THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA

STAFF SENATE

(NORMAN CAMPUS)

Wednesday September 17, 2008

D R A F T

Chair Linda McCarty called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. in the Sooner Room of the Oklahoma Memorial Union.

Officers present — Linda McCarty, Chair; Diana Fitzpatrick, Chair-Elect; Beth Gatewood, Immediate Past Chair; Elaine Bradshaw, Recording Secretary

Staff present — Barbara Perry, Administrative Coordinator; KeYonna Wynn, Student Assistant

Representatives present — Hourly Employees Council: David Houck, Linda Smith, Tim Winkelman, Bobby Hardcastle, Carolyn Irons, Mary Peters, Cindy Simpson, Troy Schmidt, David Kizer; Informational Staff Association: Michael Goodwin, Chris Cook, Dick Trim, Dan Hough, Debi Gentis, Debbie Copp; Organizational Staff Council: Sandi Emond, Fran Stephens, Cathy Trujillo, Debbie Hubbard, Tami Kinsey; Administrative Staff Council: Robbie Wahnee, Terri Sarsycki

Representatives absent — Hourly Employees Council:, Connie Hall, Kim Haddad, Donna Stephens; Informational Staff Association: None; Organizational Staff Council:, Nancy Matthews; Administrative Staff Council: None

Guests present — Nick Kelly, Human Resources; Josh Maxey, Stephenson Research Center

REMARKS FROM JOSH MAXEY REGARDING hOUR NORMAN PROJECT

Chair Linda McCarty introduced Josh Maxey, Project Manager for hOUR Norman. Josh explained that hOUR Norman was part of a larger project named Earth Hour which became official in 2006 in Sydney, Australia. It began with the city shutting down as many lights as possible in government, business and residential buildings to show that by doing things a little differently, we can redistribute the way we use energy; thereby using it when it is really necessary and saving energy. The first time the lights were shut down for an hour, emission output was decreased by an amount equivalent to taking 48,000 cars off the road for an hour. It gained so much popularity, that last year over 50 million people participated and 370 cities took part. Norman was the only official supporter in the State of Oklahoma. Josh invited everyone to participate in the event which was being held on Sunday, September 21 from 9 to 10:00 p.m. He said several area restaurants and businesses, including the Mile of Cars, were participating in the event.

INSURANCE UPDATE BY NICK KELLY

Assistant Director of Human Resources Nick Kelly updated the group on health insurance and retirement issues. He said effective January 1, 2009, the University would be covered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Delta Dental for their health coverage. Rates will be virtually identical to last year’s, but there will be some improved benefits. Delta Dental will offer a new orthodontia benefit for children and employees. They will also cover implants. BC/BS will roll out several new wellness benefits, including a $1,500 lifetime smoking cessation benefit covering drugs, behavioral therapy and hypnosis as aids to quit smoking. Annual physicals will be covered. Nick said a program called Blue Points will be offered. Points can be earned by engaging in healthy behavior and can be redeemed for merchandise, etc. The program is available to anyone enrolled in BC/BS, including dependents. BC/BS will be allowing the University $500,000 over the course of its three-year contract to fund biometric screening. Nick said he expected that would allow every employee to have their vital health factors checked (such as cholesterol, glucose, body mass index and blood pressure). He said Blue Cross would come to the University and set up, much like a health fair, and people could get results while they wait. There are improvements to the flexible spending accounts. A new company called Payflex has improved the debit cards that can be used to buy over-the-counter medications or used for payment at the doctor’s office. The charge comes right off your account, basically eliminating the need to file claims. Nick said it would not be necessary to medically qualify for long term care insurance and the rates for LTC this year will be going down by about 20% across the board, including for those already enrolled in the plans. A new high option vision plan will be added. It will allow people to get contacts or glasses more frequently. Enrollment will begin November 4 and run through midnight November 16. Most of it will be conducted online. The benefits fair will be in the Armory on November 5. They plan to have Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Delta come to campus two or three times for question and answer sessions. The dates will be posted on HR’s web site soon.

Nick talked briefly about federal regulations for the supplemental retirement plans, the 403b, 457 and 401a plans. He said there are about 30 companies that are vendors. Today, people are tied to company brand loyalty, Vanguard, Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, etc. They are looking at offering investment options in a different way so people can combine funds from different companies and have one company be the record keeper. A person would get one consolidated statement and need not declare their loyalty to one of 3 or 4 different companies. This is in the works and is about a year off.

Nick said the report on retiree medical should be out in about a month. He emphasized that the committee would not make any recommendations that would cause people to retire earlier than they otherwise would have. The committee is looking at the date people are eligible to retire, not the date they retire. He said there was a broad consensus that those who are already retired or eligible to retire will be held harmless to any changes that will be made. He said there were only a couple of things that could be changed - the premium contribution or the plan design. With premium contribution, the committee is concerned that we not have a line that gets drawn so that a person on one side of the line gets nothing and a person on the other side gets everything. It should be gradual steps. Nick said in 15 years, 50% of OU’s employees will be eligible to retire. The University’s liability for retiree medical will have to be put on the books for the first time this year. It is a huge number, over half a billion dollars. Nick said we are paying over $6 million a year now for retiree medical and that is projected to double every 6 years over the next 20 to 30 years. He said it had been a difficult discussion. The preliminary report is in progress and preliminary recommendations are still being worked over. The report, when finished, will be released simultaneously to all employees and groups, and feedback will be sought from Faculty and Staff Senates. At some point a final report will go to the President. He said ultimately, the President will deal with the final recommendations as he did last year with the dependent recommendations.

CHAIR’S COMMUNICATIONS

Linda reported that Staff Senate held its luncheon on September 5. About 30 people attended and two bags of canned food for the United Way Day of Caring were collected. Linda said she had attended the Hourly Employees Council meeting recently and would like to attend each of the group and committee meetings as her schedule permits to meet everyone this year. She reported that she and Chair-Elect Diana Fitzpatrick attended the Faculty Senate meeting at which President Boren gave his State of the University address. He spoke about enrollment, lack of funding from the State, the hiring freeze, the committee addressing retiree insurance, and broadening interaction with our international students. She attended the President’s press conference on energy on September 10^th, and a Meet and Greet session with UOSA on September 11^th to foster cooperation and interaction with the student organization. Linda reported that an appointment was made to the Shared Leave Committee to replace Judy Stockdale who retired recently. Cathy Brister was appointed to fill the remainder of Judy’s term on that committee. Linda said she had received a letter from President Boren regarding Extended Sick Leave. The request to change the time frame to access ESL will be submitted to the Board of Regents. (The letter was linked to the agenda.) Linda noted that an article had appeared in the paper that indicated that some people received additional funding for raises above the 2%. She asked Nick Hathaway about it and he clarified that if departments had additional funding available and they chose to do so, they could give additional increases at their own discretion.

ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF JULY 16, 2008

On motion by Sandi Emond, the minutes of the July 16, 2008, Staff Senate meeting were accepted as written.

OTHER COMMUNICATIONS

Hourly Employees Council: President David Houck said HEC met on September 10. He reported that 90% of their committee appointments are complete. They confirmed their Staff Senate representatives and discussed the revised Physical Plant drug policy that was proposed last June. HEC passed a motion formally opposing the new proposal and formed an ad hoc committee to look into it. The committee met with the Ombudsperson Gloria White on July 16, and as a result of that meeting, the policy was postponed. David said there had been no official announcement, but Bill Henwood, the new director of the Physical Plant, favors the original policy and doesn’t intend to pursue any random drug testing. David said the committee will meet again to discuss if any further action is necessary.

Organizational Staff Council: President Sandi Emond said OSC met on September 4. They had a tour of the K20 Center at Two Partners Place. Future meeting topics and meetings as well as places for bingo for next spring’s Staff Week were discussed.

Informational Staff Association: President Michael Goodwin said ISA met on September 3. Debbie Copp, a member of ISA, was their guest speaker and spoke on Employee Benefits. They recapped last spring’s activities and decided to continue participation in the Angel Food Ministries program. ISA is preparing for a logo contest for their group. The group also decided to participate in Lee National Denim Day.

CORRESPONDENCE

Staff Senate’s letter to president Boren concerning changes to extended sick leave policy and President Boren’s response. These letters were linked to the September agenda.

REPORTS

The following reports were linked to the September agenda:

Staff Senate Foundation account report.

Minutes of Employment Benefits Committee meeting for June 19, 2008.

STANDING COMMITTEES

Awards Committee: Chair Dan Hough said the committee met on September 9. Volunteers signed up for all of the subcommittees. The groups discussed the possibility of moving the Awards Ceremony. The committee recommended not to change it this year because the ceremony is two weeks before graduation. They recommend to always keep it before graduation so faculty and students can come to the ceremony. Dan said not all of the awards come from staff. Faculty and students also give staff awards and they want to be sure faculty and students are on campus for the ceremony. Dan said he had obtained the graduation schedule through 2018. The Awards Committee recommends that if Staff Week is moved, to make sure it is always two weeks ahead of graduation.

MISCELLANEOUS

Linda said she had been asked by the IT Store to tell everyone that their new store is located on the corner of Jenkins and Lindsey. OSC has scheduled a tour. The store invites everyone to stop by or would love any of the groups to take a tour.

ADJOURNMENT

As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Barbara Perry

Administrative Coordinator

Elaine Bradshaw

Recording Secretary