August 2008

Minutes 

Staff Advisory Council

Thursday, August 14, 2008 

1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

LaFortune Student Center

 

Present: Andrew Mason, Mo Marnocha, Amie Davis, Shari Herman, Eric McCartney, Sandy Sarber, Patricia Smith, Sharon Konopka, Frederick Sonneborn, Victoria Chidister, Marie Revak, Diane Singleton, Kathy Stopczynski, Char­anna Koblick, Joe Wheeler, Kathy Troth, Barb Wadley

 

Excused: Julie DeBuysser, Penny McIntire

Unexcused: Laura Gerber, John Mackowicz

HR Liaison: Lori Maurer

 

I. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 1:00 p.m. by Patty Smith.

 

II. Approval of July, 2008 Council Minutes

Andy Mason made a motion to approve the minutes with suggested changes, and 

Diane Singleton seconded.

 

III. Committee Reviews

Benefits Committee

No news.

By­laws Committee

No news.

Parking Appeals

Shari Herman volunteered to serve on the committee for the upcoming year.

Election Committee

No news.

Promotions Committee

The committee is meeting soon to discuss the Blood Drive.

ECDC

The committee report is near completion and Patty will bring it to the next meeting. There will not be a need to meet again.Webpage Committee

No news.

Compassion Fund 

Since the last meeting, two requests have been submitted for funds from the Compassion Fund. One employee qualified and the second is being reviewed.

 

IV. Old Business

Vacation Accrual 

Amie Davis stated that she sent a letter to Donna Brommeling. The letter requested specific information regarding who the vacation accrual letter was intended to represent. Amie has not received a response from Donna.

Staff and Faculty Shuttle 

Overall, the new shuttle route is working ok.There was a comment that the driver is not going to the bottom of D­6 like he used to. Some discussion ensued about the route and signage. Patty isgoing to email Dan Skendzel for clarification.

Carpool Message Board 

This question was raised with Jim Mazurek and he has it on his wish list.

 

IV. New Business

a.  Lori Maurer introduced herself to the group.

b. A question was raised from an employee regarding tuition benefits. Should employees receive some sort of reimbursement from the University if they 

aren’t able to take advantage of the tuition benefit?   The opinion was that this was not something SAC should pursue. 

c.  One SAC member talked about the Learning at Work Academy and said she was participating. One person voiced concerns about the Compass Test and the communication regarding the test being timed at ND. Lori Maurer will look into this and report back.

d. Mo Marnocha and Diane Singleton attended the focus group session for the non exempt performance management process. Although there are some concerns about the calibration process, they like the new form and are positive about the self evaluation piece. 

e.  Jim Mazurek, Director of the Office of Sustainability, was the guest speaker.

Jim presented information about the University’s energy usage and discussedhis vision and goals for the future.  He then took questions. Some points from Jim’s presentation include: 

­ND uses “a lot” of water ND burns 300,000 tons of carbon annually ND does not have a good impression externally because of its’ perceived excessive energy use (i.e. Princeton Review) 

­our students are very interested in the concept of sustainability football game day recycling is being ramped up discussed the plan to update older campus buildings to make them “smarter” 

in terms of energy usage

 

V. Adjournment

Mo Marnocha made a motion to adjourn at 2:20 p.m. The motion was seconded 

by Shari Herman and passed. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Human Resources