THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA

STAFF SENATE

(NORMAN CAMPUS)

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Chair Beth Gatewood called the meeting to order at 1:31 p.m. in the Scholars 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

Staff absent — Ke’Yonna Wynn, Student Assistant

Representatives present — Hourly Employees Council: Diana Fitzpatrick, Ed Fontaine, Jack Shoopman, Carolyn Irons, Melanie Wilburn, Troy Schmidt, David Kizer; Informational Staff Association: Debi Gentis, Debbie Copp, Elaine Bradshaw, Lisa Bowles; Organizational Staff Council: Cathy Brister, Sandi Emond, Matt Berry, Cathy Trujillo, Jannie Porter; Administrative Staff Council: Sue-Anna Miller

Representatives absent — Hourly Employees Council: Kim Haddad Robert Murphy, Dee Hayes, Donna Stephens; Informational Staff Association: Anna Love, Michael Goodwin; Organizational Staff Council: Tami Kinsey; Administrative Staff Council: Robbie Wahnee

Guests present — David Houck, Physical Plant; Cathy Yeaman, Advanced Programs; Natalie Weigel, Advanced Programs; Nancy Matthews, Department of Mathematics; Michelle Boydstun, Payroll and Records; Sam Fellows, Fleet Services

CHAIR’S COMMUNICATIONS

Chair Beth Gatewood reported that the Norman campus Staff Senate Executive Committee met with the Health Sciences Center and Tulsa Staff Senates on February 25 at the HSC campus for a combined meeting. The main topic of discussion centered around the upcoming events for Staff Week on each of the campuses. Beth said that on February 13, she met with Vice President for Executive and Administrative Affairs Nick Hathaway. They discussed the budget outlook. The University is anticipating no new money and there is the possibility that we could have a reallocation program. The progress of the Health Care Contribution Strategy Committee was discussed. They are studying the retirement issue. We may see a recommendation from that group in the next 3 to 6 months. Beth passed around a flyer from Hour Norman and announced that the Norman community was asking citizens to go an hour without unnecessary power on Sunday March 30 from 8 to 9 p.m. She also announced that the Oklahoma vs. Texas Tech Softball game on April 10 would be Faculty/Staff night. More information will be disseminated on this event at a later date.

ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 20, 2008

On motion by Sandi Emond, the minutes of the February 20, 2008, meeting were accepted as written.

OTHER COMMUNICATIONS

Organizational Staff Council: President Cathy Brister said OSC met on March 6. The group discussed bingo and announced their merit award winners. They decided to have a potluck dinner in April and will recognize their award nominees at that meeting.

Administrative Staff Council: President Sue-Anna Miller reported that ASC met on March 18 and discussed the Staff Week picnic. She said they would very much like feedback after the event. Sue-Anna reported that Linda Patison had been selected as ASC’s award recipient. ASC also discussed recycling efforts as a means to help the University during these difficult budgetary times.

Informational Staff Association: ISA member Debi Gentis reported on the ISA meeting that was held on March 5. Debi said Trent Brown, Environmental Health and Safety Officer, was their guest speaker. He spoke about recycling and presented information about different chemicals. The group collected donations for the Angel Food Ministry Program and discussed the Staff Week art show and their award winners.

Hourly Employees Council: President Diana Fitzpatrick reported that HEC met on March 12. They are compiling a survey that was sent out with their nomination ballot and they have completed their awards selection process. Diana read the names of the Hourly Employees Council award recipients: Distinguished Service Awards - Krysta Bruehl, Greg Cornett, Sr., Dee Hayes, Tina Marie Henderson, Susan Hosler, Brian Nelson, Niky Nettey-Marbell, Perry Martin, Jim Williamson; George Lynn Cross Award - Mary K. Thomas, and Molly and David Boren Award for Excellence in Housekeeping - Vivian Hille.

STANDING COMMITTEES

OU Staff Week: Chair Melanie Wilburn reported that the group met on March 13. Over 550 shirts were sold during the shirt sales campaign. Melanie said baseball caps would be given away as prizes this year.

Awards Committee: Awards Committee Chair Cathy Yeaman said their committee would be meeting the following week due to spring break schedule.

Personnel Policies Committee: PPC member Cathy Trujillo reported that the committee met the last week of February. Two main issues were discussed, the staff raise pool issue and the car pool issue. A survey was sent out to gather information on the interest in the latter.

Employment Benefits Committee: Member Debbie Copp reported on the progress of health care RFP. She said companies are competing for the University’s business. More companies are in the market place now as compared to the last time we sent out RFPs. Debbie said there were five health care companies and two or three dental companies in addition to the companies that had dental as part of their overall company plan. Two companies bid on the flexible spending account only. She said we should start getting some details from the Health Care RFP Committee within the next month or two. On the retirement front, she reported that about 20% of current employees are either currently eligible or will be eligible to retire within the next five years. She said this was a staggering issue. Julius Hilburn told the EBC that it will probably be this fall before they have recommendations for the regents. They do not want to make any recommendations that will adversely affect anyone that is close to retirement or currently eligible to retire and they want to avoid creating a “rush to retire.” It is also important to develop a program that will reward longevity. Debbie mentioned the fact that if you work at OU for 10 years, at age 62 you are eligible for full retirement benefits. She said that has to be looked at. She encouraged everyone to read the EBC minutes and to call either her or Nancy Matthews, the Staff Senate EBC representatives, if anyone had questions.

REPORTS

The following reports were linked to the March agenda:

Staff Senate Foundation account report.

Minutes of the Employment Benefits Committee meeting of January 17, 2008.

Annual Shared Leave Report: The report was linked to the agenda. Manager of Payroll and Records Michelle Boydstun attended the meeting to address the report and answer questions. Michelle said the committee overspent by $3,000 last year. They thought they had enough to get through one more month, but they didn’t. In 2007, 31 people applied for funds. 19 were approved and 12 were denied. The money went quickly. Funds were encumbered for those to whom it was already granted and that affected funding for 2008 as well. The shared leave account needs to have a small reserve balance to cover any changes that may come about. 4 people applied in 2008; 2 were approved and 2 denied. The account currently has a balance of about $1,700. She said they could not approve any more shared leave at this point. A member asked if they would be refunded at the end of the fiscal year or the calendar year. Michelle responded that they operate on a calendar year basis. They have received all the money they will receive for year 2008. Michelle said she thought more people were becoming aware of the program and applying.

HEC member Ed Fontaine asked if employees could donate money to offset fringe benefit costs. Citing numbers from the report, he said one-third is a large chunk of the funding to be set aside for fringe benefits. He asked if something could be set up through payroll so people could donate a dollar per pay check if they chose to. He said his coworkers would all be willing to give a dollar. Debbie suggested that we might be able to donate through Campus Campaign but said it would need to be studied by PPC first to be sure it would not cost more to run through the system than it brought in. Michelle said there could also be tax implications. Michelle volunteered to check on the tax situation. Beth agreed that sending it to the PPC and the assistance of HR would be helpful. After a bit more discussion, Ed made a motion to ask that the Personnel Policies Committee look into the possibility of using employee donated money to help offset the cost of shared leave. The motion was seconded and passed on a voice vote.

MISCELLANEOUS

RFP Evaluation Committee: Hourly Employees Council member Diana Fitzpatrick who is serving on the Evaluation Committee said Debbie had summarized the meeting well. Diana said the group will meet again around the first of April and they will be presented figures. After that time, things will start going out concerning the details.

ADJOURNMENT

As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:06 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Barbara Perry

Administrative Coordinator

Kathy Gross

Recording Secretary