Approved Minutes For Meeting On September 17, 2009

Date: September 17, 2008

Program:

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

2. Roll Call

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

Proxies: Dana McKenzie for Michael Cubley, JP Dunn for Heidi Jung.

Members Absent: Patty Cosgrove.

Visitors and Guests: Jake Baggott, Carl Ervin, Lance Irvin, Sarah Merideth, Deborah Olsterholm Jung, Amanda Phillips, Corne Prozesky, Marge Selinger, Todd Sigler.

3. Minutes

The minutes of the meeting on August 20, 2008, were approved as presented.

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

5. Reports

5.1 Chair 
D. Castle reported he was late because he just returned from a constituency heads luncheon with President Poshard. The constituency heads were provided with the proposed Sexual Harassment Policy and PowerPoint presentation on the same. The Council will be given an opportunity to review and react to the policy. There has been a committee on campus chaired by Michelle Miller that has existed for a couple of years. He believes they will take a new role in funneling the comments from the campus through that committee. The proposed policy was drafted by the Office of the General Counsel. He believes the University wants to create a policy that is up-to-date, concise and protects all the interests of the University. The Executive Committee discussed possibly using the Staff Welfare Committee to help deal with the policy internally should that be necessary. Also provided to the constituency heads were the President's goals for the year, as well as the University's goals. D. Castle indicated if anyone is interested in reviewing these, let him know and he will decide how best to share the information. It was also reported that the cycle for the RAMP process is ending this year, and a new process is being created. The term "RAMP" will likely not be heard again after this year. He was provided a draft of a document written by IBHE on how they set up their planning cycles. D. Castle noted he has not yet had an opportunity to read any of the materials, as they were just provided to him.

D. Castle also reported: i) at his State of the University address, Chancellor Goldman discussed enrollment. There are several issues on the table that impact enrollment. The Chancellor has been asking the constituency heads to be on board and help make these things happen as a University. D. Castle believes this is an issue the Council should be aware of and discuss should any issues come up from the A/P perspective regarding enrollment; ii) at the constituency heads meeting with the Chancellor, there was extensive discussion about the Sexual Harassment Policy and the cases on campus and what they might mean. D. Castle believes the University administration is taking the whole issue very seriously, from the Board of Trustees on down. They want consistent policies between this campus and Edwardsville, including the President's office; iii) the Chancellor provided some information on enrollment at other state universities, noting those institutions that have suffered enrollment drops as well, and SIU is not the worst; iv) he will attend a chancellor search retreat on September 22 at Touch of Nature that is being organized by Vice President Haller. They continue to call it the "quiet phase." The goal is to create a process that is welcoming and inviting to good candidates, as well as a process to identify who those people might be. This will likely continue until this time next year when the public search begins.

5.2 Board of Trustees 
D. Castle circulated the RAMP plan, the University's FY09 budget and the Board materials. At the Board meeting, an average 3% across-the-board raise was approved for staff. He would like to know if any staff member receives anything other than the 3%.

5.3 Human Resources (HR) - None.

5.4 Representatives to University Committees

5.4a Search Committee, Associate Vice Chancellor/Dean of Students - Corne Prozesky 
C. Prozesky reported the search committee screened 45 applications for the position. Reference checks were made, and four candidates were invited for interviews. One candidate withdrew because of health issues, and one accepted a vice presidency offer at another institution. The candidate offered the position was Dr. Peter Gital, who began on September 2, 2008.

5.4b Naming University Facilities - Sarah Meridetn 
S. Merideth reported the committee met once since her last report on May 28, 2008. A naming opportunity was presented, voted upon favorably and forwarded to Chancellor Goldman. The details of the naming request cannot be shared at this time, as final approval is still pending.

5.5 Standing Committees

5.5a Executive Committee 
S. Rhoads reported on the August 13 meeting: i) the minutes from the August 20 meeting, as well as the draft of the meeting agenda for September 17, were reviewed; ii) D. Castle reported that the constituency heads will review the University's Sexual Harassment Policy. The policy has been reviewed in the past few years, but no changes were made. Recent lawsuits have initiated this action. D. Hahn will contact Brent Patton (Labor Relations) to get a copy of the existing policy; iii) D. Castle reported that Chancellor Goldman would like SIUC faculty and staff to assume an active role solving problems that avoid stumbling blocks for students and may help in recruitment and retention; iv) the Board of Trustees will act on the 3% salary increase recommendation at its September meeting; v) guidelines for the annual honorary reserved parking space for the outstanding service recipients were included in a memo from Executive Director of Administration Cathy Hagler and were shared with the committee; vi) a new safety plan will be presented at the September Board meeting. Discussion took place regarding what policies the University has in place to protect staff from student harassment; vii) C. Coppie suggested adding a link to the SURS homepage on the A/P Staff Council's homepage; viii) S. Walters shared the fall constituency luncheon flyer and asked for donations for door prizes for that day.

5.5b Committee on Committees 
A. Sutphin presented for approval the nomination of Jake Baggott (Student Health Center) to the SURS Members Advisory Committee; and Pat Eckert (Continuing Education) for the Honorary Degrees and Distinguished Service Award Selection Committee. Nominations were approved.

5.5c Constituency Relations 
S. Walters reported the flyer for the luncheon was e-mailed to the constituency. She thanked R. Sievers for putting the flyer together. The committee is looking for door prizes for the luncheon and would appreciate any suggestions or ideas.

5.5d Operating Paper - None.

5.5e Staff Benefits 
D. Hahn reported the committee has not yet met formally, but he hopes to get a meeting together shortly. In the meantime, he has been following up on some of the issues he would like the committee to pursue. At the Executive Committee meeting, there was discussion about the Sexual Harassment Policy. He distributed copies of pages from the Affirmative Action website, noting there are links for policies, procedures and resources guides on sexual harassment.

5.5f Staff Welfare 
C. Coppi reported that when the committee shared its goals for the year, it was suggested the Council include a link on its website to the SURS newsletter. However, at the Executive Committee meeting, the suggestion was made to link to the SURS website itself, as it has much information that is beneficial for all staff. The new link can be found on the Council's website under "Additional Resources."

6. Old Business

6.1 D. Castle reported that the Ad Hoc Website Committee has completed its task and is being dissolved.

6.2 D. Hahn asked if A/P staff will be represented on the committee reviewing the Sexual Harassment Policy. D. Castle responded that the committee is already in place and has been on campus for a couple of years. The Council will have an opportunity to provide input, as will constituents. When he gets clearer guidance, the draft will go to Staff Welfare, who can then decide how to bring it to the Council for discussion. D. Castle noted he is not sure whether the Council will control giving it to the constituents; it may be done campus-wide. The policy has been written from the University's perspective; however, [employees] have rights that are outside the University's policy, so the question will be how far does the University write a policy that [impacts employees]. [General Counsel's] goal is to write a policy that positions the University in the best light in terms of legal issues, due process, etc. Consequently, it is very much a University policy. D. Castle noted he is unclear [whether other types of harassment are being addressed]. T. Sigler mentioned that there is a Workplace Violence Policy [https://policies.siu.edu/policies/workplaceviolence.php]. D. Castle suggested this could be an issue to bring forth to educate staff. With respect to the proposed Sexual Harassment Policy, he believes that recent cases, time, case law, and issues that were unclear seem to be pushing the changes in the policy. There is also a perception that people are not properly trained in the policy, both here and at Edwardsville. There needs to be a structure in place so people are aware of how to handle these types of issues. D. Hahn asked if there have ever been training workshops on how to deal with sexual harassment. M. Selinger responded that several years back, supervisors used to receive training. In the new employee orientation, employees are made aware of where to go for help.

7. New Business

D. Hahn asked M. Selinger if the current negotiations [with AFSCME] will affect A/P staff. M. Selinger responded that they do not.

8. Announcements

D. Castle reported that President Poshard mentioned at the Board of Trustees meeting and again at the constituency luncheon the potential for a rescission. There is 2.8% of new money in the University's budget this year, but the state has not yet balanced its budget, and the deficit is approximately $1.4 billion. The Governor's office has instructed universities to hold back money, which translates into 2% for each campus, should there be a rescission later in the fiscal year.

9. Adjournment