Approved Minutes For Meeting on January 17, 2007

Date: January 17, 2007 

Program:

1. The meeting was called to order by the Vice Chair, JP Dunn. Visitors and guests were welcomed and introduced.

2. Roll Call

Members Present: Tuesday Ashner, Phil Bankester, Paulette Curkin, JP Dunn, Jon Geiger, Gabriele Hoffmann, Heidi Jung, Cordy Love, John Massie, Don Patton, Karen Reynolds, Sandra Rhoads, Allison Sutphin, Donnell Wilson.

Members Absent: Don Castle, Patty Cosgrove, Brad Dillard, Charlotte Gibson, Mary Stammer.

Visitors and guests: Marge Selinger.

3. Minutes

The minutes for the meeting on December 20, 2006, were approved as presented.

4. Adoption of Meeting Agenda: J. Massie requested to remove, under item 5.5b, the Nomination to the Advisory Committee to the Director of Public Safety. P. Curkin moved to approve the agenda as amended; seconded by J. Massie. Motion carried.

5. Reports

5.1 Chair - None.

5.2 Board of Trustees - None.

5.3 Human Resources (HR) - None.

5.4 Representatives to University Committees

5.4a Traffic and Parking - To be rescheduled.

5.4b Search Committee for Director, International Programs and Services - Jacquie Scolari 
J. Scolari submitted the following report: The search committee for a new Director of International Programs has been dissolved, and the search closed/discontinued until the position description has been refined. At a future time, the search will be reopened.

5.5 Standing Committees

5.5a Executive Committee 
JP Dunn reported the committee met on January 11. Some minor changes were made to the minutes of December 20, as well as to the agenda for the January 17 meeting.

5.5b Committee on Committees - None.

5.5c Constituency Relations 
T. Ashner reported the deadline for Outstanding A/P Excellence Through Commitment Award nominations is January 22. The committee has not received any nominations to date. P. Curkin believes people are waiting until the due date because it takes time to put a nomination packet together. T. Ashner pointed out that there was a big push for nominations before the break; now, people are just getting back to campus, and she believes another push is needed. She asked Council members to remember to speak to the award process when they get a chance. She noted that when the Council was in charge of the award, the application deadline was around the end of February. In addition, she received a remark that submitting the materials electronically makes the nomination process cumbersome. She suggested the latter is something the Constituency Relations Committee could examine further. Council members questioned what would happen to the award if no nominations were received and the deadline was not extended. T. Ashner responded she assumes the decision would fall to the selection committee. That committee is scheduled to meet January 23.

5.6d Operating Paper 
C. Love reported the committee met with Student Affairs representatives P. Curkin and D. Castle and discussed revisions to the Operating Paper (included as an attachment to the agenda). It was decided to add the wording, "or a minimum of three representatives, whichever is more" to Section II.B Composition. However, after presenting the proposed change to the Executive Committee, a change was suggested to change "more" to "greater," which met with the Operating Paper Committee's approval. Another revision addressed by the Operating Paper Committee was to change "Student Affairs and Enrollment Management" to "Student Affairs." C. Love noted that the latter change is editorial and will be handled by the University's Document Editor. JP Dunn pointed out that this is the first reading of the proposed change, and a vote will be taken by the Council next month. H. Jung indicated she is comfortable with the change because it addresses the concerns of the Student Affairs representatives without disrupting the apportionment process.

5.6e Staff Benefits - No report.

5.6f Staff Welfare - No report.

6. Old Business - None.

7. New Business

7.1 Council volunteers were solicited to serve as members of the Ad Hoc Elections Committee. There was discussion about whether the election process should be delayed as a result of the pending Operating Paper change. It was decided the committee could still be formed and action taken once the outcome of the proposed change was known. The following individuals then volunteered to serve on the Ad Hoc Elections Committee: S. Rhoads (Academic Affairs), J. Massie (Student Affairs), D. Wilson (General) and A. Sutphin (Medicine). As Council Secretary, P. Cosgrove will serve as chair of the Ad Hoc Elections Committee.

7.2 C. Love reported that at the Executive Committee meeting, there was discussion about the lack of a process for connecting new A/P with the University or with established professionals on campus. There are departments that have no way to nurture new A/P to help them grow and develop as professionals. There is no mentoring of A/P to teach them the "ins and outs" or what to do if they have a problem. There is no networking with other new professionals on the campus. C. Love would like the Council to discuss ways to help new professionals get established and provide an opportunity to meet each other. He noted that this year, 45% of SIU employees will be eligible for retirement. What will happen to those new professionals that have no one else to use as mentors? H. Jung asked if C. Love is suggesting that the Council potentially offer this up as a service or to create/initiate those connections. C. Love responded that, yes, he would like to know Council members' thoughts about this. The consensus was that it was a wonderful idea, and P. Curkin suggested the Staff Welfare Committee could take on this initiative. JP Dunn noted that faculty have a mentoring system to help other faculty get on the right track so they can achieve tenure and learn how the SIU system works; A/P have no such system. P. Curkin believes anything that lends itself to retention of staff would be well received. C. Love indicated he feels very strongly about helping A/P to make connections. Many A/P begin looking for new jobs after the first year or first two years, and he does not want to see that happen.

S. Rhoads indicated that for social connections, the University Club offers some opportunity. She suggested the Club could have a once a semester event targeted at all A/P, particularly those that are new. M. Selinger indicated she is working with Mary Ann Osborne on the orientation program and how to make it better. After soliciting input from several people who had been through previous orientations, it was found that much of what C. Love is suggesting can be incorporated at the department level. Supervisors need to support new employees by making sure they are welcomed, that they learn the ropes and have someone to go to if they have questions. T. Ashner believes A/P do not get that kind of support because departments expect A/P to be self starters. P. Curkin pointed out that many departments are so small that when a new A/P is hired, they are not going to stop and have an orientation program for one person. M. Selinger noted that Human Resources used to hold a faculty and A/P orientation once a year, and it was more of a social event than it is currently. Orientation is now done weekly, combining all three classifications because they get more information that way. M. Selinger indicated new A/P are given some information on the Council at the orientation, and she tells them there is a phone number to call if they are interested in knowing more. C. Love believes a phone call and a card are nice, but a handshake and a face work the best because new A/P will make that connection.

After further discussion, P. Curkin moved that the A/P Staff Council direct the Staff Welfare Committee to come up with recommendations for an orientation program for new professionals; seconded by T. Ashner. Motion carried. T. Ashner suggested a list of new A/P over the last twelve months be provided to the Staff Welfare Committee. She believes if the Council has a good proposal, it could ask for additional funding to help with this initiative.

8. Announcements

8.1 M. Selinger announced that the performance evaluations for A/P should be out around the last week of January. There has been training for the new evaluation form, although Human Resources is not advocating use of the new form yet because changes are still being made. However, supervisors who have gone through the training and want to use the new form may do so.

8.2 C. Love announced that there is a new student welcome reception this evening for all new spring semester students.

9. Adjournment