THE
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA
STAFF
SENATE
(NORMAN
CAMPUS)
Wednesday,
December 19, 2007
Chair Beth Gatewood called the meeting
to order at 1:35 p.m. in the Sooner Room of the Oklahoma Memorial Union.
Officers present — Beth
Gatewood, Chair; Linda McCarty, Chair-Elect; Betty Love, Immediate Past Chair; Kathy
Gross, Recording Secretary
Staff present — Barbara Perry, Administrative Coordinator
Representatives present —
Hourly Employees Council: Diana Fitzpatrick, Melanie Wilburn, Carolyn Irons,
Dee Hayes, Troy Schmidt, David Kizer; Informational Staff Association: Debbie
Copp, Elaine Bradshaw, Michael Goodwin; Organizational Staff Council: Cathy
Brister, Sandi Emond, Matt Berry, Cathy Trujillo, Jannie Porter; Administrative
Staff Council: Sue-Anna Miller
Representatives absent — Hourly
Employees Council: Ed Fontaine, Robert Murphy, Kim Haddad, Jack Shoopman, Donna
Stephens, Ben Stapp; Informational Staff Association: Anna Love, Debi Gentis, Lisa
Bowles; Organizational Staff Council: Tami Kinsey; Administrative Staff
Council: Robbie Wahnee
Guests present —Susan
Grossman, College of Continuing Education; David Houck, Physical Plant; Lezlie
Pilkington, Administrative Affairs; Bobby Anderson, Museum of Art; Becky
Cottrell, Advanced Programs; Nancy
Matthews, Department of Mathematics
CHAIR’S COMMUNICATIONS
Chair Beth Gatewood said
that Staff Senate had received a lovely note from CART for our participation in
the Fill-the-Trolly campaign. In
addition, a thank-you card for each member was provided and passed out. Beth said that Ed Fontaine, who was
headed to New Hampshire, had called to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF
NOVEMBER 28, 2007
Matt Berry made a motion to accept the minutes
of the November 28, 2007, meeting.
The motion was seconded and the minutes were accepted as written.
OTHER
COMMUNICATIONS
Administrative Staff
Council: President Sue-Anna Miller reported that
ASC met on December 18 for its annual snack-and-wrap meeting to wrap the gifts
that the group purchased for its holiday family. Sue-Anna reported that more than 30 gifts were wrapped.
Organizational
Staff Council: President Cathy
Brister said OSC met on December 6.
She said the group gave $200 each to the Center for Children and
Families, Inc., and Big Brother/Big Sisters organizations. They discussed locations for bingo and
decided to move their January meeting to January 10. The group adopted two children through the Secret Santa Program
and took donations. Cathy said OSC
has a newly designed Web site and invited everyone to take a look at it.
Hourly
Employees Council: President Diana
Fitzpatrick reported that HEC met on December 12 for its annual holiday
luncheon. Mary Atwater, Director
of OU Poll, was their guest speaker.
HEC formed an ad hoc committee to do a survey and was seeking useful
information on surveys. HEC
sponsored three children for the holidays in connection with the Adopt-a-Child
Project. Diana said it was very
successful.
Informational
Staff Association: ISA member Debbie
Copp reported that ISA met at the Jacobson House for a holiday luncheon on
December 5. Anna Love prepared the
dinner for the group. Dr. Paula
Conlon from the School of Music played traditional American Indian flute music. Members gave donations to help families
in need during the holidays as they have done in years past.
STANDING
COMMITTEES
Personnel Policies
Committee: Beth reported for PPC. The group met on November 29 and
discussed the issue of carpooling.
The committee plans to contact
IT for more information on the cost of software and updates to monitor carpool
permits. Once PPC has this
information, they will contact the Parking Office to determine if this issue should
be pursued further.
Employment Benefits
Committee: Debbie Copp reported
that the group last met in November. The committee is looking at retirement
issues. Julius Hilburn announced who
would serve on the health insurance RFP committee. The group will consist of the people who were on the Contribution
Strategy Committee, a few members from the EBC, and Diana Fitzpatrick will also
serve on the committee. At the EBC
meeting, Julius gave a timeline of events. Debbie said they were hoping to get all the RFPs out before the
break. They hope to start reviewing in mid-January, have an evaluation done and
have the best possible options from all the public insurance companies to
compare to OSEEGIB when they submit their numbers in August. Debbie said there were more businesses
in the market place than before so they hope bidding will be more competitive
than it was last time.
OU Staff Week: Chair Melanie Wilburn said OUSW met on December
13. She said all of the
sweatshirts were delivered and the committee was looking at choosing colors for
the spring shirts. Melanie said
the committee discussed doing a chili cook-off in February. Beth asked Melanie the purpose for the
cook-off. Melanie said it would be a way to promote more interest in Staff
Week. People or departments could
compete in the cook-off to generate more excitement and interest in Staff Week
overall. Beth asked if the event
had been approved by Administrative Affairs. Melanie responded that they would be selling tickets at the
door, but they had not sought permission from the administration yet because
they thought it best to first get it cleared through Staff Senate. Debbie asked if they were selling
tickets to make it a fundraiser.
Melanie said that was not the original intent, but since sweatshirt
sales had not gone as well this year as they had hoped, they wanted to do this
as a supplemental fundraiser. Melanie explained that the committee would have a
set date and have departments or individuals inform them of their entry by that
date. The committee would know
ahead of time how much chili they would have to sell and would sell tickets at
the door until they had no more chili. The cook-off subcommittee had already obtained a judge
for the event, as well as a location and a few donations. At this meeting,
Staff Senate discussed liability concerns, fundraising issues, ways to generate
interest in Staff Week; and time constraints and commitments of a small Staff
Week Committee. Beth said that one
of her biggest concerns was that all of the food for Staff Week had always been
handled through Food Services where they know all of the regulations. She thought that was very
important. Beth recommended that
Melanie check with Director of Housing and Food Services Dave Annis to find out
if a University-wide project like this would be approved. A member asked why this would be
treated differently than any organization setting up and selling hamburgers
during a football game. Debbie
said there were policies in the Regents Policy Manual and/or the Administrative
Affairs Guide to Policies, and the rules were different for staff, faculty or
students. She said anyone can’t
just set up a stand and sell food on game days. There are rules and regulations that must be followed.
REPORTS
The
following reports were linked to the December agenda:
Staff Senate
Foundation account report.
Minutes of
Employee Benefits Committee meeting of October 18, 2007.
NEW BUSINESS
Approval of recommended
nominee to Speakers Bureau: This item was linked to
the agenda. Due to Cody Ponder’s
resignation from the Speakers Bureau, Andrea Melvin was being recommended as a
Staff Senate representative to fill the remainder of Cody’s 2007-2010
term. Matt Berry moved for
approval. The motion was seconded
and passed on a voice vote.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The next Staff Senate meeting
will take place on January 16, 2008.
Debbie Copp announced
that three generations of the Sullivan Family would perform at Catlett Music
Center on Saturday night, December 22 at 7:00. She said the concert was free. Donations would be taken to benefit the Women’s Resource
Center and the Battered Women’s Shelter.
ADJOURNMENT
As there was
no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara
Perry
Administrative Coordinator
Kathy Gross
Recording Secretary