THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA

 

STAFF SENATE

 

(NORMAN CAMPUS)

 

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

 

 

Chair-Elect Beth Gatewood called the meeting to order at 1:28 p.m. in the Presidents Room of the Oklahoma Memorial Union.

 

Officers present — Beth Gatewood, Chair-Elect; Joan Koos, Immediate Past Chair; Chris McNabb, Recording Secretary

 

Officers absent — Betty Love, Chair

 

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

 

Representatives present — Hourly Employees Council: Ed Fontaine, Diana Fitzpatrick, Karen Stark, Patsy Montoya, Kim Haddad, Ben Stapp, Troy Schmidt; Informational Staff Association: Kevin Jarnagin, Brook Barnes-Weber, Lisa Bowles; Elaine Bradshaw, Annette Schwiebert; Organizational Staff Council: Linda McCarty, Kristi Wright; Kathy Gross; Jannie Porter, Matt Berry; Administrative Staff Council: Sue-Anna Miller, Rennie Cook

 

Representatives absent — Hourly Employees Council: Cheryl Barton, David Houck, Cindy Goode, David Kizer, Robert Murphy; Informational Staff Association: Debi Gentis; Organizational Staff Council: Cathy Brister; Administrative Staff Council: none

 

Guests present —Susan Grossman, Communications Committee Chair; Dan Hough, OU Staff Week Committee Chair; Cathy Trujillo, Co-Chair, Personnel Policies Committee; Lezlie Pilkington, Administrative Affairs; James Tyree, The Oklahoman

 

COMMUNICATIONS FROM CHAIR-ELECT

 

Chair-Elect Beth Gatewood said she and Chair Betty Love visited with Vice President for Executive and Administrative Affairs Nick Hathaway regarding several matters.  They discussed a Blue Ribbon Panel that the Employment Benefits Committee is setting up.  Two or three staff members will be asked to serve on that committee.  Much of the discussion concerned raises.  Beth said they asked about the $2.8 million raise from the Foundation that was given for faculty.  That raise was in addition to the October 1st raises.   They informed Nick that the Staff Senate Executive Committee was in the process of requesting data from Human Resources regarding staff salaries. Beth said Nick thought that would help identify and address inequities. Once those figures are obtained, they will be analyzed by the Executive Committee and the group will decide how it wants to proceed with the information.  He mentioned that $200,000 had been set aside to address compression issues for staff this year.  The issue of retroactive raises to July 1 for HSC staff was discussed.  The HSC campus had some extra funding.  Although they donÕt get quite as much State funding as the Norman campus, their clinical operations provide a lot of their support and that allowed them to be able to make their raises retroactive to July 1.  Nick said the administration preferred to give raises July 1, but because the Legislature was so late in making their decisions, it was not possible this year.   The original plan was to recommend 3% for July 1.  That plan didnÕt materialize, so 4% for October 1 was recommended.

 

ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 20, 2006

 

On a motion by Sue Anna Miller, the minutes of the September 20, 2006, minutes were accepted as written.

 

OTHER COMMUNICATIONS

 

Hourly Employees Council:  President Ed Fontaine reported that HEC met on October 11th and discussed having a table at the SenateÕs 35th Anniversary celebration.   Members also discussed producing a holiday issue of the Hourglass newsletter, their ice-cream social and sponsoring a family for the holidays.

 

Informational Staff Association:  President Kevin Jarnagin reported that ISA met on October 4th and had a great tour of the Law Center.  They discussed sponsoring a family or children for the holidays and having a potluck turkey dinner for their November meeting.

 

Organizational Staff Council:  President Linda McCarty reported that OSC met on October 5th and discussed their table for the SenateÕs 35th Anniversary celebration.  Nick Kelly, their guest speaker, updated the group on insurance benefits.

 

Administrative Staff Council:  President Sue-Anna Miller reported that ASC met on October 10th and outlined their timeline to sponsor a family (or families) for their groupÕs holiday project.  They discussed their table for the SenateÕs 35th Anniversary celebration and toured the National Weather Center.

 

STANDING COMMITTEES

 

Communications Committee:  Chair Susan Grossman said the Communications Committee met earlier that morning and spent the entire time with the developer of the people database for Public and Community Services from CCE.  Susan explained that the program is a database listing the names and skills of the individuals on campus, and whether they can provide assistance in their skill area.  She then said the committee would probably present something to the Senate in the future on this project.  The Communications Committee is considering whether this project could be expanded campus wide.

 

OU Staff Week Committee:  Chair Dan Hough reported that the Staff Week Committee had met in late September and early October.  He announced the theme for Staff Week:  OU Staff:  Honoring the Past, Building the Future.  He said the logo contest was underway and the deadline for that contest was October 31.  The Staff Week Committee is preparing its fall sweatshirt sale and will offer sweatshirts and hoodies soon.  Staff Week will take place April 23-27.  Dan said he was working on venues and gave a tentative schedule of the events.  He said he had completed the Staff Week survey and would distribute a copy to each of the groups and to the Senate Office.   Dan confirmed that the sweatshirts would have a picture of Bizzell Memorial Library on them featuring that name.  The sweatshirts will be tan and the zippered hoodies will be red. 

 

Personnel Policies Committee:  Co-Chair Cathy Trujillo said PPC met in September for an organizational type meeting.  She and Linda Chesnutt were elected as co-chairs. 

 

Ad Hoc Committee on Staff SenateÕs 35th Anniversary:  Chair Linda McCarty said the invitations for the special guests were sent out and a mass e-mail, as well as an AB Distribution flyer, will be sent out to advertise the event.  Each member group table will have a special prize to award and surveys will be conducted to gather information that will hopefully increase future member group participation. 

 

CORRESPONDENCE

 

E-mail from Chair Betty Love conveying support for creation of Tulsa Senate:  The e-mail was linked to the October agenda.

 

Memorandum from Chair Betty Love to Personnel Policies Committee regarding funding for staff promotions:  The memo was linked to the October agenda.

 

REPORTS

 

The following reports were linked to the October agenda:

 

Staff Senate Foundation account report.

 

Minutes of Employee Benefits Committee meeting of August 31, 2006, and September 28, 2006.

 

Beth thanked Sue Anna Miller for checking into the issue regarding why retirees canÕt participate in the flexible spending accounts.  She noted that subject was addressed in the EBC minutes. 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Beth announced that blood drives were being held October 18th from 11:00 to 5:00 at the Alpha Chi Omega house and on the 19th  from 11:00 to 5:00 at the Residence Halls. 

 

She announced that the Benefits Fair for health insurance, etc., would be held on Thursday October 26th from 9:00 to 4:00 in the Union Ballroom.  Enrollment will start October 30th and will be on-line.  Enrollment will run through November 10.

 

ADJOURNMENT

 

As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1:43 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Barbara Perry

Administrative Coordinator

 

Chris McNabb

Recording Secretary