October 1997
Staff Advisory Council Minutes
Thursday, October 8, 1997
LaFortune Student Center - Notre Dame Room
1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Present: Rhonda Barkley, Debra Bennett, Jan Blazi, Larry Born, Phyllis Campbell, Tammy Chapman, Victoria Cotton, Toby Green, Rita Grontkowski, Mary Anne Hoebeke, Carl Hubbard, Pam Jobin, Chuck Klein, JoAnn Longenecker, Don Newsom, Jennifer Schafer, Diane Schlatterbeck, Doris Smuda, Fred Sonneborn, Amy Tremel and Scott Uekert.
Absent: Sue Baum-Lentine, Rachel Boyd, Dan Brazo, Gina DeLaruelle, Debbie Fox, Norma Mezykowski, Sue Penrod, Michael Purnell, and Deanna Zukowski.
HR Liaisons: Rich Nugent, Pam Zarazee.
Phyllis Campbell, Vice Chair called the meeting to order at 1:07 p.m.
I. Approval of Minutes from the September 11, 1997 meeting
Phyllis Campbell made a motion to change the Tuition Benefit motion from last months meeting to add three non-exempt staff who are interested in volunteering to serve on the Ad-Hoc Tuition Benefit Committee that are not Council members instead of adding two. Scott Uekert seconded this motion. A vote was taken and all members present were in favor of the motion.
Phyllis Campbell then made a motion to approve the September 11, 1997 meeting minutes with the above correction. Amy Tremel seconded the motion. A vote was taken and all members present were in favor of the motion.
II. Select Women's Committee volunteers from nominations
The committee discussed a situation that was brought up with regard to the nominations sent in for this committee. Jennifer Schafer made a motion that employees of regional offices should certainly give input into topics of discussion with this committee however, should not be allowed to serve directly on the committee. Jan Blazi seconded the motion. A vote was taken and 19 Council members were in favor of the motion and 2 Council members were opposed.
Chuck Klein who serves on the Elections Committee held the random selection of all nominations for the volunteer non-exempt staff members interested in serving on the Women's Committee. The Women's Committee non-exempt volunteers include:
Bobbie McMahon, Educational Media
Laura Manship, Law School - Admissions
Barb Williams, Multicultural Student Affairs
Diane Steele, Development
Phyllis Shelton-Ball, Romance Language and Literature
Johnna Grenert-Taff, Accounts Payable
The Council members that will be serving on the Women's Committee include:
Rita Grontkowski, First Year of Studies
Norma Mezykowski, Accounts Payable
Tammy Chapman, Faculty Support
Gina DeLaruelle, Telecommunications
Toby Green, O.I.T.
Scott Uekert, Lab for Social Research
The Council agreed to discuss the issue with regional offices participation in the Council at a future meeting.
III. Web Page Update and Discussion
Scott Uekert shared with the Council that he had contacted the Computer Applications Department in Arts and Letters to see if they could assist with the Council Web Page. Scott stated that the class is not in a position to maintain the Web Page on a continuous basis. Scott stated that he will be gathering a group of Council members together to discuss this issue further and report back to the Council at the November meeting.
IV. Discussion of Issues on Priority List
The Executive Council handed out a prioritized list of staff issues which was prioritized by the Staff Advisory Council Executive Committee on October 2 from the input received by all districts. It is not intended to be all inclusive--additions may be made at any time. The list included the following:
1. Supervisors/Promotion: fair performance evaluation
2. Sick leave (various issues)
3. Hire date vs calendar date
4. Continuous update of reclassification by HR
5. Funeral policy
6. Grievance procedure (pending)
7. Educational benefit for non-exempt employees
8. Life insurance for other family members
9. Parking
10. Worker's compensation (risk management)
11. FMLA - update and educate staff
12. Handbook
The Council discussed at length the above list. Some concerns included the order of priority, some items not included on list that a district views as important, and the timing to get certain issues resolved. Specific issues addressed on the list included Supervisors/Promotion: fair performance evaluation, Hire date vs calendar date, Continuous update of reclassification by HR, Funeral policy, Grievance procedure, and Parking.
Larry Born made a recommendation that the hire date vs calendar date with regard to vacation eligibility be looked at immediately. Rich Nugent stated that Human Resources shares in the interest to explore the possibility of a change in vacation eligibility to hire date. There are issues that need to be explored prior to any resolution of this issue. Rich asked the Council if they would like Rita Winsor to come to the next Council meeting to discuss the impact on having the hire date vs calendar date for vacation and, also, to discuss how service is computed for pension purposes. The Council agreed to this. Also, Rita Winsor will be getting input from the Council members on the pension statements they were given at this meeting.
Rich Nugent informed the Council that the Grievance procedure proposal that the Council submitted is being reviewed and discussed with a sub-committee of the Human Resources Planning Group(HRPG). Rich will bring the results of the HRPG sub-committee to the Council upon completion of review.
The Council also discussed the performance management training. Rich shared with the Council that Human Resources is currently training managers who are responsible for conducting performance reviews, specifically for January increases. Rich also mentioned that the Training and Development Group of Human Resources has put together a one hour training program for those staff who are being evaluated but are not responsible for actually conducting a performance evaluation. Rich offered to have this program presented to the Council. Toby Green made a motion to have this one hour training done for the Council at the next regularly scheduled Council meeting. Chuck Klein seconded the motion. A vote was taken and all members present were in favor of the motion.
Larry Born stated that no new information has been given with regard to parking. Shuttle service is being reevaluated by the University.
Rich Nugent shared with the Council that Human Resources has requested a special meeting for the Staff Advisory Council on Thursday, October 23, 1997 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. in Room 122 of the College of Business Administration. This is to share with the Council the ND Flex Program set for 1998.
Rich Nugent also discussed with the Council the criteria used for the Hockey and Basketball tickets. The criteria for eligibility to purchase tickets at the 20 percent discount includes all active faculty members, all regular full-time exempt staff, all regular full-time non-exempt staff, faculty and exempt retirees who retired prior to 8/19/96, all retirees (faculty, exempt, and non- exempt staff) who have retired since 8/19/96 with at least 10 consecutive years of full-time service,) and all surviving spouses of those mentioned above. If demand is higher than maximum capacity for season tickets, the ticket office will probably consider some type of package options.
Larry Born made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 3:01 p.m. Pam Jobin seconded the motion. A vote was taken and all members present were in favor of this motion.
Respectfully Submitted,
Communications Committee