June 2001
Staff Advisory Council
Thursday, June 14, 2001
Notre Dame Room - LaFortune Student Center
Present: Kimberly Ault, Dona Coggins, Trisha Ford, Deb Fox, Norma Frost, Rita Grontkowski, Pam Jobin, Karen Kirkpatrick, Stephanie Maenhout, Bobbi McMahon, Dee Milzarek, Nancy Mitchell, Maria Pozzi, Marv Pruett, Samantha Qualls, John Saylor, Valerie Schroeder, Fred Sonneborn, Kathy Stopczynski, Leona Strickland, Cyndi Sykes and Melodie Wise.
Absent: Debra Bennett, Kay Herrity, Rick Kane, Fred Kraus, Wanda Lansford, Jane Nielson and Holly Webb.
HR Liaisons: Sarah Misener and Wendy Mott.
Melodie Wise, chair called the meeting to order at 1:05 p.m.
I Remarks for the Council
Rich Nugent addressed the Council to say thank you for their commitment and to inform them of his future. Rich will be taking a position at the law firm of May Oberfell and Lorber beginning July 2, 2001.
II Approval of the Thursday, May 10, 2001 Council Minutes
Leona Strickland made a motion to accept the Thursday, May 10, 2001 minutes. The motion was seconded by Samantha Qualls. All present council members voted in favor.
III 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.
- Ad-Hoc Committee on Women's Issues
Rita Grontkowski reported they will have the annual Women's Retreat on Saturday, June 16. The August luncheon topic will be on "Fall Planting".
- Ad-Hoc Committee on Drug Testing
Leona Strickland reported that all reports are in and the committee will have its recommendation to Fr. Malloy, CSC in the near future.
- Ad-Hoc Redistricting Committee
Nothing to report at this time.
- Web Page Update
Samantha Qualls reported that there were 83 hits on the SAC web page last month.
- StaffNews Article
There will be an Article by the Staff Advisory Council that will appear in the July/August issue of the StaffNews.
IV Review Shuttle Discussion
Melodie Wise went through the list of questions regarding the shuttle that had been developed at the May meeting. Stephanie Maenhout asked what the purpose of the questions is and how they will be used. Melodie Wise answered that the questions were formed in order to pursue making the shuttle better and more useful to employees.
The Council is interested in the University's Workers Compensation experience during the winter months as it pertains to injuries from slips and falls. Some additional questions to be added to the list are: What is the current service for disabled personnel? What is the definition of who is disabled? Is handicap accessibility a factor when looking at a different possibility for a shuttle bus? Who gets shuttled and who does not? What are the actual numbers for the budget for the shuttle? What was the original intent of the shuttle bus? These questions will be added to the current list and distributed. Once the Council has received responses to the questions, a recommendation will be made. Dee Milzarek made a motion to accept the list of questions. This motion was seconded by Dona Coggins. All present Council members voted in favor of adding the new questions to the list and sending them to Phil Johnson in Security and Dave Harr in Business Operations.
V Vote on Staff Advisory Council Annual Report
The Council reviewed the Annual Report and agreed to clarify the attendance record to show all representatives who served in each district throughout the year and the dates they served along with their individual attendance record. Cyndi Sykes made a motion to accept the annual report with the above changes. This motion was seconded by Maria Pozzi. All present council members voted in favor of this motion.
VI Miscellaneous Discussion
Melodie Wise went through the list of priorities the Council wanted to address and determined what had been addressed and what was still pending an answer. All but one item had been addressed and there were a handful of items that are currently being worked on. Inclusion of nonexempt staff in the telephone directory is the one item that had not been addressed. Sarah Misener will be in contact with Steve Ellis, Director, Telecommunications, to discuss getting the appropriate form for the Council to review. Valerie Schroeder made a motion for the Council to review the form and make a recommendation to Steve Ellis. This motion was seconded by Trisha Ford. All present council members voted in favor of this motion.
A council member discussed complaints about the Promotion/Transfer process. The question was asked how are the education requirements determined for job levels. Sarah will ask Karen Kirby, Manager of Employment, to visit the council to answer questions and walk through the new self-entry process.
Sarah gave an update on the Watson Wyatt Total Reward and Recognition project. The project is on hold until the new Associate Vice President for Human Resources begins. Dee Milzarek asked if part of the project was to look at the possibility of employees sharing sick time. Sarah indicated that sick pay benefit is an item of discussion in the Watson Wyatt project along with many other benefit and compensation related items. Sarah also shared that the campus is getting better at reporting sick time but 100% reporting is not yet occurring. Human Resources continues to work on educating campus constituents so the appropriate absence report forms are filled out.
Sarah Misener gave an update for the Presidential Awards and Staff Appreciation Luncheon in August. Invitations will be mailed at work in the next month. A Council member asked if the Council will be able to take part in the luncheon and Sarah shared that planning discussions are taking place and she will get back to the council on that.
Nancy Mitchell brought up an issue that had come to her attention. A level 6 position became open and candidates (in level 6 jobs) from other areas of campus applied. However, the hiring manager could not pay the amount of salary they were making. Sarah responded that one reason for this could be that the candidates were longer service employees at a higher rate of pay than what the department's budget would allow.
A question was raised on the availability of salary ranges to employees. Sarah will check on whether they are or will be posted to the Human Resources website. (They are on the web at www.nd.edu/~hr/classification.htm)
Dee Milzarek registered concern on behalf of her constituents about the lunch time crowds at The Huddle due to camps and other summer campus programs. She will call Dave Prentkowski, Director of Food Services regarding these concerns.
Trisha Ford mentioned that her district feels that the minutes are too long and they don't have the time to read them all, but are interested in a summary form. Leona Strickland shared that it is up to the district representative to give them a summary.
A council member asked what happens to the parking swipe card when an employee leaves the University. She pointed out that a member of her district who had been rehired was asked to buy another card. Others pointed out that there are some people accessing campus who are no longer employees. They were advised to notify the Security Department or Human Resources if this was observed. Sarah responded that Human Resources attempts to collect these cards from departing employees.
V. Set the Agenda for the July 12, 2001 Meeting
I Karen Kirby, Manager of Employment to discuss the Promotion/Transfer process
II Approval of the Thursday, June 14, 2001, Council Meeting Minutes
III Committee Reports
- Promotion Committee
- Parking Committee
- Parking Appeals Committee
- Ad-Hoc Committee on Women's Issues
- Ad-Hoc Committee on Drug Testing
- Ad-Hoc Redistricting Committee
- Web Page Update
- StaffNews Article
IV Shuttle Bus Discussion Continued
V Miscellaneous Discussion
VI Set Agenda for Thursday, August 9, 2001 Meeting
Valerie Schroeder made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 2:45 p.m. This motion was seconded by Pam Jobin. All present council members voted in favor of this motion.
Sincerely,
Promotions Committee