Approved Minutes For Meeting On August 20, 2008 | Administrative Professional Staff Council | SIU

Date: August 20, 2008

Program:

2. Roll Call

Members Present: Phil Bankester, Don Castle, Carla Coppi, Patty Cosgrove, Michael Cubley, Jon Geiger, Dave Hahn, Gabriele Hoffmann, Barbara Cray Lokaitis, Dana McKenzie, Barbara Nowack, Sandra Rhoads, Amy Rose, Rod Sievers, Mary Stammer, Allison Sutphin, Sharon Walters.

Proxies: JP Dunn for Heidi Jung, Patty Cosgrove for Mike Reiman.

Visitors and Guests: John Massie.

3. Minutes

The minutes of the meeting on July 16, 2008, were approved as presented.

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

5. Reports

5.1 Chair 
D. Castle reported: i) he received a request from the Chancellor to submit the Council's recommendation for the 3% salary increase. Staff Benefits was charged with coming up with a recommendation, which was approved by the A/P Staff Council Executive Committee and forwarded on to the Chancellor (see appendix 1). It is likely the salary increases will be approved at the September Board of Trustees meeting. D. Hahn noted that the Staff Benefits Committee believes that merit would be justified if the amount had been more; ii) a two-year window has been identified for the chancellor search. The search committee is working on expanding the pool of candidates and determining who might be appropriate candidates to seek out.

D. Castle reported there has been a lot of open dialog in the constituency heads meetings. Some issues raised at the recent constituency heads meeting included: i) discussion of the conflict of interest policies and how they are affecting civil service staff at Springfield, in particular. There are some staff who hold a second job, and the concern is that supervisors could be arbitrary with employees for approval. It was noted that the ethics legislation supercedes the conflict of interest policy, so there is ongoing dialog about how that [legislation] is being implemented. Anyone who has had to deal with this issue should let him know; ii) there was discussion on the impact of Seymour Bryson's retirement. The Chancellor has appointed an advisory group to help him redesign those areas for which S. Bryson was responsible. S. Bryson will work with Harold Bardo on fund raising for minority scholarships, as well as be the University's liaison to the Black Caucus; iii) electrical issues and recent power outages on campus were discussed. P. Cosgrove noted a new generator is being purchased for IT for backup power; iv) some of the projects related to Saluki Way are getting underway. The bulk of the funding is in place, and it is hoped that progress will generate positive results with respect to funding. Chancellor Goldman is looking to the constituency groups to help generate positive attitudes about the improvements under Saluki Way.

5.2 Board of Trustees - None.

5.3 Human Resources (HR) - None.

5.4 Representatives to University Committees

Advisory Cmt to Director of Public Safety - John Massie 
J. Massie reported: i) the emergency notification system is up. Sign-up is through a web-based portal. Options for receiving notifications include text messages, e-mail and pagers. Emergency notifications will include NOA weather alerts; ii) the Department of Public Safety (DPS) assumed operation of the Night Safety Transit in fall 2007. It operates from 6PM to 11:30PM Sunday through Friday. Vehicles are driven by Saluki Patrol personnel. Males are currently 45% of the riders, and the average wait time is 10 minutes; iii) DPS personnel provided 157 crime prevention programs to more than 10,000 persons. Crime Index/Crime Rate Comparison information for 2007/2006 was distributed (seeappendix 2). It was reported that the Governors formed a Campus Life and Safety Task Force and met for the first time in early spring at Illinois State University. They created a Campus Life and Safety Team, which is a joint effort between Student Affairs and Academic Affairs, and they meet each Monday to discuss problems from the weekend in the community and on campus; iv) with respect to parking, it was reported that: a) the lighting project in Lot 94 (Recreation Center) is complete; b) Parking purchased a street sweeper; c) the Lincoln and Douglas Drive intersection was reinforced; and d) Parking fees have increased.

5.5 Standing Committees

5.5a Executive Committee 
S. Rhoads reported the committee met on August 13 and reviewed the minutes from the July 16 meeting, as well as the draft of the meeting agenda for August 20. She indicated that since the remainder of her report centered on issues coming from the standing committees, she would defer the remainder of her report to those committees. D. Castle pointed out that in his report earlier, he stated the Executive Committee approved the salary increase recommendation submitted by the Staff Benefits Committee. He indicated he would entertain a motion to ratify/approve the recommendation that was submitted. P. Bankester so moved; seconded by J. Geiger. Motion carried.

5.5b Committee on Committees 
A. Sutphin reported the committee met once and had discussion via e-mail. During the meeting, there were several suggestions for possibly improving attendance of those A/P representatives who are asked to report. One suggestion was to revise the letter that is sent to them; the second was to develop a talking points sheet and call those individuals who agree to serve to remind them of their responsibilities. A third suggestion was--in addition to the letter that goes out reminding representatives that they have a report to give to perhaps have the vice chair call them and give them a verbal reminder as well. A. Sutphin also reported that a suggestion was made to [place a term of two years for the Chancellor's Planning and Budget Advisory Council (it had previously been an open term).

A. Sutphin presented for approval the University committee recommendations (included as appendix 3 to these minutes).University Committee assignments were approved. S. Rhoads asked if those committee representatives whose terms are up receive a letter of notification (they do).

5.5c Constituency Relations 
S. Walters reported the committee met and formulated its goals. In addition, committee members scheduled the fall luncheon for October 8. Dale Lennon, the new football coach, will be the guest speaker. It was also suggested to revise the flyer to emphasize that those who reserve and then are unable to attend should contact the Constituencies Office by a certain date. There was also a suggestion to provide door prizes.

5.5d Operating Paper 
M. Cubley reported the committee met and formulated its goals. Committee members also would like to reformat the Operating Paper document itself to make it easier to navigate.

5.5e Staff Benefits 
D. Hahn reported the committee made its recommendation on the 3% salary increase. In addition, members discussed continuing versus term contracts (a carry-over issue from last year). In the University's Policies and Procedures, it states that if a staff member is on the same term appointment for more than three years, that person should be moved to a continuing contract the exception being if funding is not available. M. Selinger reviewed the policy, "Conversion of Term to Continuing Administrative/Professional Appointment" (found on the web at: https://policies.siu.edu/personnel-policies/chapter2/ch2-faps/converap.php). She explained that normally once a year, she sends out a letter to all those staff (and their supervisors) who meet the three year criteria. The letter is sent only once and is not recurring each year. M. Selinger reported she sent out 30 letters in January. There were 5 researchers; 5 assistant coaches; and 20 A/P positions subject to job content, meaning the position has a salary level and position description. All were returned but one, and nine staff were approved. She noted that it is the best number she has had thus far. D. Hahn asked if there is any way to verify if a department states it has no recurring dollars. M. Selinger responded that supervisors are not required to give verification. She added that most of the staff who receive the letter are on grants. She believes part of the problem is that it has always been done that way, i.e., if someone is on a grant position, s/he is not likely to be put on a continuing contact. She is seeing a change, however, where researchers are being placed on continuing contacts. She believes people are becoming more aware of the policy. D. Hahn asked what recourse a staff member has if s/he believes there is money available, but the supervisor states there is not. D. Castle responded that if a department is not following the policy, the staff person can file a grievance.

D. Castle asked M. Selinger if there is a probationary period for new A/P staff hired on a continuing contract. M. Selinger responded there is no probationary period on any A/P contract, and she does not believe there has ever been. D. Castle indicated he has heard that a new employee hired on a continuing contract can be terminated after six months if [their department] determines the person is not working out. M. Selinger responded that a person can be hired on a continuing contract; however, if there is a stated reason (performance or financial), then the person can be put on a term contract the first year and the second and subsequent years be put on a year's contract. That is not the same as probationary. D. Castle indicated if a person is hired on a continuing contract, there is still a chance that the department could terminate employment in six months. M. Selinger responded that HR does not look at it as probationary; [the department is only stating] that the person is not fulfilling her/his job for whatever reason and so is being placed on a term contract. D. Castle indicated he is aware that some departments hire people on term contracts and tell them they will change the contract in a year to see if they work out. The University has a policy to accommodate that on a continuing contract, but there is a six-month window in which they could be let go without having to give a year's notice. M. Selinger responded that most of those she sees go from continuing to term are usually definite performance problems. She receives very few people who go from continuing to term and does not believe it is a common practice. D. Hahn noted that the major concern between continuing and term is the fact that within the retirement system, a person is allowed to carry 'x" days of vacation and sick leave toward retirement; in term contracts, they are use or lose. He indicated the committee will continue to look into that issue. J. Geiger asked if there is anyone who has been on continuing that is grant funded. M. Selinger responded that there are; and she is seeing more of that, which she believes is encouraging. She is aware of staff who are on large grants who are term and have been year after year. She pointed out that a person can be placed on a continuing contract that stipulates that if the grant goes away, then the contract reverts to a term appointment. Departments are concerned about having to use their state money to fund the continuing contract should the grant go away; so adding that stipulation alleviates the problem.

5.5f Staff Welfare 
C. Coppi reported she is acting chair while H. Jung is on maternity leave. The committee met and finalized its goals. She reviewed the goals, noting that P. Bankester was appointed to the Judicial Review Board. She also indicated that the committee would like a link added to the Council's website for the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) newsletter. It is full of information, including legislative updates, the status of stock investments and other news of which employees need to stay aware. C. Coppi also reported that JP Dunn has begun the review of all the survey information that was returned, and those results will be provided to the Council soon.

6. Old Business

6.1 D. Castle presented for approval the FY09 Goals and Objectives (included with the agenda). JP Dunn moved for approval; seconded by G. Hoffmann. Motion carried.

6.2 D. Castle reported the Council's website will incorporate the link for the SURS newsletter, as suggested by the Staff Welfare Committee.

7. New Business - None.

8. Announcements

M. Cubley announced that freshman numbers are up, but transfer numbers are down. It is suspected that transfer numbers are down because of the push of the 2+2 program (students attend community colleges for two years, then come to SIUC and complete the remaining two years).

9. Adjournment