THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA
STAFF SENATE
(NORMAN CAMPUS)
Wednesday October 21, 2009
DRAFT
Chair Diana Fitzpatrick called the meeting to order at 1:33 p.m.
in Room 132 of Ellison Hall.
Officers present – Diana Fitzpatrick, Chair; David Houck, Chair-Elect; Linda McCarty, Immediate Past Chair; Elaine Bradshaw, Recording Secretary
Staff
Present – Melissa Lane, Administrative Coordinator
Representatives present – Hourly Employees Council: Linda Smith, Cecilia
McEwen, Tim Winkelman, Carolyn Irons, Mary Peters, Karen Stark, Ed Fontaine,
Etta Walden, Ruthann Shaffer; Informational Staff Association: Chris Cook, Debbie
Copp, Michael Goodwin, Dick Trim; Organizational Staff Council: Cathy Trujillo,
Nancy Matthews, Winona Bark, LaDonna Sullivan; Administrative Staff Council: Lezlie
Pilkington, Proxy
Representatives absent — Hourly Employees Council: Cindy Simpson, Neil
Shock, Brandie Wright; Informational Staff Association: Jose De La Cruz, Bruce
Alcock; Organizational Staff Council: Fran
Stephens, Cathy Brister; Administrative Staff Council: Robbie Wahnee, Mechelle
Gibson
Guests present — Krystal Cushing, Chair of Personnel Policies
Committee; Liz Cooley, Co-Chair of Staff Week Committee; David Kizer,
Chair-Elect of Hourly Employees Council; Kody Shipley, UOSA Staff Senate
Liaison
CHAIR’S COMMUNICATIONS
Diana wanted to let everyone know that the Executive
Committee has met three times and your representative at the meeting will
report back to you at your member group meetings. Diana did meet with Nick Hathaway
and the information that they talked about was distributed at the Executive
Committee meetings, they talked about the Retiree Medical, the Compensation
Project, and the budget. Right now the
stimulus money from the state is carrying us.
ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF September 16, 2009
On
motion by Cecelia McEwen, the minutes of the September 16, 2009, Staff Senate
meeting were accepted.
OTHER COMMUNICATIONS
Organizational Staff Council: Vice President Cathy Trujillo said OSC
met on October 1, 2009. The committee voted to approve the new member group
constitution template. They have formed
a committee to do the Bylaws. On the
Extended Sick Leave Policy that was proposed by PPC they had a few questions
that they would like answered like; the number of people that will be affected,
if Faculty Senate is working on anything, the affect this would have on the
current budget, and concerns about timing with the Retiree Medical report being
on the table right now. So the issue was
tabled for now.
Informational Staff Association: President Chris Cook said ISA met October 7, 2009. The meeting was at
the National Weather Center and they toured the facility. A committee was formed to pursue the new
member group constitution template and to start their Bylaws. Also on the Extended Sick Leave Policy that
was proposed by PPC many members expressed support but questioned if this was
the right time to pursue the issue, the committee decided to wait.
Administrative Staff
Council: Proxy Lezlie Pilkington said ASC will meet
next week.
Hourly
Employees Council: President
Linda Smith said HEC met on October 14, 2009. They talked about how comments
are still being taken on the Retiree Medical Report. The new member group constitution template
was looked at and they made plans to suspend their current constitution so that
the new one could be put into place.
They are also forming a committee to write their Bylaws. On the Extended Sick Leave Policy that was proposed by PPC,
they would like more information.
STANDING COMMITTEES
Awards
Committee: Co-Chair Liz Cooley said the
committee had a meeting on October 20, 2009 and they are looking at their
budget and trying to see if there is anywhere they can cut. One way would be to find a new retiree gift
at a lower cost, so she presented a sample gift for the Senate to look at.
Communications
Committee: No
report
OU
Staff Week Committee: Member Linda McCarty reported that the group
was working on getting the t-shirt flyer finished and sent out. After receiving three quotes the committee
has decided to go with University Silkscreen for the shirt production. Order forms for shirts will be due November
6, 2009. They also talked about when the
budget was due.
Personnel
Policies Committee: Chair Krystal Cushing passed out the most
recent information that was available to them about the Extended Sick Leave and
Sam Fellows will try and answer any other questions that they may have. The group was charged in 2006 by the Senate
to find funding for Staff Promotions, since there is no funding available this
charge is now done, but the group is still going to look into Staff Promotions.
Staff
Professional Development: No report
CORRESPONDENCE
REPORTS
The
following reports were linked to the April agenda:
Staff Senate Foundation account report.
Minutes of Employment Benefits Committee meeting
for April and May 2009
OLD BUSINESS
The
Appointments/Reappointments for the Standing Committees that was presented at
last month’s meeting were approved by an email vote of the Senate Members.
Each member group
representative reported back about the Member Group Constitution Template and
the Extended
Sick Leave Policy that was proposed by PPC.
EBC: Debbie
Copp reported that the EBC will be meeting tomorrow and they are anticipating
having firmer cost numbers on the Healthcare increases or any plan changes.
Ad
Hoc Committee (for member group Website Guidelines): Diana
reported that she, Robbie Wahnee, Melissa Lane, and Jason (a member of Robbie’s
staff) had met to look at what on the current site is needed on the new
site. Robbie is hoping that the new site
will be developed quickly. If anyone has
an ideas or something that they would like to see on the site please send ideas
to the Senate office.
Ad
Hoc Committee (for review of member group’s constitution and bylaws): Chair
Debbie Copp said that the committee has to finish the Rules of Order but the
Constitution and Bylaws are ready for review.
NEW BUSINESS
Staff Senate
Constitution and Bylaws Template: Debbie Copp wanted to
first make a few capitalization corrections in the Bylaws Template, in Article
II Section 5 and 6 chair and chair-elect.
She also pointed out that there was one addition made to the Bylaws in
Article II Section 4, before this was an unwritten rule that helped the Senate
stay balanced. The Committee is not
trying to single out any member group but want to keep balance in the
Senate. In order to move forward the
current Constitution will need to be suspended and the new Constitution will
have to be approved by President Boren and the Board of Regents. There are many things that were relocated
from the current Constitution to the Bylaws or Rules of Order so that the
proper format is followed. The Staff
Senate Constitution is formatted just like the member groups Constitution; this
will make it easier for everyone to find things. Member Groups can also use the Senate Bylaws
to help them create their own Bylaws.
Debbie wanted to remind everyone that the Constitution, Bylaws, and
Rules of Order all work in conjunction with each other and that the Rules of
Order are the easiest to change. The
Standing Committees and Senate office staff will be in the Rules of Order. Many questions were raised as to if the
Senate should wait until they have the Rules of Order done. Debbie said that currently the Senate
operates without any Rules of Order so this should not create any
problems. At this time Diana asked that
the new revision of the Bylaws be forwarded to the Senate Members and asked
that the Senate be ready to take action on the new Constitution and Bylaws at
the next Senate meeting in November.
Comments and questions can be sent to Debbie Copp through October 28,
2009 and will be discussed at the committee’s next meeting. Only send suggestions about the documents
that have been presented.
MISCELLANEOUS
Debbie Copp wanted to remind everyone to not let Open
Enrollment pass them by this year. It
will be held November 13-22, 2009.
ADJOURNMENT
As there was no further business, the meeting
adjourned at 2:42 p.m.
NEXT REGULAR MEETING: November 18, 2009 in the
Scholars Room of the Oklahoma Memorial Union
Respectfully submitted,
Melissa Lane
Administrative Coordinator
Elaine Bradshaw
Recording Secretary