Approved Minutes For Meeting on September 21, 2011

Date: September 21, 2011

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, Natalie Branca, Valerie Brooks, Steve Buhman, Janet Douglas, JP Dunn, Pat Eckert, Jon Geiger, Alfred Jackson Kathy Jones, Meredith Thomas, Amy Rose, Charlotte Sarao, Lori Stettler, Sue Tin, Gloria Yuncker.

Members Absent: Layla Murphy.

Visitors and Guests: Patty Cosgrove, Tracy Bennett, Cynthia Jenkins.

3. Minutes

The minutes of the meeting on August 17, 2011, were amended under 5.5c to delete the last sentence of the second paragraph. Minutes were approved as amended.

4. Adoption of Meeting Agenda: C. Sarao moved to adopt the agenda; seconded by L. Stettler. Motion carried.

5. Reports

5.1 Chair 
JP Dunn reported: i) the constituency heads met and spent most of the time discussing the operating and capital budgets, as well as the RAMP document. They also discussed the Board of Trustees meeting and the document the Chancellor distributed on the economic impact that SIU makes on the southern Illinois region; ii) he invited the Chancellor to attend the October Council meeting. He would like Council members to draft questions to ask her so he can give her an idea of the topics to be discussed.

5.2 Board of Trustees 
JP Dunn reported on the September 8 meeting, at which there was also discussion on the operating and capital budgets. Two of the Trustees, who are "watchdogs" for finances, objected to the salary increases for SIU Carbondale. They also opposed the salaries for the new associate counsel and general counsel, but those were approved. It was also reported that demolition of the parking garage is scheduled for December and that the new Student Services building will be a two-year project.

5.3 Human Resources (HR) 
T. Bennett reported: i) flu shots are scheduled for October 11 for people with last names beginning N-Z and October 21 for last names beginning A-M; ii) SURS counselors will be on campus October 11-13 to meet with individuals within four years of retirement. An open general session will be held on October 11; iii) the State Employees Combined Appeal (SECA) program has gone green, meaning there will be no more paper mailings. She has copies of the flyer to distribute, but the state is recommending that employees log on to the SECA website to make their contributions online.

5.4 Representatives to University Committees

5.4a Chancellor’s Advisory Review - Yvonne Spencer 
Y. Spencer submitted her written report (included as appendix 1 to the minutes).

5.4b Chancellor’s Planning and Budget Advisory 
P. Cosgrove presented and discussed her report (included as appendix 2 to the minutes). A. Jackson asked if there was much discussion about how [centralizing positions and hiring would affect other units]. P. Cosgrove responded there was not, other than a sharing of resources and centralization and decentralization. She indicated this campus is decentralized; there is a small central IT and many support staff all over campus. They want to do more sharing backup and likely less staff, but more coverage. There are so many departments and colleges that have little or no support.

5.5 Standing Committees

5.5a Executive Committee 
C. Sarao reported the committee met on September [6]. JP Dunn discussed the meetings he had attended.

5.5b Committee on Committees 
J. Geiger presented for approval the nominations for the Search Committee for Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement: Tuesday Ashner (Alumni Services); Steve Buhman (University Communications; and Kristine McGuire (SIU Foundation). Nominations were approved.

5.5c Constituency Relations 
M. Thomas reported the committee met last month to plan the fall constituency luncheon, which is scheduled for October 20. They are planning something different this year a trivia contest, with topics related to SIUC. She is in the process of collecting information for the questions.

5.5d Operating Paper 
K. Jones reported, based on research P. Eckert did on the A/P Council at the University of Illinois, the committee will research some other Illinois state institutions to see what those A/P councils are doing and how they function. The information from U of I showed some interesting differences, including their definition of membership. The committee can add this information to the research that has already been done on the history of sectors and the research on A/P categories and put it all together into a recommendation for the Council's consideration. Once there is agreement on the concept, they can move forward with amending the operating paper.

5.5e/f Staff Benefits/Staff Welfare 
C. Sarao handed out proposed wording for the merging of Staff Welfare and Staff Benefits into one committee. The change will be submitted for Council consideration through the Operating Paper Committee before a vote is taken by the constituency for approval. JP Dunn questioned whether a constituency vote on this issue should be taken in conjunction with the vote on the changes to be proposed by the Operating Paper Committee. C. Sarao did not see a problem with submitting the change for a constituency vote alongside the other changes, as it is so minor.

6. Old Business

JP Dunn reported he has not yet had a search committee request for the College of Agricultural Sciences; however, he was told that requests will be coming for representatives to serve on both the College of Education and Human Services interim dean search and the search for a permanent dean. The searches will be internal.

7. New Business

7.1 P. Eckert asked JP Dunn how he wanted to handle what Council members would like the Chancellor to talk about when she visits with them. JP Dunn responded that Council members can send him an email with topic ideas. P. Eckert indicated she would like to hear about the strategic planning process and how they are going to solicit input and keep people aware. If there are draft documents, how will they be available to the campus for review? P. Eckert pointed out that when the Chancellor distributed the report about SIUC's economic impact on the region, it came out around the same time as the fiscal report from the Higher Learning Commission. There were some interesting things in that document, including a draft of one of the lens committee reports, which she believes is a subcommittee of the Strategic Planning Committee. P. Eckert noted she has never seen a structure for the committee, though she may have missed seeing something. K. Jones mentioned that there is a website for the strategic planning process. She believes it is available to anyone who is interested in reading the report. JP Dunn believes the report is located off the Chancellor's web page. K. Jones indicated the Council should be able to get the report now that the retreat is over. JP Dunn noted that he can locate the website and send the link to Council members.

7.2 A. Jackson raised the issue of a possible faculty strike. JP Dunn recalled the last time a strike occurred, someone in administration talked to all A/P about the possibility of [sitting in] on classes. A. Jackson indicated he is hearing concerns not only from A/P, but from students. If a strike were to occur, who would teach courses? What is the plan for keeping classes [open]? Will the University close? C. Sarao responded that it is the responsibility of the employees who are not striking to cover classes, though obviously they cannot teach.

8. Announcements

<b?8.1< b="">T. Ashner announced that the University is going to allow alumni to keep their siu.edu email addresses in hopes of having better communication with them through their lifetime. People who have already graduated will be able to sign up for an siu.edu address, and the addresses of those current students will now be kept. K. Jones asked if it includes retired faculty and staff. P. Cosgrove responded that emeritus have always been able to keep their email address. T. Ashner clarified that this is for alumni who have graduated, not members of the association or, for example, someone who came for one semester and left.

8.2 JP Dunn announced that the new learning management system, Desire2Learn (D2L) has a component called E-Portfolio, which students can build over their careers at SIU. They will be able to retain access after graduation as well. Students will be able to show employers all the reports they have written and all their projects, whether in text, artwork, spreadsheets and whether or not they were created inside D2L. The system plans to go live in January.<b?8.3< b="">P. Eckert announced that Sandra Rhoads, Associate Director of Continuing Education, is retiring effective October 1. A retirement reception will be held for her on September 28. Also, Susan Coriasco from the Student Center is retiring this month. Her reception is scheduled for September 30.

9. Adjournment