Owens

 

Unexcused:     Peggy Van Kirk, Paul Hendershott

 

HR Liaison:    John Whelan

 

I.                   Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 1:02 p.m. by Patty Smith.

 

II.                Approval of April 19, 2007 Council Minutes

Kathy Troth made a motion to approve the minutes and Lorie Marsh seconded.

 

III.             Committee Reviews

By-laws Committee

Paula Muhlherr, Mo Marnocha, Lorie Marsh and Barb Wadley will review the SAC by-laws prior to the next meeting.

 

Promotions Committee

A variety of donations have been received from various departments on campus.  These donated items will be used in the raffle at the staff picnic this summer.  Joy Schosker is the point person for this and will arrange for the SAC table as well. 

 

Webpage Committee

Joy Schosker has recently taken a class on webpage design and will use her new skills to manage the SAC webpage.  Bobbi McMahon will also work on the webpage and is scheduled to take a class this month.

 

Parking Appeals Committee

There have not been any meetings in the past month, but there should be one in the near future.

 

Ad Hoc Parking Committee

A meeting is likely in the next month.

 

 

IV.       Additional Business

·        Benefits Update:

o       Denise Murphy, Director of Compensation and Benefits in HR, attended the meeting to provide an update on some Benefits topics.

o       FMLA administration is being outsourced to a company called SHPS.  This will make the administration more efficient and will allow medical professionals to review the FMLA applications.  This will lead to more accurate decisions regarding FMLA approval.

o       Some language in the FMLA policy is being updated to make the policy easier to understand.  There are also some minor changes to the policy.  Once these are finalized, they will be communicated to employees across campus.

 

·        NDSP Parking Update:

o       Phil Johnson, Jeff Korros and Dave Chapman came to speak about parking issues on campus.

o       A question was asked about the need for a traffic light at the intersection of Edison and Leahy Drive.  Phil indicated that the city of South Bend has jurisdiction over this and will need to make a determination based on need.  The original plans did not include a traffic light as it was not deemed necessary.  If the traffic is greater than anticipated, the City will need to address this. 

o       The speed of traffic on the new Edison is monitored jointly by the NDSP and the South Bend Police Department.

o       A question was raised about the shuttle busses from the parking lots.  Phil stated that he would follow-up with Dan Skendzel who is responsible for the shuttle bus.

o       The D6 parking lot has been addressed several times in the last few years by the ad hoc parking committee.  The issue most often raised is that staff and faculty don’t have enough parking close to campus.  Security has designated a number of parking spots for staff and faculty only whereas all of the other parking spots are equally shared with staff, faculty and students.

o       If someone is parked illegally, they should receive a ticket everyday for four days.  Then they will be towed.

o       There is no time limit on handicapped parking spots for cars with handicapped decals.

o       A challenge with the Bookstore parking lot is that the University wants to make it easy for people to park and shop while keeping out others who are looking for easy parking.  The time limit is 2-hours, but this does not prevent students from parking there to attend 90-minute classes.  There is currently no easy solution to this problem.

o       Students who park in the Library lot at night, but do not move during the day, will be ticketed.  If they leave their cars there for four days, they will be towed.

o       A question arose about email communications to campus regarding parking changes or temporary issues.  Jeff Korros said that there is a fine balance to communicating enough without inundating people.  If insignificant email messages are sent too frequently, staff, faculty and students will stop reading them.

o       Parking tickets range from $5 to $50 depending on the infraction.  The first parking ticket for each person each year is simply a warning.  If staff, faculty and students pay their tickets within the first 10 days, there is a 20% discount.

 

 

V.        Adjournment

With no further topics to discuss, mo made a motion to adjourn at 3:04 p.m.  The motion was seconded by joy and passed.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Human Resources