Approved Minutes For Meeting On April 18, 2007

Date: April 18, 2007 

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, Phil Bankester, Don Castle, Patty Cosgrove, Paulette Curkin, JP Dunn, Jon Geiger, Charlotte Gibson, Gabriele Hoffmann, Heidi Jung, Cordy Love, Karen Reynolds, Sandra Rhoads, Allison Sutphin, Donnell Wilson.

Proxies: Paulette Curkin for John Massie, Gabriele Hoffmann for Mary Stammer.

Members Absent: Brad Dillard, Don Patton.

Visitors and guests: Phil Lindberg, Marge Selinger, Sally Shafto, Robert Sims.

3. Guest

Interim Chancellor Dunn thanked the Council for its contributions to the University, as well as the contributions of all A/P. He discussed several issues, including enrollment numbers; student accomplishments, both academic and athletic; the budget reduction scenarios; and the success of the Chancellor's Communique.

4. Minutes

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

5. Adoption of Meeting Agenda: Item 5.4a, the report by J. Massie on the Advisory Committee to Director of Public Safety, was removed from the agenda. That report will be rescheduled. P. Bankester moved to approve the agenda as amended; seconded by G. Hoffmann. Motion carried.

6. Reports

6.1 Chair 
C. Gibson reported there was no constituency heads meeting; however, she met individually with Interim Chancellor Dunn on February 13. Most of the discussion centered around the chancellor search and the candidates coming to campus. Interim Chancellor Dunn provided some insight about the various candidates, which helped her as a search committee member. Also discussed was his attendance at the upcoming A/P Staff Council meeting. He will discuss the current budget picture and answer questions about this and any other issues Council members might raise.

6.2 Board of Trustees 
C. Gibson reported on the April 12 meeting, noting that nothing of significance occurred during the committee meetings. At the formal Board meeting, President Poshard reported: i) on the State of the State address, at which he was present; ii) 52% of courses offered at the Lake County campus are taught by SIUC employees; iii) the state budget has recommended a 1.9% increase in funding for SIU; iv) $43 million has been recommended for the Transportation Center and an additional $14 million for SIUC library; v) an additional .5% increase may occur for education and nursing programs at four year institutions. Interim Chancellor Dunn reported: i) SIUC continues outreach to community colleges in the areas with the development of programs such as the recent agreement with SICCM on the Veterinary Tech program; ii) collaboration continues between School of Medicine and the SIUE Nursing program; iii) the new SIUC website is up and running as of April 12; iv) the Comprehensive Campaign is developing as planned, and the goal of $80 million will be reached. Of the $72 million collected so far, $14 million is in scholarships; v) two SIUC students were selected as recipients of the Goldwater Excellence in Education scholarship. Under the public comments section of the meeting, Residence Hall Association President Michael Shanks addressed the housing fee increase and what benefits residents will see with the additional funds, including maintenance, safety, and wage increase. Student John Dyer argued against the President's proposed new coal gasification plant, saying the plant would be detrimental to the environment. C. Gibson reported that all agenda items were approved.

6.3 Human Resources (HR) - None.

6.4 Representatives to University Committees

6.4a Chancellor Search Advisory - Charlotte Gibson 
C. Gibson reported that open forums will be held for the four candidates coming to campus, and their CVs are online. She commented that the search committee was disappointed with the search firm that was hired. She believes there were candidates the firm wanted to push forward, but the committee resisted. Of the approximately 23 candidates who applied, there were 3 or 4 that the firm actively pushed. J. Geiger questioned the use of a search firm in the future if the University is dissatisfied with their performance. C. Gibson responded that it would depend on which firm was being considered. She did not believe this firm was effective.

6.4b Representative to Graduate Council - Robert Sims 
R. Sims discussed his report on the committee's activities (included as appendix 1).

6.4c Advisory Committee to Director of Public Safety - To be rescheduled. 

6.4d Search Committee, Dean of Liberal Arts - Patty Cosgrove 
P. Cosgrove reported the search committee narrowed the pool of approximately 30 candidates down to 4. The committee processed the forms for request for on-campus interviews, and they have been approved. The first will be Alan Vaux on April 19-20. The other three candidates are scheduled throughout the next three weeks.

6.4e Search Committee for Director of Shryock Auditorium - Phil Lindberg 
P. Lindberg reported the deadline for applications was November 6, 2006, or until filled. Committee members received an invitation to participate from the Executive Director of Administration on December 18, 2006. Background information was provided on the candidates electronically during the Christmas holiday, and the committee began meeting during the first week of January 2007. The committee received information from 31 candidates. The job description eliminated a number of candidates because it required that the candidate have "at least five years experience as a director, assistant, associate, or business manager of a performing arts facility or arena facility, or comparable position." Many of the candidates met all of the requirements except for the years of direct management experience. Six candidates met the minimum requirements, and of those, two candidates accepted other positions during the process. Three candidates did not pass the reference check or did not provide the requisite letters on the second request. The committee was left with one viable candidate. The candidate was interviewed on campus on February 13, 2007, and was recommended to the Executive Director of Administration to be hired. The Executive Director negotiated with the candidate, and the position was offered to Bryan L. Rives (pronounced Reeves).

6.4f Intercollegiate Athletics Advisory - Jeff Goelz 
J. Goelz submitted a written report of the committee's activities (included as appendix 2).

6.5 Standing Committees

6.5a Executive Committee 
JP Dunn reported the committee met on April 5. Some minor changes were made to the minutes of March 21, as well as to the agenda for the April 18 meeting.

6.5b Ad Hoc Elections 
P. Cosgrove reported on the results of the spring elections (seeappendix 3). She noted there were seven candidates in Academic Affairs, and four were elected. School of Medicine had three candidates, and two were elected.

6.5c Committee on Committees - No report. 

6.5d Constituency Relations 
T. Ashner reported the spring constituency meeting is scheduled for May 2. Interim Chancellor Dunn will be the guest speaker. The theme for the meeting/reception is excellence of A/P. Flyers were mailed to the constituency, in addition to a notice going out on the listserv.

6.6e Operating Paper 
C. Love reported he is awaiting word regarding approval of the recent operating paper change.

6.6f Staff Benefits 
P. Curkin reported the committee is continuing to look into the numbers of A/P staff. She is working with M. Selinger to get numbers on staff who are on soft money, state dollars, etc. M. Selinger indicated what she sent to P. Curkin was a quarterly report that is sent to the Civil Service System on A/P positions. On the state money side, there are 762 A/P employees and 229 on soft money. There are 242 researchers on state money, and 103 who are on non-state. However, the numbers do not differentiate between those who have dual contracts (who are on both soft and state money). It is also unclear if chairs, deans and directors are included. P. Curkin indicated she will report back when she has a clearer understanding of the numbers.

6.6g Staff Welfare 
JP Dunn reported the committee will meet within the next week or two. They are working on the survey that will be sent out by next year's committee regarding orientation/mentoring of new A/P staff. D. Wilson also reported that he is the Staff Welfare representative on the A/P Judicial Review Board. That group met on March 22, and training was provided by Terry Huffman (Student Judicial Affairs). The JRB reviewed its operating papers, as well as the A/P Grievance Procedures. Officers were elected for the year: Carlos Del Rio was re-elected Chair, and Kim Sanders was elected Recorder. C. Del Rio discussed the possibility of creating a flow chart of the grievance procedures to make it easier to understand the process.

7. Old Business - None.

8. New Business

8.1 C. Gibson reminded committee chairs that they will need to have their final reports ready to present on May 16. In addition, election of officers will occur at the second May meeting. As Elections Committee chair, P. Cosgrove will conduct the election process. C. Gibson asked Council members to think about who they would like to serve as officers. She also reminded members to send a proxy if they will be unable to attend.

8.2 C. Love asked if the Council has representation on the director search for New Student Programs. P. Cosgrove responded that the Council was not contacted about sending a representative. It was suggested that C. Gibson look into the committee make-up and contact the office under which that committee falls (possibly the Provost's area).

8.3 P. Curkin commented that the Council used to participate in the new A/P orientation. She asked if there was still such a program. M. Selinger responded that there is no longer a yearly orientation; it is a combined A/P, faculty and civil service orientation that is done every week. P. Curkin suggested the possibility of planning a beginning of the year event for new A/P. C. Gibson responded that this issue may relate to what Staff Welfare is working on with respect to a mentoring system for A/P. It is unclear how involved A/P staff want to be in a mentoring system, and if there is interest, what kind of system it should be. These kinds of questions can be answered by the survey.

8.4 C. Gibson reminded Council members that there will be an orientation at the organizational meeting in May, which will consist of explaining the duties of the officers and standing committee chairs.

9. Announcements

C. Gibson announced that, in light of the Virginia Tech tragedy, the Council will send a letter of sympathy. She indicated that she, JP Dunn and P. Cosgrove will draft the letter.

10. Adjournment