March 3, 2011 Minutes

Person Presiding: Michael Frizell

Members in Attendance: Sandra Arthur, Cindi Barnett, Donald Clark, Sandra Johnson, Nadine Jones, Charles Klarr, Cathy McFall, Janelle Melton, Dale Moore, Erin Parrish, Holly Robison, Teresa Steele, Matthew Stublefield, Jaimie Trussell, Andrea Weber, Kirk Whittington, Dixie Williams, Mary Ann Wood, Kyle Yates

Members Absent: Corbin Campbell, Marian Green, Tabitha Haynes, Terry Plank

Actions of Meeting

Agenda Item: Call to Order

Staff Senate has quorum, and was subsequently called to order by Chair-Elect Michael Frizell at 11:03 a.m.

Agenda Item: Roll Call

Attendance roll call was conducted and recorded by Secretary Matthew Stublefield.

Agenda Item: Approval of Agenda

The agenda was emailed in advance of the meeting. Motion to approve made by Dale Moore and seconded by Dixie Williams. The vote to approve was unanimous.

Agenda Item: Open Forum

Mary Ann Wood presented on the Public Affairs Conference, reviewing some of the various events happening this year and providing a variety of dates. For more information email Mary Ann Wood or visit https://publicaffairs.missouristate.edu/conference/

Agenda Item: Approval of Minutes (01/13/2011)

An amendment to the spelling of Andrea Weber's name under Agenda Item: Approval of Minutes was brought forward by Dixie Williams and seconded by Cindi Barnett. The vote to approve was unanimous.

Agenda Item: Executive Committee Report

Bylaws are currently under review by Ken McClure, Vice President of Administrative and Information Services, and Clif Smart, General Counsel. A clarification of intent was needed, and the new bylaws will hopefully be approved and accepted soon.The question on the Plaster Stadium raised in the January meeting by staff member Brian Jones was put to administrative counsel. President Cofer responded that this is not something we should explore because the University has been pursuing a goal of having one centralized location for exercise and recreation; in addition, the space in Plaster Stadium has been allocated for use by other units.

Cindi Barnett added that the space will be apportioned out for use as locker rooms for visiting sports teams and for use by the martial arts club, wrestling club, and other clubs that have mats and other equipment they have traditionally had to remove after each meeting. Cindi Barnett added that the new Campus Recreation facility will have a "quite space" separate from the rest of the workout areas that staff may appreciate.

Jaimie Trussell asked if this had been communicated to Brian Jones. Mike Frizell stated that it had been.

Agenda Item: Committee Reports

Course Fee Waiver Usage Committee report by Matthew Stublefield. The committee has met once to draw up a list of items to explore, and since then Matthew has been speaking with others around campus about the course fee waiver. This is not the first time the question has been brought before Staff Senate, so he has been finding out the nature of previous discussions and what the outcome was.

Cynthia Hale added that Faculty Senate was proposing an action to increase annual course fee waiver hours from 15 to 30.

Questions were asked of Cynthia Hale by Dale Moore, Konya Knackstedt, Charles Klarr, and Mary Ann Wood about the Faculty Senate measure.

Shared Sick Leave Pool Policy report by Konya Knackstedt and Dale Moore. The policy was emailed to senators in advance and Konya would like to vote at this meeting so it could go to the Executive Board and on to the Board of Governors in April.

Extensive and substantive discussion followed:

Charles Klarr stated that language indicating HIPAA compliance needed to be added. Konya and Dale replied that Human Resources would add this requirement.Charles Klarr asked for clarification about the personal leave day in regards to this policy. Dale and Konya stated that the personal leave day was mentioned in the policy for clarity's sake since that day comes out of sick leave.Charles Klarr asked for clarification about when one can donate time, what time can be donated, and when one can withdraw time from the pool. Konya clarified that comp. time and vacation can be donated.Charles Klarr asked for clarification about eligibility to draw from the pool. Konya stated that one must have not used sick leave within 30 days prior to the request to draw from the pool, but that the review committee would decide on a case-by-case basis and that catastrophic illness would certainly not be excluded.Jaimie Trussell asked for clarification about the limits on how much time can be donated. Konya stated that the intent was to keep people from donating all their time and then need to apply to the pool. She also highlighted a passage stating that upon separation with the University an individual can donate an unlimited amount of sick leave.In regards to donation, Charles Klarr asked for clarification on the 40% figure used in that section of the policy. Konya agreed that this needed clarification still.Cathy McFall asked if time donated could be limited to withdrawal by the same divisional area it was donated from. Dale stated that the intent of the policy was to be more benevolent and open to everyone.Erin Parrish asked if guidelines for "qualifying events" had been written yet. Konya replied that requests for withdrawal would be handled on a case-by-case basis.Charles Klarr asked for clarification about part-time employee eligibility. Konya stated that there are some 1000-hour employees who have benefits.Jaimie Trussell about amending the policy in regards to the committee that will review applications to draw from the pool. Dale stated that they would need to go back to Legal Counsel to inquire.Nadine Jones asked if the bylaws allowed for an email vote to amend the policy proposal. Secretary Matthew Stublefield stated that they do not, and Dixie Williams suggested calling a special meeting to hole the vote. Dale Moore suggested the Senate authorize the Staff Senate Executive Committee to oversee the changes and move the policy forward to Administrative Council.

Dixie Williams moved to approve the policy with amendments as discussed:

i. Clarifications on the 40% donation limit

ii. Adding HIPAA statement

iii. Clarification of the members of the review committee

Motion seconded by Teresa Steel. Motion was approved unanimously by the Senate.

Scholarship Committee gave no report due to the absence of Corbin Campbell.

Agenda Item: Unfinished Business

No unfinished business.

Agenda Item: New Business

Mike Frizell asked if Staff Senate was interested in hosting another Staff Night at the Springfield Cardinals?

Dixie Williams suggested we host it earlier in the season so there are more options in case the game is rained out.

Konya Knackstedt suggested we consider selling tickets at a slightly higher price as a fund raiser. She observed that we sold 600 tickets last year.

Mike Frizell stated we would need to research whether or not we could use the tickets to raise funds in this manner.

Agenda Item: Announcements

No announcements.

Adjourned