April 1, 2004 Minutes

1. Call to Order - A regular meeting of the Staff Senate of Missouri State University was called to order at Plaster Student Union, Room 313 at 1:30 p.m.

2. Roll Call -

Present - Sherry Adams, Patrick Byers, Allison Crocker, Norm Griffith, Phyllis Kenney, Cheryl Pawling, Scott Walker, Tami Sutton, Veronica Adinegara, Mike Clark, Earle Doman, LaDonna Hansen, Monya McMichael, Marline Ritter, Phil Nichols, Lisa McEowen-LeVangie, Ben Boslaugh, Sara Clark, Cynthia Giacin, Tara Horton, Steve Mills, Chris Strodtman, Diana Garland, Lois Shufeldt (Faculty Senate)

Absent - Belinda Davis, Antoinette Foster (SGA), David Liss, D. Lynn Singleton

Guests - Sheila Ponder, Mary Barb, Janet Wright, David Liss, D. Lynn Singleton

Phil Nichols, Chairperson, presided and Tami Sutton recorded the proceedings of the meeting.

3. Guest Speaker - Due to time constraints, Dr. Jim Baker, Assistant to the President, rescheduled his long-range plan presentation to the May Staff Senate meeting.

4. Announcements - Lisa McEowen-LeVangie reminded the senators about the long-range plan open forums that are being held once a month. The open forum dates can be found on the master calendar. Additional information about the long-range plan can be accessed online through the Missouri State homepage. Everyone is encouraged to get involved in the process.

Sara Clark announced that the Board of Governors" agenda and minutes can now be found online.

5. Introduction of Senators - All senators introduced themselves.

6. Approval of Minutes - The minutes of the open, regular meeting of March 4, 2004 were approved.

7. Report from the Chair - Phil Nichols - Phil reported that a wreath would be placed in the memorial garden just outside of the Plaster Student Union in remembrance of Kenneth Thompson.

Phil referenced President Keiser's letter of March 24, 2004 to Dr. Barbara Burns, President of the Board of Governors. He indicated the letter outlined options for the additional $2 increase to the student fees to retain the dental plan. The fee increase was approved by the Board of Governors during the March 30, 2004 conference call meeting.

Phil reported that he had asked Bob Barnett to replace Chris Arney as the Staff Senate representative on the Equal Opportunity Advisory Committee. Bob has agreed to fill the vacant seat left by Chris who is leaving the University.

Phil gave an update from the March Board of Governors" Meeting. He made reference at that time to the letter that was sent to Governor Franks regarding the Presidential Search Criteria and Timeline. There was an at-length discussion later in the meeting regarding this letter.

Phil reported that he had been appointed to the Salaries & Compensation System Task Force. This task force will develop the Human Resources chapter for the new long-range plan. This will be the first time that a Human Resources chapter will be included in the long-range plan.

8. Committee Reports -

Budget and Priorities, Lisa McEowen-LeVangie-Chair - Lisa McEowen-LeVangie, Chair began the Budget and Priorities report with reference to the March 12, 2004 letter to Governor Franks. The letter details the Staff Senate desire to have additional representation to the Presidential Search Committee. She wished to make the Staff Senate aware of what had transpired at the March Board of Governors" meeting. The letter was unanimously endorsed by the Staff Senators. After much discussion, Ben Boslaugh made a motion for a cover letter to be sent, with a copy of the March 12 letter to the President and all of the Board of Governors. After further discussion and Ben accepting two friendly amendments it was voted upon by the Senate to send a cover letter, with a copy of the March 12 letter, to all of the Board of Governors, with copy to members of Administrative Council. The cover letter is to be penned by the Staff Senate Executive Committee and then forwarded amongst the Staff Senators for comment and then be mailed prior to the May Board meeting. This motion was unanimously approved by the Staff Senate.
Bylaws Committee, Diana Garland-Chair - Diana Garland, Chair, reported that the Bylaws Committee needed to meet briefly after the Staff Senate meeting to arrange a formal meeting time. She reported that the Executive Committee had discussed adding a Treasurer position to the Staff Senate Executive Committee. Discussion
also ensued with regard to the budgeting process. She also let everyone know that any Staff Senator was welcome to join the committee.
Public Affairs, Phyllis Kenney-Chair - Lisa McEowen-LeVangie gave the report on behalf of Phyllis Kenney, Chair, who was present but had lost her voice due to illness. Lisa reported that the Lunch Hour Lecture Series was continuing to be a success and she reminded us about the upcoming lunch hour lecture with Dr. Robert Lunn, "The Perfect Storm: How Rapidly Converging Trends in Healthcare Create the Mother of All Cost Crises" on May 4 in PSU 313. The Lunch Hour Lecture Series will continue
in the Fall semester with two presentations planned: Don Landon will present "State Normal School to Missouri State: Where We've Been and Where We're Going" on September 14 in PSU 313 and a speaker in November 2004 to talk about the presidential search. The committee will pursue a Public Affairs grant to fund the Fall presentations.
Veterans Committee Report, Phil Nichols-Chair - Phil Nichols, Chair began his report with a discussion about his March 5 letter to President Keiser requesting $4,000 additional funding to the Staff Senate Budget to fund the annual Veterans Day Event.
Staff Senate Centennial Committee, Diana Garland-Chair - Diana Garland gave a brief report on the progress of the Centennial Project.
Health Care Committee, David Liss-Member - In David's absence, Ben Boslaugh gave a brief Health Care Committee Report.
Faculty Senate, Norm Griffith and Allison Crocker-Staff Senate Representatives - Allison Crocker, Staff Senate Representative had to leave the meeting to return to work and in her absence she asked Dr. Lois Shufeldt, Faculty Senate Representative to the Staff Senate and Faculty Senate Chair-Elect, to give her brief report. Dr. Shufeldt reported that discussion at the last Faculty Senate meeting had centered around basically two items. First, was the $2 increase of student fees to support the dental and health care plans and secondly, nominations for the 2005 Chair-Elect and Secretary for the Faculty Senate. Those are:

Chair-Elect Nominations:
Dr. Art Spisak, World Languages and Cultures
Dr. Tom Wyrick, Economics
Dr. Michael Burns, English

Secretary Nominations:
Dr. Rhonda Ridinger, Health, Physical Education and Recreation
Dr. Reed Olsen, Economics
Public Relations Committee, Tara Horton-Chair - Tara Horton, Chair, reported that the Committee was in the process of choosing two to three different logo types for Staff Senate to bring before the Senate for vote.

9. Unfinished Business - There was no unfinished business.

10. New Business - Lisa McEowen-LeVangie requested suggestions from senators about how Staff Senate committees should go about requesting monies from the Staff Senate budget for their projects. That suggestion was put forth that there could be a certain period during the year (calendar or fiscal) when committees submitted their requests to the Executive Committee for approval.

The next regular meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m. on May 6, 2004 in Plaster Student Union room 313.

The meeting adjourned at 3:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted:
Tami Sutton, Secretary
Staff Senate