Approved Minutes For Meeting April 21, 2010

Date: April 21, 2010

Program:

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

2. Roll Call

Members Present: Tuesday Ashner, Jake Baggott, Natalie Branca, Janet Douglas, JP Dunn, Pat Eckert, Jon Geiger, Barbara Lokaitis, Dana McKenzie, Layla Murphy, Amy Rose, Rod Sievers, Sue Tin, Sharon Walters, Gloria Yuncker.

Members Absent: Carla Coppi.

Proxies: Janet Douglas for Steve Buhman; Barbara Lokaitis for Barbara Nowack; Rod Sievers for Mike Reiman; Sharon Walters for Vern Goode.

Visitors and Guests: Tracy Bennett, Patty Cosgrove, Don Laur, Kevin Lister, Lori Stettler.

3. Minutes

The minutes of the meeting on March 17, 2010, were approved as presented.

4. Adoption of Meeting Agenda: Adoption of Meeting Agenda: R. Sievers moved to adopt the agenda; seconded by J. Geiger. Motion carried.

5. Reports

5.1 Chair 
JP Dunn reported that he was not invited to attend the constituency heads meeting, though J. Baggott was there. J. Baggott reported that there was not anything reported that has not already been widely distributed at this point. The challenges of the budget were discussed at length, and there was some very preliminary discussion about some of the planning taking place.

5.2 Board of Trustees 
JP Dunn reported: i) several items were introduced that will be voted on in May, including the 0% tuition increase (favored by the Board and the student groups) and several fee increases, many which did not please the Board. Trustee Bonan asked both chancellors to write a justification for all the fee increases and how that money would be spent. With respect to the 0% tuition increase, several Board members and the undergraduate student constituent head noted what an historic moment it would be for the University to not raise tuition. They claim tuition has gone up 110% since 1999; ii) it was reported [all the curriculum] for the new nursing program will be taught on this campus. Also, the SIUE School of Nursing was awarded a $500,000 federal grant to get started; iii) the Board approved renaming the SimmonsCooper Cancer Institute the Simmons Cancer Institute; iv) the MAP grant is in place for fall. It was increased by approximately $5 million, mostly as a result of the student voices heard in Springfield; v) the pension bill (SB1946) was approved, which changes the retirement age and pension benefits for new employees. This change is expected to put $500 million back into the state coffers. The bill has been signed by the Governor, but changes to it are already being made; vi) during the public comment portion of the meeting, Undergraduate Student Government President Priciliano Fabian discussed his Habitat for Humanity trip over spring break and announced his intention to run for re-election. There was also a student who commented about the resignation of a faculty member in the College of Agricultural Sciences. The Board appeared displeased to hear the comments. Upon the Chancellor's return to campus, a meeting was immediately scheduled between the Chancellor, the interim dean of the college and the student [group].JP Dunn reported hearing second-hand that a comment was made in Deans Council regarding the possibility of a 5% budget cut in FY11, which is lower than was suspected. If that were to happen, then layoffs and furloughs would not have to occur. J. Baggott responded that there are several plans floating around. There is nothing final, but much is being done to avoid layoffs and furloughs. It will depend on how [collective bargaining] negotiations go once those are underway and, of course, what the Civil Service Rules will permit. At this time, those rules have not been changed to permit or make clear that furloughs can actually be implemented. He hopes [employees] will see something soon that will clarify some of those questions. JP Dunn pointed out that the SUAA website has a calculator for determining what affect furloughs would have on a person's salary and retirement. T. Ashner asked if term A/P would be expected to take furloughs. T. Bennett responded that her understanding is, should furloughs be implemented, they would be based on the line from which the staff member was being paid--whether from state or non-state dollars. She believes there would be more of an impact on a [continuing versus a term] appointment. Her understanding in the beginning was that those people on grants could continue to be paid, though nothing has been decided. JP Dunn noted that President Poshard's comment is that he would like to keep everyone in the boat, but everyone will be rowing.P. Eckert noted that a few Council meetings back, the Council discussed the status of the Chancellor's Planning and Budget Advisory Committee and whether it has continued to meet. She asked if there has been any discussion as to whether it would be helpful to bring that group back. JP Dunn believes the committee will be revived when Chancellor-Designate Cheng is fully on campus. J. Baggott added that the President stated at the Board meeting that R. Cheng will be making the decisions regarding next year's budget. He (J. Baggott) is aware that she has an interest in a group like that and suspects there will be a continuation of something [along those lines]. She is also interested in constituency participation on such a committee. JP Dunn noted that R. Cheng attended last month's Board meeting, and he was able to meet briefly with her.

5.3 Human Resources (HR) - None.

5.4 Representatives to University Committees

5.4a Intercollegiate Athletics Advisory - Todd Sigler 
T. Sigler presented his report (included as appendix 1 to the minutes).

5.4b Patty Cosgrove, Don Laur 

P. Cosgrove presented their report (included as appendix 2 to the minutes). She discussed the McAfee problem that occurred this morning with the installation of that software's latest update. IT recommends shutting off the automatic updates for now. P. Cosgrove indicated that IT had planned to upgrade all their computers to Windows 7 in the summer, but instead will be doing it now. McAfee has a workaround they are suggesting which will suppress the detection, though IT is recommending [the campus] not use that workaround because they are developing their own. D. Laur indicated that the McAfee update is basically giving a false positive, meaning it is more a coding error (bug) rather than a virus, which is causing the deletion of some system files. P. Cosgrove reiterated that IT is working on the issue. She went on to report that the committee is becoming more active, so if anyone has any issues they would like she or D. Laur to raise at the meetings, let them know. JP Dunn commented that he saw something on the news about the fact that new copy machines now have hard drives that store images of every document copied [or faxed]. The news organization purchased 30 to 50 copy machines wholesale and found documents from government and insurance agencies that ranged from credit cards to medical records. JP Dunn suggested that the hard drives from the copy machines on campus should be pulled and scrubbed. P. Cosgrove responded that most of the copy machines on campus are leased, so [the University] does not get into them. She suggested that this is something of which Purchasing needs to be aware when they develop the lease agreements, and it may be something they will need to add.

5.4c Naming University Facilities - Kevin Lister 

K. Lister presented his report (included as appendix 3 to the minutes). He noted that the committee forwards its recommendations to the Chancellor, who then approves them and forwards them to the President's office for final approval. T. Ashner asked if people have to make a certain donation (other than for the honorific ones) in order to [have their names attached to a room or building]. K. Lister responded that there are parameters set, usually 51% of the cost. Also, [the requesters] not only have to make the donation level, but they would have to be approved by the committee. For example, the four that were named for athletes each had to hit a certain level; then, Athletics had to agree to the naming. Therefore, unless both criteria are met, the recommendations cannot be passed on to the Chancellor.

5.4d Chancellor's Advisory Review - Lori Stettler 

L. Stettler presented her report (included as appendix 4 to the minutes), noting the committee met 3 times this year and heard 5 cases, as opposed to 17 last year. All appeals--which [this year] centered around everything from fraud to firearms possession in a residence hall, to alcohol and alleged sexual assault--were based on the grounds that sanctions were excessively severe. L. Stettler also reported that there will be two faculty members, the student representative and herself as the A/P representative who will be leaving the committee this year. [Only] the civil service representative is continuing, so there will be a completely new board next year.5.4e Traffic Appeals Board - Tom Furby 

T. Furby submitted his written report (included as appendix 5 to the minutes).

5.5 Standing Committees

5.5a Executive Committee 
J. Geiger reported the committee met to set the agenda. Also at the meeting: i) JP Dunn reported that all the fee increases at Edwardsville were approved by the students (and met with no opposition from the Board). JP Dunn added that the only fee on this campus that undergraduate students approved (but the graduate students did not) was the mass transit increase; ii) it was reported that SIU has only received 41% of its appropriations so far this year and that the Saluki Way project is going well; iii) it was noted that final reports from the committees are due for the May meeting; iv) it was announced by C. Coppi that at least 50 students from India had applied during the past week. Out of state interest is also up, especially in those border states that now have in-state tuition. There have been many visitors on campus, and applications are up; vi) the possibility of textbook rentals on a limited basis for a select few core course classes has been discussed [and at this time has been implemented].

5.5b Ad Hoc Elections Committee 
JP Dunn reported that the elections in the Academic Affairs and Student Affairs sectors are complete. The results are included as appendix 6 to the minutes.

5.5c Committee on Committees - None.

5.5d Constituency Relations 
A. Rose reported the spring reception to honor the recipient of the A/P outstanding service award is scheduled for April 28 in the Old Main Lounge.5.5e Operating Paper 
R. Sievers recalled that at last month's Council meeting, it was decided to approach the School of Medicine issue from a different perspective, as there was some objection to the original proposal. The committee reviewed the wording and is now presenting an alternate version for approval (included as an attachment to the agenda). He explained that the School of Medicine would have one elected representative from the Carbondale campus and one ex officiorepresentative from the Springfield campus who would be appointed by the latter group. R. Sievers also reported that the committee reviewed, at T. Ashner's suggestion, the sector makeup. They looked back at the membership totals in the General sector and found, for example, in Institutional Advancement there are only 33 A/P members. Athletics has 68 A/P; Administration and Finance has 31. He noted that there are several small areas that make up the General sector. It appears to the committee that if each one of these areas had its own sector, it could be a disadvantage. The committee therefore decided to leave that issue to be raised by another [committee] at another time.JP Dunn indicated he did receive comment from some in Springfield regarding their representation. There is some concern that the termex officio would mean non-voting, which he believes should be removed. S. Tin reported that Mary Aiello of the Springfield A/P Council, as well as Karen Reynolds, a former member of both the Carbondale and Springfield Councils, believe the wording should specify that the ex officio member would have full voting rights and all rights afforded to the other members. R. Sievers did not believe it was the intent of the committee that the Springfield member would have voting rights. He asked if the Carbondale representative to the Springfield Council has voting rights. S. Tin responded that the Carbondale person does indeed have voting rights. T. Ashner pointed out that the person is not from the Carbondale Council but from the School of Medicine. S. Tin acknowledged that is correct. She noted that Robert's Rules of Order, new and revised, clarifies that the termex officio denotes "only how one becomes a member of a group, not what one's rights are. It is a method of sitting on a committee, not a class of membership. Frequently, ex officio members will abstain from voting, but unless bylaws constrain their rights they are afforded the same rights as other members, including debate, making formal motions and voting." K. Reynolds strongly believes that the Springfield member should have voting rights, and in fact all rights afforded to other members. J. Baggott commented that one of the things that brought this original discussion up is the fact that the A/P representatives from Springfield were voting on policies that affected only the Carbondale campus. He questioned whether that is still the perspective and intent.R. Sievers suggested striking "ex officio" and adding "appoint one non-voting member" to the Carbondale Council. S. Tin responded that what they in Springfield want are full voting rights and that it be specified so that there is no misunderstanding that the ex officiomember has full rights (the same as the representative from Carbondale). R. Sievers asked if there should not be some kind of reciprocal arrangement, then, from the Council in Springfield. The representatives in Springfield agreed. B. Lokaitis believes the whole idea of having representation was so there would be one person who basically sat on both councils. That person could act as a liaison between the two so that everyone knows what is occurring at both places. She does not believe the Springfield members are looking for an additional person, but only to keep the lines of communication open between the A/P here and the A/P there. J. Baggott asked how that would relate to voting. B. Lokaitis responded that the person would [vote in both places]. R. Sievers asked from which campus the person would come. B. Lokaitis responded the person would have to be from Springfield because that is the way they get representation there. R. Sievers asked if that would mean there would no longer be a need for a representative from the Carbondale campus. J. Baggott believes that there may be two different sets of issues; there may be an issue that affects the Carbondale-assigned School of Medicine employees, but does not affect those in Springfield. One of the discussion points early on was whether the Springfield voting members from the School of Medicine have too much influence over the policy of the Carbondale campus. Restricting [voting representation] to a smaller number would mute that concern. R. Sievers asked what the Springfield representatives would suggest for the proposed change on item II.B.2. There was agreement that simply removing the words "ex officio" would address the concern. R. Sievers asked if the person would be appointed or elected by Springfield. The current language states that it would be an appointment. B. Lokaitis responded that, in her opinion, someone elected to their Council could be appointed to serve on the Carbondale Council.R. Sievers noted that the final version of the proposed changes will be brought back to the Council for a vote in May. These changes, along with the one on term limits that was approved last month, will be sent to the constituency for a vote and then forwarded to the Chancellor for final approval.

5.5f Staff Benefits 
S. Walters reported committee members will meet in the next two weeks to review their goals.

5.5g Staff Welfare 
JP Dunn (for C. Coppi) reported: The committee revised its FY10 goals at its March meeting. C. Coppi is in the process of writing the final report for presentation at the May Council meeting. All committee members agreed that the goals set forth last August were achieved. Hopefully, all Council members had the opportunity to read JP Dunn's interview in Saluki Times two weeks ago. The interview was an additional way the Staff Welfare Committee initiated to publicize the Council.JP Dunn reported the Judicial Review Board (JRB) met to conduct its training for the year and also elected officers. Tena Bennett (Student Center) was elected Secretary; Amanda Phillips (Student Development) is chair-elect; and he was elected chair. These offices are current until July 1, [2010], at which time A. Phillips will become chair. The Board will then need to meet and elect a Secretary and Chair-Elect for the upcoming fiscal year. JP Dunn noted that there have been no cases.

6. Old Business - None.

7. New Business

JP Dunn reminded Council committee chairs that final reports are due at the May 19 meeting. It was also noted that at the second meeting on May 19, election of officers for 2010-2011 will take place.

8. Announcements - None.

9. Adjournment