June 2002

 

Lower Level Training Room Grace Hall 

 

1 p.m. to 3 p.m. 

 

 

 

Present: Martha Sue Abbott, Kimberly Ault, Debra Bennett, Becky DeBruyn, Amy Dorn, Tricia Ford, Jim Gloster, Paula Horne, Stephanie Maenhout, Nancy Mitchell, Jane Nielson, JoAnn Norris, Marv Pruett, Samantha Qualls, , Kathy Stopczynski, Holly Webb, Maria Wilk and Melodie Wise. 

 

Absent: Norma Frost, Mattie Malone, Susan McGonigal, Dee Milzarek, John Saylor, Jimi Sholty, Fred Sonneborn, Bobbi McMahon, 

 

HR Liaisons: Sarah Misener and Sue Prister. 

 

 

Melodie Wise, Chair called the meeting to order at 1:09 p.m. 

 

Before the meeting was called to order a group photo was taken with Staff Advisory Council members that were present. 

 

I. Approval of the Monday, June 5, 2002 Council Minutes 

 

Kathy Stopczynski made reference to a question that was asked of Father Scully regarding retirement, indicating that she did not ask this question. Since there was no determination of who asked the question, the minutes will be changed to that effect. Jim Gloster asked that the minutes be revised to reflect that Fr. Scully had indicated that in the future there would be a meeting with employees of the Morris Inn about plans for the new Notre Dame Inn and impact on the Morris Inn. A motion was made to accept the Wednesday, June 5 minutes with the noted changes. A vote was taken and all present Council members were in favor of this motion. 

 

 

II. Committee Reports 

 

-Promotion Committee 

 

Tricia Ford shared with the Council that this committee did meet and discussed 5 main points. 

 

1) With new members and redistricting it is time to redo the name badges for the Council members to reflect these changes, and the committee will proceed with this. 

 

2) In order to give the Staff Advisory Council more exposure throughout campus posters are being designed with the Staff Advisory Council Logo. These posters will be placed in various buildings around campus where space permits. Tricia passed around a sample of the wording asking Council members to review and give feedback. 

 

3) Items that the Council works on need to be shared with constituents. It is important that employees understand that the Council does actively discuss and seek action on items and issues brought to it by constituents. The promotions committee is looking into ways to communicate this to staff. 

 

4) Promote goodwill by continuing to help constituents get issues resolved. 

 

5) To promote a greater awareness of the Staff Advisory Council, the promotions committee requests that the Council have more of a presence at the Awards of Excellence Luncheon in August, including introduction of Staff Advisory Council Members. Sarah Misener will take this request to the events planning committee. 

 

 

-University Parking Committee 

 

There was no information to be shared at this time. 

 

 

- Parking Appeals Committee 

 

There was no information to be shared at this time. 

 

 

-Ad-Hoc Committee on Women's Issues 

 

Maria Wilk shared with the Council that there would be a Lunch & Learn on June 25 from noon-1:00 p.m. in the Notre Dame Room of LaFortune Center exploring the topic 

 

"Where do I look for child care?" There will be no scheduled presentation in July. The committee will distribute ballots next month to obtain nominations for a creation of a pool of possible members for future reference. She encouraged Council members to promote nominations within their districts. 

 

 

 

- Drug Testing 

 

Deb Bennett shared with the Council that the University Officers reviewed the Ad Hoc Committee Proposal. The Officers directed that the "for cause" testing features contained in the proposal be implemented, which includes training and opportunities for greater awareness of resources available to employees to deal with substance abuse issues. Random testing in safety sensitive areas will be re-initiated. The current pre-employment testing will be continued, and the Officers indicated that the proposal would be reviewed again in a year. In the interim, further information on testing methodologies, and the status of testing at other local employers, will be explored. The committee will remain intact so it might be called in the future if needed. A determination was made by Council members to drop this item from the committee reports, and at such time that there is new information to share it will be included. Jim Gloster asked why the proposal included the elimination or revision of pre-employment drug testing. In response, it was explained that a number of factors as outlined in the proposal led to that decision. Members new to the Council will be given the opportunity to review the full proposal as background information on this issue. 

 

 

-Web Page Update 

 

Samantha Qualls reported that the web page had been updated. 

 

-StaffNews Article 

 

No article appeared in the last issue of StaffNews. 

 

 

Referencing the discussion at the last Council meeting regarding the revamping of the StaffNews, Sarah Misener asked if there was any further input. Council members shared the following comments: 

 

· A number of Council members reported feedback that the Trading Post feature remain. 

 

· Liked shopping trip information. 

 

· Certain areas want more paper copies distributed. 

 

· Only report events where dates are upcoming, not past. 

 

· Implement a read only version on the web that isn't so spread out; takes too long to read. 

 

· Include humor. 

 

· Share what staff has to say about certain subjects; Q&A and interview format like a sidewalk sampler. 

 

· Print paper copies on colored paper. 

 

 

The Council decided to put the next and future meeting agendas on the web so constituents could see what will be addressed and offer comments to their representative for discussion. It was decided that after the meeting Samantha Qualls and Sue Prister would compare notes and that Samantha would put the agenda for the next meeting on the Staff Advisory Council web site. Kathy Stopczynski agreed to have the meeting minutes summary to Melodie Wise for review within 10 days after the meeting. Samantha Qualls would then post the minutes on the web site. 

 

 

-Shuttle Update 

 

There was no information to be shared at this time. 

 

 

III. Salary Discussion 

 

Sarah Misener shared with the Council information on the compensation program as follows: 

 

· 2.5% average increase across budget units. 

 

· Distribution to be based on performance. 

 

· Annual performance review due is date flexible based on operational needs and preferences. 

 

· Documentation is required for any increase less that 1% or more than 5%. 

 

· Previous guidelines of delayed increase for NI rating is no longer in place. 

 

· Compensation Statements will be made available to supervisors in mid-June and in October for use in communicating increases to employees. 

 

Sarah concluded her comments by saying that if Council members get questions regarding salary increases they should refer the person to their supervisor for answers, or if that has occurred and questions remain, they can contact Human Resources. The 

 

University's compensation philosophy is also on the web for reference. 

 

 

IV. Miscellaneous 

 

Sarah commented that when Fr. Scully and Bob Foldesi were at the last Council meeting there was an unanswered question. Sarah proceeded to share with the Council information obtained regarding the football ticket standing section known as Alumni Alley. Seating in this section would be by choice and should not affect staff and faculty seating because it is next to the student section on the opposite end of the stadium. 

 

 

Sarah addressed issues regarding the Human Resources web site and difficulties experienced. She shared with the Council that during the time in question the Human Resources server was down in part due to the testing of new software. Regarding difficulties experienced viewing job postings Sarah shared that new postings are put on the web daily and although the attempt is made to do it at the least inconvenient time possible, those wanting to view the postings may on rare occasions experience a brief outage at this time also. User problems may also be due to the browser used. The Greentree applicant tracking system used by the employment office runs best with Internet Explorer. Sarah went on to say that if problems are experienced contact Human Resources right away. 

 

Melodie Wise shared with the Council the need to review the Staff Advisory Council 

 

By-laws commenting that it had been two years since the last review. Melodie went on to say that a review was necessary to insure that they still made sense for what the Staff Advisory Council does. Melodie explained that after revision of the By-laws the newly formed committee would submit the changes to the Council for review. Members who volunteered for this committee were Stephanie Maenhout, Samantha Qualls, Deb Bennett and Melodie Wise. It was decided that the By-law Review Committee would be included as a committee report until new By-laws were adopted. 

 

 

 

A question was raised as to whether a Council member could sit in on the current insurance request for proposal discussion in Human Resources. Tricia Ford shared that she had been asked to participate on the Request for Proposal committee. Sarah Misener suggested that Denise Murphy be asked to address the Council regarding this process at a future meeting. 

 

 

V. Set the Agenda for the July 11, 2002 Council Meeting 

 

 

1. Approval of the Wednesday, June 5, 2002 Council Minutes

 

 

2. Committee Reports 

 

*Promotion Committee 

 

*Parking Committee 

 

*Parking Appeals Committee 

 

*Ad-Hoc Committee on Women's Issues 

 

*By-laws Committee 

 

*Web Page Article 

 

*StaffNews Article 

 

*Shuttle Update 

 

3. Discuss Prioritized list of issues 

 

4. Guest speaker. (Will be notified when it has been determined who will be 

 

attending) 

 

5. Set Agenda for the August 8, 2002 Council Meeting 

 

Deb Bennett made a motion to adjourn the Council meeting at 3:02 p.m. A vote was taken and all present Council members were in favor of this motion 

 

 

Sincerely, 

 

Promotion Committee