Approved Minutes For Meeting on January 18, 2006

Date: January 18, 2006

Program:

1. The meeting was called to order by the Chair, Charlotte Gibson. Visitors and guests were welcomed and introduced.

2. Roll Call

Members Present: Tuesday Ashner, Patty Cosgrove, Paulette Curkin, John Davis, Brad Dillard, JP Dunn, Charlotte Gibson, Jon Geiger, Heidi Jung, John Massie, Andy Morgan, Jeff Myers, Don Patton, Karen Reynolds, Rhonda Seeber, Allison Sutphin, Donnell Wilson.

Proxies: JP Dunn for Susan Edgren.

Visitors and Guests: Terri Harfst, Keith McQuarrie, Marge Selinger.

3. Minutes

The minutes of the meeting on December 21, 2005, were approved as presented.

4. Adoption of Meeting Agenda: P. Curkin moved to approve the agenda; seconded by J. Geiger. Motion carried.

5. Reports

5.1 Chair 
C. Gibson reported there was no constituency meeting scheduled for January.

5.2 Board of Trustees 
C. Gibson reported she received notice that the Board meetings scheduled for February and April have been cancelled. She noted there had been rumors that the schedule would be shortened, but there was no discussion about this at the December meeting. C. Gibson expressed concern about university business being conducted in a timely manner with fewer official Board meetings. P. Curkin pointed out that the Board would have to have an open meeting in order to conduct business.

C. Gibson reported she had sent a letter to Glenn Poshard welcoming him as the new SIU President. He responded that he is looking forward to working with the Council.

5.3 Human Resources (HR) - None.

5.4 A/P Excellence Concept Team - None.

5.5 Representatives to University Committees

5.5a Recreational Sports and Services - Terri Harfst 
T. Harfst reported on the committtee's activities [see appendix 1 ].

5.5b Search Committee, Business and Administration - Tammy Cavarretta 
T. Cavarretta submitted her written report (included as appendix 2).

5.5c Search Committee, Science - Pat Matthews 
P. Matthews submitted her written report (included as appendix 3).

5.5d Screening Committee, New Student Programs - Keith McQuarrie 
K. McQuarrie reported on the committee's activities (see appendix 4).

5.5e Non-Traditional Student Services Advisory - Susan Edgren 
S. Edgren submitted her written report (included as appendix 5). J. Davis asked if there is a mechanism in place or a way to identify from an existing database eligible applicants for specific scholarships. T. Harfst responded that the appropriate channel at this time would be Records and Registration. She noted that it is not easy for someone sitting at a PC to type in something and draw it out; right now a programmer has to procure the information. She indicated that the two companies giving presentations at the end of the month, Banner and PeopleSoft, are supposed to be easier to interface with, which will hopefully make it easier to access that kind of information.

5.6 Standing Committees

5.6a Executive Committee 
B. Dillard reported the committee met on January 5. The minutes from the December 21 meeting were reviewed, and the agenda was set for the January 18 meeting.

5.6b Committee on Committees 
T. Ashner reported that Lana Campbell was selected to serve on the Screening Committee for Director of the Student Center.

5.6c Constituency Relations 
R. Seeber reported the committee met and discussed the date for the spring constituency meeting, which will be held on March 22. She also reported that the call for nominations for the A/P outstanding service award will be mailed out shortly. The committee reviewed the procedures for determining the award recipients and revised the evaluation tool so that it would better match the application process.

5.6d Operating Paper 
H. Jung reported the committee met and discussed revisions to the Operating Paper (included as an attachment to the agenda). She indicated this will be a first reading for the Council. She then reviewed the proposed changes. During the ensuing discussion, several suggestions were made: i) remove "Administrative/Professional" when it appears before the names of the Staff Benefits and Staff Welfare Committees; instead, add "Administrative Professional" to the heading "Standing Committees"; ii) address attendance at Council and committee meetings by video or teleconference; iii) address what would constitute a lack of attendance at standing committee meetings; iv) correct the formatting error that occurs after II.E.e. (correct succeeding lettering); v) include a provision for electronic signatures for absentee ballots for Council members.

5.6e Staff Benefits 
D. Patton reported the committee decided to suspend its annual goals at this time as a result of the work being done by the A/P Excellence Concept Team since both committees are currently working on similar issues. However, Staff Benefits is still available to address any other issues that may arise. B. Dillard suggested that since D. Patton also serves on the Concept Team, he and Jake Baggott coordinate their reports each month to make sure the Council stays informed about the Concept Team's progress.

5.6f Staff Welfare 
P. Cosgrove reported the committee continues to work on the A/P Excellence Concept Team. In addition, the committee plans to revise its goals for FY06 to include updating the Operating Paper of the A/ P Judicial Review Board.

JP Dunn reported that in meetings he attended with M. Selinger and Kathy Blackwell (Human Resources), it was found that it is possible to take a person on soft money and put her/him on a continuing contract, as long as there is a stipulation in the contract stating that when the grant ends, the position ends. M. Selinger indicated that it has always been somewhat of a myth that people on grants cannot be on a continuing appointment. It is a department's decision whether to put the person on a term or continuing contract. J. Myers indicated the issue for departments is that even though a grant ends, they still have to pay the employee's accrued vacation. JP Dunn suggested that a stipulation could be written into the term contract much the same way it is written into a continuing contract that would state the employee would have to do something with her/his vacation before a certain date. M. Selinger believed certain contingencies could be written into the contract, although it could not be done in all cases. She indicated that if a grant has been ongoing and the department expects that to continue, then it is something that could be considered.

6. Old Business - None.

7. New Business

Council volunteers were solicited to serve as members of the Ad Hoc Elections Committee. The following individuals agreed to serve: JP Dunn (Academic Affairs), J. Massie (Student Affairs), J. Myers (General) and A. Sutphin (Medicine). As Council Secretary, R. Seeber will serve as chair of the Ad Hoc Elections Committee.

8. Announcements - None

9. Adjournment