Approved Minutes For Meeting On March 21, 2007

Date: March 21, 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, Don Castle, Patty Cosgrove, Paulette Curkin, Brad Dillard, JP Dunn, Jon Geiger, Gabriele Hoffmann, Heidi Jung, Cordy Love, John Massie, Karen Reynolds, Sandra Rhoads, Allison Sutphin, Donnell Wilson.

Members Absent: JP Dunn for Charlotte Gibson, Gabriele Hoffmann for Mary Stammer, Karen Reynolds for Don Patton.

Visitors and guests: Kyle Harfst, Terri Harfst, Marge Selinger.

3. Minutes

The minutes for the meeting on February 21, 2007, were approved as presented.

4. Adoption of Meeting Agenda: J. Massie requested to remove, under item 5.4e, the report on the Screening Committee for Director of Shryock Auditorium. P. Curkin moved to approve the agenda as amended; seconded by J. Geiger. Motion carried.

5. Reports

5.1 Chair 
JP Dunn reported for C. Gibson that she met with Interim Chancellor Dunn on March 8. It was reported that recent news releases indicate state universities are recommended to receive an increase in state dollars. Interim Chancellor Dunn believes this may help reduce the budget deficit. C. Gibson invited the Interim Chancellor to attend the April 18 Council meeting since the overall budget picture may be somewhat clearer. He tentatively agreed to approximately 2 p.m. The general concept of early retirement for faculty, staff and civil service employees is being studied by the administration as a way to reduce the budget deficit. This is in the very early stages of discussion. There was also discussion about the composition and duties of the newly formed Enrollment Committee. Various individuals around campus have been invited to form the nucleus of the committee. Members are being pulled from assorted constituencies, including alumni. Other individuals will be invited for additional subcommittees or focus groups as needed. C. Gibson also noted that the constituency heads meeting on March 16 was cancelled because of the NCAA Tournament.

5.2 Board of Trustees 
JP Dunn reported for C. Gibson on the February 28 Board meeting (see appendix).

5.3 Human Resources (HR) 
J. Geiger asked if staff have the option of using either the old or the new performance evaluation form. M. Selinger responded that the new form has not yet been approved, although it is being used. It is recommended that staff complete the training before using the new form.

5.4 Representatives to University Committees

5.4a Computing Advisory - Patty Cosgrove/Mike Cubley 
P. Cosgrove reported the committee met at Kevin Bame's (Executive Director of Finance) request to discuss the search for a new director of Information Technology, as Don Olson is retiring. He presented the committee with a draft of the advertisement and asked for input. Committee members provided input and requested that the minimum qualifications be changed from a bachelors degree with a masters preferred to a masters with a Ph.D preferred. There was discussion about how important the job is for the campus and also that constituencies needed to be represented on the search committee, which was not part of the original proposal. Several suggestions were given about where to place the advertisements, which included placing more ads online.

5.4b Chancellor's Advisory Review Board - Terri Harfst 
T. Harfst reported: Students found in violation and sanctioned under the Student Conduct Code by the office of Judicial Affairs may appeal their sanction. The appeals process at SIUC has two levels. The first level of appeal is either to the Provost (academic dishonesty) or the VC for Student Affairs (social misconduct). The second level of appeal is to the Chancellor's Advisory Review Board. Appeals may only be made to the Review Board if the sanction is either disciplinary suspension or disciplinary expulsion. T. Harfst reported that since August 2006, 11 appeals have been made to the Review Board. The Board's Executive Committee determines whether the petition has merit before it is brought before the full Board. The Executive Committee has recommended that 8 cases be upheld and the sanction applied. In one case, it was recommended that the Chancellor implement the sanction in a way that actually responded to what the student was seeking, and two cases were recommended for a full hearing. As a result of the hearing, one case was remanded for a re-hearing by Judicial Affairs; the sanction imposed on the other case was reduced from expulsion to a spring/summer suspension. The Review Board will continue to hear appeals throughout the spring semester as requested.

5.4c Search Committee, Dean of Education and Human Services - Tuesday Ashner 
T. Ashner reported the deadline for applications was March 16. She has reviewed the 14 applications received thus far. The committee was provided with a written tool with which to review each candidate. The next meeting will be March 23. T. Ashner noted that there are no internal candidates for the position at this time.

5.4d Search Committee, Director of Recreational Sports and Services - Kyle Harfst 
K. Harfst reported: Under the direction of Chair Lori Lynn Stettler, the search committee met for the first time on March 8. VC for Student Affairs Larry Dietz welcomed the group and provided an overview of the process. L. Stettler reviewed the job description and provided a candidate evaluation grid for all committee members. There have been 32 candidates to date, and 19 of the candidates have met the minimum acceptable qualifications. Committee members are in the process of reviewing the candidates and will meet March 23 to narrow the list of candidates. It is hoped that the 3-5 candidates selected for interviews will have campus interviews during the second week of April. As the application review will continue until the position is filled, the committee was encouraged to find additional good candidates, if appropriate.

5.5 Standing Committees

5.5a Executive Committee 
JP Dunn reported the committee met on March 8. No changes were made to the minutes of February 21, though there was some discussion about the roll call vote being included in the minutes (proper procedure).

5.5b Ad Hoc Elections 
P. Cosgrove reported the election ballots are due on April 2, and the committee will meet that day to finalize the results. She noted that extending the deadline for nominations worked out well because several nominations were received. There are seven candidates to fill four vacancies in Academic Affairs and three candidates to fill two vacancies in the School of Medicine. No elections are taking place in the General and Student Affairs sectors, as there are no openings. J. Geiger asked if the ballots are returned in a confidential manner. P. Cosgrove responded that some people tear off and return only the ballot while others return the complete form with their name still included. J. Geiger noted the ballot he received had his name on the reverse side of the actual ballot where it could not be removed. S. Rhoads indicated her ballot came the same way. It was noted that this was likely an error in duplication (not all of the ballots came out that way). It was also noted that the committee only receives the ballot portion (name removed) when the time comes to count, so the ballots remain anonymous.

5.5c Committee on Committees 
J. Massie presented for approval the nomination of Nancy Carr to serve on the Search Committee for Director of Information Technology. She is an assistant director of IT. Nomination was approved.

5.5d Constituency Relations 
T. Ashner reported the committee met and selected May 2 as the date for the spring constituency reception/meeting. It will be held at 3 p.m. in the Old Main Lounge. In addition to the welcome and comments by C. Gibson, Interim Chancellor Dunn has been invited to speak about the excellence of all A/P on campus. The 12 nominees for the outstanding A/P award and the 3 nominees for the A/P teaching support award will be honored at the reception.

5.6e Operating Paper 
C. Love reported the ballots for the proposed revisions to the Operating Paper have been returned and counted. There were 935 ballots mailed, and 94 were returned (10%). There were 84 "yes" votes, and 10 "no" votes. The Operating Paper change will now be forwarded to the Chancellor's office for final approval.

5.6f Staff Benefits 
P. Curkin reported the committee met and reviewed the numbers of A/P over the last few years. There has been some concern about the shifts in the sectors and about whether A/P numbers are dropping. As it turns out, overall A/P numbers are up. P. Curkin provided a breakdown of how the numbers have shifted over time. She noted that this past year, the General sector was hit the hardest in loss of positions (73) and now accounts for only 17% of all A/P. Student Affairs has dropped down to 11% after several years of being at around 15%. P. Curkin noted the figures do not include those people who have an academic appointment. G. Hoffmann pointed out the change in numbers is a result of people moving from one sector to another. P. Curkin agreed, noting the change in Student Affairs was likely a result of those people in Admissions and Financial Aid moving to Academic Affairs. D. Wilson indicated several A/P in the Center for Academic Success moved from General to Academic Affairs, which further increased that sector's numbers. B. Dillard noted that a few years ago, Touch of Nature moved from General to Academic Affairs. A suggestion was made to find out how the numbers break down with respect to term and continuing positions, grant funded positions, etc., by affected departments.

B. Dillard asked M. Selinger if she was surprised to find that A/P numbers are up. The discussion has always been that the Civil Service System was taking a stronger stance on the number of A/P positions, so the Council expected to see a decrease. M. Selinger responded that she was not very surprised at the numbers. Many technical positions convert to civil service because the System expanded their titles, but the others do not necessarily. She noted there are at least two or three new A/P positions [created] a month.

It was the consensus of the Council that the committee come back with more information on how the numbers break down within departments. M. Selinger suggested including how many are actually A/P positions in job content, are within two reporting levels of the Chancellor and also researcher positions because those positions are a little different than the others. P. Curkin indicated the committee will continue to gather information.

5.6g Staff Welfare - None.

6. Old Business

T. Ashner asked which committee was assigned the task of examining the issue of A/P mentoring. JP Dunn responded that Staff Welfare is working on developing a survey to send out to constituents. It is likely the committee will pass on the task of distributing the survey to next year's committee.

7. New Business - None.

8. Announcements - None.

9. Adjournment