September 2, 2010 Minutes

1. Call to Order - Meeting was called to order by Tabitha Haynes, Chair, at 1:32pm

2. Roll Call - Janelle Melton, Secretary, conducted roll call.

Present: Tabitha Haynes, Michael Frizell, Janelle Melton, Marian Green, Sandra Arthur, Cindi Barnett, Corbin Campbell, Donald Clark, Sandra Johnson, Nadine Jones, Charles Klarr, Cathy McFall, Andrea Weber, Erin Parrish, Terry Plank, Teresa Steele, Matthew Stublefield, Jamie Trussell, Kirk Whittington, Dixie Williams, Mary Ann Wood.

Absent: Dale Moore, Holly Robison, Kyle Yates, Cynthia Hail

Guests: Konya Knackstedt, Kelly Barnts, Lenord McGownd

3. Approval of Minutes - August 2010 minutes were approved pending the addition of Dr. Cofer’s comments.

4. Guest Speakers

Mary Ann Wood – Public Affairs Spotlight – shared that the Public Affairs Spotlight will begin showing pictures of the people involved and their activities. Will have a student spotlight each month showing how they are living out the MSU Public Affairs mission. This will appear in mid-September in the Communique and in E-announcements. Starting out with one each of faculty/student/staff persons and growing to 9 each month. Each featured person will receive a certificate and a commendation to their respective supervisor. Students are very excited as this will be a plus on their resume.

Konya Knackstedt- Cookbook Fundraiser – This will support our Staff Senate Scholarship. She has an updated kit with everything we need to move forward. Each book can hold up to 500 recipes and the profit can be $5 to $6 each book. Would like to have this ready for sale by holiday time. Open to all staff. Their name and department will be noted with their recipe. Recipe submission can be done online. Dixie Williams moved we accept this fundraiser and Andrea Weber seconded the motion. All approved.

5. Old Business - There was no old business to discuss

6. New Business

Removal of Senator: Tabitha shared the bylaws regarding this issue as it pertains to Senator Debbie Casada. She has had 5 consecutive absences and has not responded to communications inquiring about her intent. Moved by Dixie Williams and seconded by Andrea Weber.

Recreation Fee Proposal : Much discussion from the 2-page information sent to each Senator to review for discussion at this meeting. Erin Parrish asked that any feedback be sent to her via email.

HR Orientation Schedule: There are still spots to be filled for this. Please contact Tabitha if you can help out. This is on Monday mornings at 9am in Carrington Hall.

Possibility of a second philanthropy: A staff member approached Tabitha about the possibility of Staff Senate taking on a second philanthropy. Tabitha brought this before the Senate for discussion. There is no intention of replacing Denim Day, this would be in addition to it. Jamie Trussell suggested we donate to MSU causes instead due to cutbacks. Cathy McFall questioned whether or not we can be our own philanthropy, but could give back to the university in lieu of a second philanthropy.

7. Financial Report – Staff Senate now has a P-card to purchase supplies.

8. Committee Reports

Executive Committee: Tabitha Haynes reported the topics discussed with Dr. Cofer were the 4-day work week, Partner Benefits, Base increase/on-time bonus for higher education degrees, Employee Assistance Program, Paid maternity/Paternity leave.

4-day work week during the summer: Not feasible right now, but considering a different version. Change the initiative title to Alternative Summer Work Schedule. Research other institutions and potential cost savings – cost savings has not been part of the reasoning for this initiative in the past.

Base increase/on-time bonus for higher education degrees: Not much discussion about this in the meeting due to budget concerns. Concerns raised during the August 2010 Staff Senate meeting were explained.

Employee Assistance Program: The committee was supportive of this program and exploration.

Paid maternity/Paternity Leave: Not much discussion on this as more research would be needed into FMLA.

Partner Benefits: Dr. Cofer stated that timing is important and that a coalition needs to be built among the institutions in Missouri before anything will happen with this. Dr. Cofer also stated there has been talk in the State, but no one is willing to do this alone and the timing is not right.

Sick Leave Bank : Dr. Cofer was surprised that we did not have this already. Ken McClure suggested that we look at the State of Missouri’s policy with the Division of Personnel in Jefferson City.

Recreation Fee : Paul Kincaid suggested that we include a student on the committee.

Staff Suggestions Concerning Current and Upcoming Budget Cuts: A suggestion from a staff member email was read to the committee concerning possible furloughs instead of cutting positions. Dr. Cofer stated that he did not like furloughs, as they are a short-term solution. Also, he was unsure about how tenured faculty would be affected.

Summer Leave: Ken McClure is going to provide necessary background information to Dr. Cofer about how the summer leave days came to be. Dr. Cofer, Paul Kincaid, and Ken McClure all agreed that it was too soon to make a determination on how many days, if any, would be offered in the future. This decision is usually not made until late in the spring semester so that the university situation can be examined.

Membership: Cathy McCall reported that we will need a new Senator to replace Debbie Casada when the time comes and that is the only issue on this committee’s docket.

Scholarship: Corbin Campbell reported that the committee did meet and discussed the naming of the scholarship after Mark Stillwell. Mark will get back with Casey Comoroski with his decision on this. Corbin reported that the endowment amount was raised from $10,000 to $25,000 and that it may be best to not try to endow the scholarship so that we can start rewarding it when we have the money. Jamie Trussell moved to table this until we hear back from Mark Stillwell on Monday.

Denim Day: Cathy McFall reported on the 5K Run-Walk is on Saturday, September 25, 2010 at 8am at Nathaniel Greene park (see Staff Senate website for details). October 5-7 a collection table set up on PSU for the $5 fee for this event and to get a free slice of pizza at Domino’s, PSU. T-shirts can also be purchased at the collection table. September 29th is University wide luncheon in the Ballroom 11am -1pm. The administrators will once again be serving, but this time will be raising more funds in a contest for who is the best server. There will be a Penny War with cans place around with each administrator’s picture on it and whoever gets the most coins in their can, wins. October 8th is Denim Day so pay your $5 and wear jeans to work! The mammogram bus will be on campus October 21, 26, & November 2 by Taylor Health Center. October 2nd is Family weekend and the committee is going to try to get permission for donations to be taken at the entrances.

Sick Leave Bank: Lenord McGownd reported that the committee will be meeting soon. They are looking at different options including sick days, vacation days, a pool, donating it to a particular person, the qualifications and application process.

9. Announcements – Tabitha reported that Staff Senate will be conforming to more proper parliamentary procedures than we have been in the past to help promote more credibility of the Staff Senate organization to all of the employees of MSU. SGA has been helpful in providing assistance and information. Michael Frizell commented that he would carry it on next year during his term as Chair of Staff Senate.

The announcement of beginning to use parliamentary procedure brought on further discussion:

A previous senator stated that if Staff Senate became to formal, staff members would not want to participate. Two current senators disagreed with this, and stated that if our meetings became more organized, people may take it more seriously and want to participate.
Tabitha Haynes told Senators that if we were to be taken seriously on this campus, it had to start with those on Staff Senate. If we don't do what we volunteered to do, then no one else will want to do it either.
A current senator requested a representative from the President' office attend the meetings. Tabitha Haynes reminded everyone that we do have a representative from the President's area (division), but agreed to put in the request at the upcoming Executive Council meeting.

Meeting was adjourned at 2:55pm.
Motion was made by Matthew Stublefield and seconded by Dixie Williams.