April 4, 2013 Staff Senate Minutes

Meeting Date: April 4, 2013

Presiding Officer: Dixie Williams

Members in attendance: Dixie Williams, Andrea Weber, Scott Fiedler, Kelly Cara, Catherine Beck, Sandra Johnson, Teressa Arnette, Holly Robison, Erin Trotter, Steven Turner, Kirk Whittington, Matthew Stublefield, Yvette Medley, Gary Stafford, Kathy Gibson, Brenda Stewart, Ryan Reed, Sandra Arthur, Andrew Garton

Members Absent (Excused): Charles Schoneboom, Christina Bowles, Allison Overmyer

Members Absent (Unexcused): Corbin Campbell

Guests in Attendance: Sheila McCowns – Marketing Department, Janelle Melton – Honors College

Call to Order:

Meeting called to order at 11:05 am

Approval of Agenda:

Motion to approve, second. Agenda Approved with no changes.

Approval of Minutes:

Motion to approve, second. Minutes from March 2013 meeting approved with no changes.

Chair’s Report

  • HLC Report – Dr. Tammy Jahnke, Dean, College of Natural and Applied Sciences. Handouts were provided regarding the upcoming HLC visit. We are submitting a self – study in spring 2015 for a site visit in Fall 2015. These visits are every 10 years. We have received very positive reports in the past visits from the HLC. We need to recognize the things that we are doing really well, and places where there are weaknesses so we can work on them. Regarding the quality initiative project – non-academic units have not submitted much yet, so if your area has something that can be submitted contact Kelly Cara.

  • WIFI Update: About a year ago Staff Senate attempted to start a committee to propose wi-fi for campus. We can’t use the argument that faculty have it so we should get it too. It’s been discussed, and administration does not believe that argument is valid. We cannot justify that all staff need wi-fi to do their job. Clif will be talking with unit leaders to go back to their departments to investigate which staff may benefit from the use of wi-fi and they are encouraged to find a way to pay for it out of their budget. Goal will be to have 100% wi-fi coverage across campus within the next year. Currently you can’t access it everywhere on campus. $5.00/month doesn’t actually cover the expense of the equipment needed to provide access. Staff Senate Executive Board did discuss with Clif the fact that handheld devices are becoming extremely common and we need to be careful not to fall behind in technology compared to other campuses. Clif’s top priority is to provide raises for faculty and staff again in July 2013. It would be very difficult to do that and also provide free wi-fi for everyone, increase mileage rates, etc. Based on senator communication with their constituents, Yvette stated that one person has asked about wi-fi, but 100% are hoping for a raise in July.

Chair Elect’s Report

  • Lee Denim Day Report: There have been questions regarding how Lee uses the money we donate for Lee Denim Day. Andrea has contacted Lee, but she has not yet received a response. There will be a meeting soon where we will we determine if we will continue with this organization..

Secretary/Treasurer’s Report

  • Financial Report: Staff Senate operations budget: $281.21, Staff Activities budget $840.84. Foundation account balance will be reported under committee reports.
  • Senator Elections
    • Job family 1 - we have 4 candidates for 2 seats

    • Job family 2 – we have 2 candidates for 2 seats

    • Job Family 3 – No new candidates for 1 seat

    • Job Family 4 – 3 possible candidates for 1 seats

      Nominations will continue until the end of April. Elections will begin the first week in May. Scott has obtained access to the elections application, and has posted nomination materials to the Staff Senate blog.

       

  • Nominations for Officer positions will be accepted at the March & April meetings
    • Scott Fiedler nominated for Secretary/Treasurer
    • Ryan Reed nominated for Chair Elect
    • Andrew Garton – nominated for Chair Elect – declined the nomination

Director of Staff Relations Report

  • Please be spreading the word regarding the elections. Encourage others to run, or at least attend a meeting.
  • Membership and Elections
    • Anyone can self-nominate or nominate someone else, even if you are not currently a senator.

Committee Reports

  • Bylaws Committee – Kelly Cara
    • See New Business
  • Denim Day Committee – Andrea Weber
    • See Chair Elect Report
  • Public Affairs Committee – Gary Stafford
    • Relay for life coming up on April 19th. We are still accepting both team members and nominations. Ryan will shave his head if his group raises $100.00. There are currently 4 on the staff senate team. We are still hoping for additional members to join.
  • Public Relations Committee – Brenda Stewart

    • Meeting the next week to review a possible membership drive. Continuing to meet with new staff members at the Human Resources orientations.

  • Scholarship Committee – Andrew Garton
    • Andrew Garton: Staff Luncheon Monday, April 8th. 11am – 1pm. Comfort foods on the menu. $7.50 at the door,$6.35 if you have BoomerMeals. Flyers have been sent to all departments, faculty received emails, featured in Provost Communique. Cookbook sales and will have a donation bucket and can take online donations as well as payroll donation forms. Balance of scholarship fund is currently $2,659.08.
  • Staff Activities Committee – Chair Needed

    • Teressa Arnette: Bear Spangled Singers opted not to participate in the Cardinals Game because they didn’t want to have to sell tickets. They really just want to find opportunities to sing. We would like them to sing at the Luncheon on Monday, but they are not prepared to sing at that event. Tuesday, June 11th is staff appreciation night at Tent Theatre. 110 in the shade is the show. Starts at 8pm with light reception from 6-7:30pm.

  • Staff Excellence in Service Awards Committee – Matthew Stublefield
    • No report
  • MSU Administrative Professional Forum Committee – Sandy Johnson

    • Committee met March 20th and has 12 committee members. JB Hall volunteered as secretary. May 29th 11:30 – 1:00pm will be the first forum. Matthew Stubblefield will be the presenter – topic will relate to computer services – specifics will be determined and will include question and answer. Looking into a survey of admin professionals to see what topics they would like to see. They would like to provide snacks, but don’t have a budget to do so. Other topics are also being discussed. Next meeting April 17th.

Old Business

  • None

New Business

  • Minor Bylaw Change: reviewed a minor revision regarding nominations and elections. Matthew strongly supports striking staff at large being allowed to represent a job family they are not in. Since positions are for 3 years, we need to continue trying to find someone in that area. Motion to have position remain open until filled by someone in that job family. Second. Discussion – Dixie felt that if we do an exhaustive search and there is someone in a different job family who is willing to serve we should let them. It was suggested that we do allow someone from another job family to serve a term for one year. Good discussion on both sides of the issue. Motion to table the issue – second. Motion to table approved.
  • Need a motion to approve the current bylaw change as is until we can discuss it further – motion, second. Approved.

Announcements

  • None today

Adjournment:

Meeting adjourned at 12:00