THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA

STAFF SENATE

(NORMAN CAMPUS)

Wednesday April 19, 2006

Chair Joan Koos called the meeting to order at 1:35 p.m. in the Scholars Room of the Oklahoma Memorial Union.

Officers present — Joan Koos, Chair; Betty Love, Chair-Elect; Debbie Copp, Immediate Past Chair; Karla Woodfork, Recording Secretary

Staff present — Barbara Perry, Administrative Coordinator; Shanika Bivines, Administrative Assistant

Representatives present — Hourly Employees Council: Pam Shoopman, Carolyn Irons, Debbie Blevins, Karen Stark, David Houck, Cindy Goode, Ed Fontaine, Patsy Montoya; Informational Staff Association: Sophia Morren, Susan Lauterbach, Kevin Jarnagin, Elaine Bradshaw, Chris Cook, Annette Schwiebert; Organizational Staff Council: Tina Ledgerwood, Linda McCarty, Kristi Wright, Jannie Porter; Administrative Staff Council: Sue-Anna Miller, Deborah Wollenberg

Representatives absent — Hourly Employees Council: Cheryl Barton, Robert Murphy; Informational Staff Association: none; Organizational Staff Council: Matt Berry; Administrative Staff Council: Deborah Marsh

Guests present — Cathy Brister, Staff Senate OU Staff Week Committee Chair; Tracy Reinke, Staff Senate Awards Committee Chair; Lezlie Pilkington, Administrative Affairs

CHAIR’S COMMUNICATIONS

Chair Joan Koos reported that late in March, the Norman campus Staff Senate Executive Committee attended a luncheon meeting hosted by their counterparts at the Health Sciences Center. The groups discussed mutual problems and concerns including committee membership and the shared leave program. The HSC has physicians on their shared leave committee. Joan said that might be something the Norman campus might want to consider. It could be beneficial to have a physician on the committee to give professional insight on illnesses. Regarding the shared leave program, Joan said that since the mass e-mail about shared leave had gone out, between 300 and 400 hours had been donated to the program.

The Executive Committee also met with Nick Kelly and Julius Hilburn concerning health insurance. Joan said there was a lot of talk circulating about health care lately, much of it is rumors. Nothing has been finalized. Joan met briefly with Vice President for Executive and Administrative Affairs Nick Hathaway and said he had indicated that although funding for the University would be more this year, there would be less money available for operations. However, she said it appeared there would be some kind of salary increase program.

ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF MARCH 22, 2006, MEETING

Sophia Morren asked that the March 22 minutes be amended to list the recipients of the ISA’s distinguished performance awards: Gary Bates, Stdrovia Blackburn and Grettie Bondy. On motion by Tina Ledgerwood, the minutes of the March 22, 2006, meeting were accepted as amended.

OTHER COMMUNICATIONS

Informational Staff Association:  President Sophia Morren reported that ISA held their April meeting at Step Brothers and celebrated their award winners. Preparations for their art exhibit were discussed. A representative from Human Resources attended the meeting to answer questions and provide information regarding the Big 12 salary averages, how OU compared and whether other institutions have procedures in place for staff promotions. [The group has discussed the lack of funds set aside for staff promotions.] She offered to forward the comparison to other members if requested.

Administrative Staff Council: President Sue-Anna Miller reported that ASC met to finalize their plans for their Staff Week event. They are in need of volunteers to help with the food fair.

Organizational Staff Council: President Tina Ledgerwood reported that OSC met on April 6^th at the Stephenson Research and Technology Center and celebrated their award nominees. They finalized plans for their Staff Week event. Their activities coordinator resigned and was replaced by member Kristi Wright. OSC will deal with their group elections at their next meeting. Tina announced that Relay for Life will be held May 19.

Hourly Employees Council:  President Pam Shoopman reported that HEC met on April 12. Ross McClish from Human Resources was their guest speaker. He spoke about the shared leave program. The group finalized plans for their ice-cream social.

Joan amended the Chair’s Communications report. She said during the visit to the HSC on March 31, Norman campus members asked HSC questions about their constitution and learned that it was quite different from Norman’s. HSC has a separate operating procedures document. Joan said this type document might help prevent frequent, minor changes to the constitution concerning the member groups. The Executive Committee discussed forming a constitutional committee to look into this further.

OU Staff Week Committee: Chair Cathy Brister reported that Staff Week would begin on Monday April 24. She said the grand prize flyer was in the mail and the hopper would be in the bookstore to receive entries. Cathy said the week would begin with two sessions of bingo on Monday, followed by the ice cream social and craft fair on Tuesday. Wednesday, the art exhibit would take place in the University Club, and Thursday, the health fair is scheduled at the CCE Forum. Friday wraps up the week with the food fair. Cathy announced that a canned food drive would be conducted throughout week at each of these events.

Awards Committee: Chair Tracy Reinke announced that the Awards Ceremony was scheduled for Wednesday, April 26 at 11:00 a.m. in the Union Ballroom with Clarke Stroud officiating as master of ceremonies. She said President Boren would attend. The entertainment will be jazz and blues. A light reception will follow the ceremony.

CORRESPONDENCE

Letter from Staff Senate Chair thanking President Boren for his generosity and support during Staff Week: This letter was attached to the agenda.

REPORTS

The following reports were linked to the agenda:

Staff Senate Foundation account report.

Minutes of Employee Benefits Committee meeting of February 16, 2006, and March 23, 2006.

Spring, 2006, Environmental Concerns Committee newsletter.

NEW BUSINESS

Discussion of constitutional revision proposed by the Administrative Staff Council: Joan explained that this discussion pertained to the members groups having a proxy to attend the Staff Senate meetings. She said it was her understanding that none of the member groups had discussed this at their April meetings and asked if there was any discussion. Tina Ledgerwood made a motion to take this issue back to the member groups for discussion. The motion was seconded.

A member asked if the proxy would be one additional person no matter how many representatives were on the committee. ASC President Sue-Anna Miller responded that it was worded in such a way that the only time it would become necessary would be when no one from the member group was able to attend and it would in effect be a proxy for the president. She said it would be, “When the president couldn’t come and nobody else for that member group could come, then they could appoint a representative to come on behalf of the president…that is really the focus of it. It is not a one-for-one replacement for an absent member, but just a mechanism to make sure that there is someone present from that member group if none of the representatives are able to make it.”

Debbie Copp said when she pulled up the operating guidelines from the HSC, it provided for an alternate and had a process of notification already written out. She said if we do revamp our constitution, hopefully, we will not have to reinvent the wheel. With this information, Joan asked if the group wanted the Executive Committee to examine the HSC’s constitution to see what we might learn from their document, and report back to the Senate, or whether the group wanted to proceed with the motion on the floor. Joan said since we may form a constitutional revision committee, it might take care of this situation.

After more discussion, a suggestion was made to send the groups the language from the HSC constitution regarding their alternates for discussion purposes. The motion then passed on a voice vote.

Resolution thanking Senator Cal Hobson for his concern for staff at the University of Oklahoma: A resolution thanking Senator Cal Hobson for his service had been prepared to be signed by the chair and the presidents of the member groups. It read: “The members of The University of Oklahoma Staff Senate, Norman campus, express their sincere gratitude to Senator Cal Hobson for more than 25 years of service to The University of Oklahoma. His dedication and concern for issues affecting staff are greatly appreciated.” Deb Wollenberg moved for approval of the resolution. Her motion was seconded and passed on a voice vote.

MISCELLANEOUS

Betty Love displayed a quilt for which tickets were being sold. Donations were going to the American Cancer Society. The quilt was made from t-shirts from every OU sport. Sue-Anna Miller announced that the food fair tickets would be sold at every event during Staff Week.

ADJOURNMENT

As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Barbara Perry

Administrative Coordinator

Karla Woodfork

Recording Secretary