THE
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA
STAFF
SENATE
(NORMAN
CAMPUS)
Wednesday
October 15, 2008
Chair Linda McCarty called the meeting
to order at 1:32 p.m. in the Scholars 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, Bobby Hardcastle, Carolyn
Irons, Mary Peters, Donna Stephens, 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, Nancy Matthews, Fran
Stephens, Cathy Trujillo, Tami Kinsey; Administrative Staff Council:, Terri
Sarsycki
Representatives absent — Hourly
Employees Council: Tim Winkelman, Kim Haddad; Informational Staff Association:
None; Organizational Staff Council: Debbie Hubbard; Administrative Staff
Council: Robbie Wahnee
Guests present —
Misty Rhodes, College of Continuing Education; Pamela Reagan, College of
Continuing Education; Rennie Cook, Alumni Affairs; Lezlie Pilkington,
Administrative Affairs; Betty Love, Parking and Transportation Services;
Margaret Vennochi, College of Earth and Energy; Reporter, The Oklahoma Daily
REMARKS BY MISTY RHODES AND PAMELA
REAGAN, CCE, REGARDING PROJECT MANAGEMENT EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
Misty Rhodes and Pamela Reagan
provided a handout listing the project management courses offered through CCE
University Outreach programs.
Misty said the courses help participants improve management, leadership
and communications skills.
Introductory rates are being offered, plus staff receive an additional
20% discount. Classes are held at
the Forum. For more information
visit http://www.projectmanagement.ou.edu.
REMARKS BY RENNIE COOK, ALUMNI AFFAIRS,
REGARDING UNITED WAY DRIVE
Rennie announced that a chili
cook-off had been held at noon that day, October 15, as the kick-off for OU’s
United Way campaign. He said OU’s
goal was to raise $205,000. Rennie
said he realized this was a difficult time to raise money for any campaign, but
pointed out that the agencies and people depending on United Way donations
needed our support more than ever.
He said a $100 donation would provide groceries for the Women’s Resource
Center for the entire shelter for a week.
Some ways to participate are to purchase a t-shirt for $10. $3.50 covers the cost of the shirt and
$6.50 goes directly to the campaign.
One entire day is set aside for the campus to wear the shirts, Friday October
24. The t-shirts are available at
the Bookstores. He said a
fun walk would be held on October 30.
It would be a one-mile walk around campus. He said the last week of the campaign would be recognized as
the week to “Give United.” He remarked,
“We eat United today, we dress United next week, we walk United on the 30th
and we Give United.” Rennie encouraged everyone to
participate and send in their donation.
CHAIR’S COMMUNICATIONS
Chair Linda McCarty said
she had a short meeting with Vice President for Executive and Administrative
Affairs Nick Hathaway. Nick told
Linda it was too early to know whether any more cuts to next year’s budget
would be necessary, but advised that people should hold back on spending if
possible and spend wisely. Linda
passed out a flyer for Fill the Trolley.
Staff Senate will have a box to fill at the November meeting. Linda reminded everyone of the health
care meetings coming up. A town
hall meeting will be held on October 27 at Meacham Auditorium and the Benefits
Fair will be held on November 5 in the Armory. Open enrollment will run November 4 through November 16.
ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF
SEPTEMBER 17, 2008
On motion by Sandi Emond, the minutes of the September
17, 2008, Staff Senate meeting were accepted as written.
OTHER
COMMUNICATIONS
Hourly Employees Council: President David Houck said HEC met on October
8. They discussed the Staff Senate
position regarding speaking to reporters — if you choose to comment, make
it clear that you are speaking from a personal standpoint and not on behalf of
HEC or Staff Senate. HEC discussed
the Hourglass Newsletter and gathered some interesting, new ideas to include
in the publication. David invited everyone
to send in their recipes or stories to him. The group would like to have an issue out before
Thanksgiving. Service pins were
presented to members who had completed their first full year with the HEC.
Organizational Staff Council: President Sandi Emond said OSC met on October
2. Nick Kelly gave an update on
health insurance. A budget was
formulated for bingo, 2009.
Informational Staff Association: President Michael Goodwin said ISA met
on October 1. The group discussed
the Art Show budget and chose members for the Awards Selection Committee,
Elections Committee and Art Show Committee. A collection was taken for the Angel Food Ministry program. After the business meeting, the group
toured the new IT Store at the corner of Jenkins and Lindsey Streets.
Administrative Staff Council: Vice President Terri Sarsycki said ASC
met on September 23 and would hold future meetings on the 3rd
Tuesday of the month. 34 people
attended the September meeting. Clarke Stroud was the guest speaker and spoke
on motivational leadership.
This year, the group is offering a series of meetings on leadership and
networking. Krista Pettersen volunteered
to fill the ASC vacancy on the Staff Professional Development Committee. Nick Kelly updated the group on health
benefits. The group will discuss
their holiday charity event at their next meeting.
CORRESPONDENCE
Thank you
note from United Way organization regarding Day of Caring was linked to the
agenda.
REPORTS
The
following reports were linked to the October agenda:
Staff Senate
Foundation account report.
Minutes of
Employment Benefits Committee meeting for August 21, 2008.
STANDING COMMITTEES
Awards Committee: Chair Dan Hough inquired about the
Awards Ceremony schedule. Chair
Linda McCarty told him we had not yet been able to secure a date with the
President.
Personnel Policies Committee: Chair Margaret Vennochi said the PPC
met on October 24. Members signed
up for subcommittees and decided to continue investigating the issue of using extended
sick leave for care of dependents.
The subcommittee investigating funding for staff promotions is
continuing its research as well.
Employment Benefits Committee: EBC Committee member Debbie Copp said they
had met and were supposed to meet again on October 16, but the meeting had been
moved back a couple of weeks in hopes they would have a first draft from the
retiree insurance committee to review by that time. After the EBC reviews the report, other groups, including
Faculty and Staff Senates will be able to review it. Debbie said throughout the process staff have been hearing
the term “near retirement”, but no one knew exactly what that meant. She said at President Boren’s State of
the University Address at the September Faculty Senate meeting, President Boren
explained that term. She said the President
told the Faculty Senate it was “anyone … eligible to retire or who will be
eligible to retire within 5 years.”
She said now that we know what the word “near” means, we should share
this information to help ease concern.
Debbie said the new Delta Dental
will be somewhat different from the Delta plan we were on before. Check out the details. She asked members to help get out the
word about the benefits of using the flexible spending accounts. As an example, she said a $15 deduction
which comes out of the paycheck in pre-tax dollars may amount to a reduction of
only $10 in your paycheck, yet you would be reimbursed for the full $15 worth
of health care claims or over-the-counter medications. She said everyone would need to enroll in the new insurance
plans this year because we are changing to a new carrier. Debbie said there would be new
enrollment for the long term care insurance this year and there was no medical
qualifying unless you had applied for it before and had been turned down. There was some confusion as to whether
the insurance in question was the long term disability or long term care
insurance. A member asked about the lack of providers in the BlueLincs
HMO. He was told they are still in
the process of enrolling providers and was advised to check the list again closer to the enrollment
date; however, there will probably not be a large number of providers in the
Norman area.
MISCELLANEOUS
Linda noted
that the next Staff Senate meeting would be held on November 19 in the
Associates Room.
ADJOURNMENT
As there was
no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:17p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara
Perry
Administrative Coordinator
Elaine Bradshaw
Recording Secretary