INFORMATIONAL STAFF COUNCIL/ASSOCIATION
Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, September 4, 2002
11:30 a.m. - OMU President's Room

Informational Staff Council President, Connie Smith, called the business meeting to order at 11:45 PM.

Members present: Kevin Blake, Grettie Bondy, Debbie Copp, Joan Goth, Dan Hough, Celia Jones, Susan Lauterbach, Anna Love, Debra Levy Martinelli, Johnnie-Margaret McConnell, Sophia Morren, Marilyn Nicely, Annette Schwiebert, Marko Sherbon, and Connie Smith. Guests: Jackie Farley, Staff Senate Chair and Barbara Perry, Staff Senate Office.

1. Introduction of members and guests - Connie introduced guests Barbara Perry, Managerial Associate I for Staff Senate and Jackie Farley, Staff Senate Chair. Jackie thanked Barbara for her past and continued work with Staff Senate and expressed feeling honored to be selected as the chair for this year, which she hopes will be a fun one. Although this will be a tough year at OU with budget issues and parking a challenge, Jackie hopes that more people will become involved with Staff Senate, taking advantage of the opportunity to network, become informed, and have fun. Rumor has it that cookies often make an appearance at Staff Senate meetings…

For a summary of the self-introduction of members and guests, please see the appendix.

Jackie, the Director of Recreational Services, also gave an update on the Huston Huffman Center renovation and expansion. The center's $9.2 million project will add +32,000 square feet (the size of four basketball courts). The size of the weight room with be doubled and the cardio room will be relocated to where the racquetball courts are currently housed. There will be $5 million in new equipment purchased. Although the project completion date is July 2003, Jackie is realistically hoping for Fall 2003.

During the renovation, these services are still available: fitness classes/programs, cardio room, basketball courts and the pool. Staff currently pay $70 a semester to use the facilities. In the future, staff will be able to pay for HHC use through installment payroll deductions. Additionally, staff parking in the area has been increased with gated lots next to the OCCE Forum building and across from the Honors College.

Debbie gave an update on the $100 million renovation of the stadium. Working around and learning about construction projects has been an interesting learning experience. After being relocated to the press box from November 2001 until July 2002, Debbie and athletic business staff have moved back to their original spaces. Debbie reports that when finished, the renovated stadium will be absolutely beautiful and invites ISA members to stop by for a visit. Her recommendation for the football games - get there early and watch for press releases on open gates. For now, all east side gates are closed.

2. President's remarks -
· Connie thanked Dan and Marko for their work on setting up the ISC list serve. Marko will also serve as the ISC Webmaster.
· Connie asked Marilyn to give a brief historical review of the group. Pre-dating Staff Senate itself, the group was started by a group of dissatisfied staff members in the early 1970's and called the Association of University of Oklahoma Professionals. Once Staff Senate was formed, the group was designated for jobs associated with professions (ex. librarians, nurses, etc.), and hence named the Professional Staff Association.
· Connie brought the organizational history to the current day by explaining that with the creation of broadband job classifications, the group was assigned the job classes of academic student services, computer, marketing/pr, media and professional and as such the organization's name was changed to Informational Staff Council. Connie hopes to get more people involved in the next year and encourages everyone to bring a friend to the meetings. Connie also reported to the group about a campus organization that has been around since the 1960, the University Women's Association and highly recommends their book clubs.
· A treasurer's report was not available this month, but Connie pointed out that staff could donate money to the ISC through the Campus Campaign.

3. With a motion by Susan seconded by Marko, the June 2002 minutes were accepted as presented.

4. Reports -
· Staff Senate, by Connie Smith. Brian Maddy discussed the new Human Resources Director, Julius Hilburn and the use of an outside consultant to study retirement at OU. Both OU and OSU are considering leaving the Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System (OTRS). Jan Jones and Nancy Matthews are staff representatives on the retirement committee. Mr. Maddy also reported that although costs for health care coverage are expected to increase again in the next year, co-pays would remain the same. Also related to health care, staff should forward generics not on the OU approved prescription list to both Maddy and Nick Hathaway. A question was asked about why short-term disability has been renamed as extended sick leave and Mr. Maddy reported that short-term disability would be an offered insurance option in the future and that the name change was to avoid confusion.

The executive committee of Staff Senate met with Cori Loomis, Director of Compliance Services. Offices dealing with compliance on the Norman and Health Sciences Center campuses are being combined into one office to be housed at the HSC. No staff have lost jobs due to this restructuring.

To view the entire minutes from the Staff Senate Meeting, please see http://www.ou.edu/staff_senate/minutes.html

· Faculty Senate, also by Connie Smith. Mostly an end-of-year wrap-up and housekeeping meeting, Faculty Senate also discussed retirement issues. For the Faculty Senate minutes, see http://www.ou.edu/admin/facsen/minutes/502jrn.htm

5. Old Business
· Constitution Review Committee report. The ISC constitution was last revised in 1992 and the committee will meet soon to update the constitution to reflect the new organizational name and make-up.

6. New Business
· Volunteers requested to serve as Faculty Senate Representatives. ISC is the only staff member group to have representatives (observational, non-voting) on Faculty Senate. Susan Lauterbach, Pam Neal and Marko Sherbon were nominated, moved by Debbie and seconded by Dan. The motion passed unanimously.
· Discussion of name change from Informational Staff Council to Informational Staff Association. Sophia mentioned that a name change would require a Staff Senate constitutional amendment. Debbie added and Barbara confirmed what this would require. Debbie also mentioned that our name would be listed incorrectly in the Staff Handbook, but that this would be minor. With a motion by Debbie and a second by Susan, the motion passed with a dissent by Grettie and Sophia abstaining.
· Other ISA committees to be filled.
a) Art Show Committee - to be discussed at a future meeting.
b) Awards Committee - to be filled at a future meeting.
c) Election Committee - to be filled at a future meeting.
d) Publicity Committee - Annette, Connie and Marko. It was suggested by Debbie that this committee develop an electronic newsletter, similar in content to The Hourglass published by the Hourly Employees Council.
· Activities - Grettie, Activities Coordinator, passed around a list of potential guest speaker topics and asked for other ideas and clarification on the expected frequency of guest speakers. Connie suggested that guests be invited twice a semester.

7. Miscellaneous - Debbie suggested that all staff, as members of the Norman community, become aware of the issues surrounding the charter amendment that will be on a special ballot during the election on Tuesday, September 17.

Meeting adjourned at 12:55 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Sophia Morren, ISA Secretary

NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, October 2, 2002 at 11:30 AM in the OMU President's Room.

Appendix

Because of the number of new ISA members, each person present at the September 4 meeting was asked to introduce themselves, state where they work and tell one thing about themselves, either what they did this summer or a hobby they have.

Marilyn Nicely, on September 1, 2002, Marilyn celebrated her 26th year at the OU Law Library. Her hobby is painting river rocks, mostly with animals, especially cats.

Dan Hough, Oklahoma Biological Survey Computer Guru, Dan is the immediate past chair of Staff Senate and a past president of PSA. Dan was pleased to finish a long-term kitchen remodel this summer.

Celia Jones, Coordinator for Academic Student Services, or otherwise known as Mama Cass of the School of Meteorology, Celia has recently taken up storm chasing and is a student in the College of Liberal Studies.

Susan Lauterbach, Coordinator of Instructional Laboratories and Facility Safety for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Susan's hobby is working out and the highlight of her summer was a trip to the Northwest.

Grettie Bondy, the advisor for the English Department and two years removed as the Staff Senate Chair, she enjoyed her summer trip to the Bahamas with her sister. Ask to see the picture of Grettie wrestling an alligator…

Anna Love, an Information Technology Analyst III with IT, Anna was excited about the marriage of her son this summer.

Joan Goth, also an Information Technology Analyst III with IT, Joan took two full weeks off this summer (first time since 1990) and highly recommends the practice for all staff. She spent her time off in California.

Johnnie-Margaret McConnell, the advisor for the Communication Department, Johnnie-Margaret was excited to get her brother enrolled in college this summer.

Sophia Morren, OU Assessment Coordinator, Sophia has revived as past hobby of tennis.

Marko Sherbon, Mac and all-around Computer Guru from Goddard Health Center, those present were surprised to hear that Marko would be leaving for Charlotte, N.C. and the beach on Thursday (ha, ha). Marko's current hobby is an independent film he is working on with several OU students.

Debra Levy Martinelli, a Marketing/Pr Specialist I with Public Affairs, Debra is a freelance writer in her spare time and thoroughly enjoyed interviewing Tony Hillerman (who was a former professor of hers from New Mexico and remembered her!) this summer for the Sooner Magazine.

Barbara Perry, Managerial Associate I for Staff Senate, Barbara is excited about her first granddaughter, who should be arriving in two months. Barbara's big event for the summer was the remodel of the Staff Senate offices.

Kevin Blake, a Media Specialist (mostly streaming) for IT, Kevin enjoyed spending a week in South Florida this summer.

Jackie Farley, Director of Recreational Services, went to Alaska this summer and looks forward to a trip to Hawaii with the basketball team in November.

Annette Schwiebert, Information Technology Specialist III for IT, went to France this summer to visit family and was pleasantly surprised that she had retained more of her French language skills than she though she had!

Debbie Copp, Marketing/Pr Specialist II for Athletics and immediate past president of PSA, Debbie enjoyed a trip to Westchester, N.Y., where she was able visit many historical homes, parks and museums. Now, she is looking forward to a trip to Disney World in November. This year was Debbie's 25th anniversary of being a full-time university employee.

Connie Smith, Marketing/Pr Specialist II for the OK Geological Survey, Connie was PSA president in 83/84, 87/88, and is serving again this year to assist with the reorganization of the group. Much admired for it by Debbie, Connie took off a day recently to "read a book."