Minutes
THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA
STAFF SENATE
(NORMAN CAMPUS)
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
DRAFT
Chair Rhonda Hill called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m.
Officers present –Rhonda Hill, Chair; Crystal Ary, Chair-Elect; Heather Todd, Immediate Past Chair; Robert Kelly, Communications Officer; Beth McCoy, Recording Secretary
Staff present – Melissa Lane, Administrative Coordinator
Senators present – Jenny Lang, , Ann Seely, Elaine Bradshaw, Weston Murphy, Kayla Doiron, Kelsey Martyn-Farewell, Suzie Brewer, Cynthia De La Rosa, Jessica Rossman, Jonathan Still, Ross Mehl, Meghan Warren, Sage Mauldin, Christa Seedorf, Sarah Moran, and Amanda Warren Marshall
Senators absent — Allison Richardson, Caitlin Fournier, Keiana Cross, Michael Ray, Kevin McKenna, and Rachel Jones-Summan
SPEAKERS
Jennifer Hollingshead, VP for Marketing and Communications
Jim Morrison, Chief Strategy Officer
ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES of March 13, 2024
The minutes of the March 13, 2024, Staff Senate meeting were approved by an email majority vote.
CHAIR’S COMMUNICATIONS
The Staff Senate Executive Committee met with Jim Morrison, Chief Strategy Officer to discuss the “Lead On, University” Strategic Plan Refresh. President Harroz sent out an on April 9th and I encourage staff to share your ideas for OU’s future and complete the online response form that was included in the e-mail.
Today is the last day to complete the Employee Engagement Survey. Don’t miss this chance to voice your opinion. Completing the survey will take no more than 10 minutes. All responses are confidential, and data will be reported in the aggregate. The survey results will help frontline managers and supervisors develop a more engaged workforce at the department and unit level.
Human Resources and Emily Pierce have done an excellent job with communication for the transition from monthly to biweekly. However, I thought it would be helpful to give a breakdown of a few key items. The April 30th paycheck will include April 1st -April 19th (3 weeks) with a full month of benefit deductions. If you elected to cash in leave on the bridge pay form or received transition leave, the May 3rd paycheck will have no benefits deducted. The May 17th paycheck will be your first regular biweekly paycheck.
If you are transitioning from monthly to biweekly and have additional state and/or federal tax withholdings taken from your paycheck, it’s important to log into Peoplesoft and update your deductions. If you do not update your W-4 your additional tax withholding amount will start coming out of twenty-six paychecks instead of twelve. You should take this action between April 20th – May 3rd. For more information, you may also check the HR website. If you have any questions, you should e-mail paydaychange.ou.edu.
Thank you to Jennifer Hollingshead and Jim Morrison for their presentations today.
REPORTS FROM SPECIAL COMMITTEES
Committee on Committees: Chair Crystal Ary reported they did not meet this last month but will meet on April 29th concerning the volunteers for officer positions for our May meeting.
Merit Award Selection Committee: Chair Crystal Ary reported they met on March 15th to select the recipients for the 2024 Staff Merit Awards. All awards were selected, and the nominators and recipients have been notified.
Policy Review Committee: Chair Crystal Ary reported they did not need to meet.
Community Outreach Committee: By email, Chair Tanya Miller-Eager reported that didn’t meet in March. The deadline to sign-up for The Big Event was March 15th. We had six volunteers registered. More about The Big Event next month.
Looking ahead, we’re focusing on the blood drive during Staff Week. Please consider stopping by and donating!
Ad Hoc Committee: Currently there are none.
REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES
Awards Committee: By email, Chair Liz Cooley reported they met to assemble awards for the ceremony next week. The committee will meet on Tuesday, April 23 at 10am in the ballroom.
Communications Committee: Chair Sarah Moran reported they met on 03/29/2024 and discussed how to prepare the following materials: staff week communication and call for volunteers for standing committees.
Staff Initiatives Committee: Chair Kelsey Marty-Farewell reported they met on April 16th and had further discussions about training and support for staff.
Staff Week Committee: Chair Jessica Rossman reported they met briefly on 04/03 to finalize volunteers and participation in staff week this year. Staff week will be held the week of April 22-26th with multiple events throughout the week. List of detailed events can be found on the Staff Week website as well as an email that was sent out to all staff on 04/15/2024. Events will include a Virtual art show, two sessions of Bingo on Wed at 11am in the Molly Shi Ballroom and 2pm in Couch Restaurants. The Picnic and Ice cream social will be held in the Armory from 11-1 on Fri 26th and there will be Fry Bread Tacos and drinks available for $5.
REPORTS FROM UNIVERSITY COUNCILS, COMMITTEES, AND BOARDS
Employee Benefits Committee: Crystal Ary reported they did not meet but do meet tomorrow.
DEI Inclusion Council: Diana Fitzpatrick said their quarterly meeting was held on Wednesday, April 10, 2024.
Dr. Hyppolite announced the name change to her area is now Division of Access and Opportunity. She reported that OU is moving forward with the transition as mandated by the governor’s executive order. This has been a huge disruption, and the office is asking for patience and understanding. Dr. Hyppolite’s office is aware of the changes in colleges and departments across all campuses and will try and keep up with those changes as well. There will also be substantive changes - a refresh - to the Strategic Plan for Pilar #4. The belonging statement has also been updated. The internal deadline for changes is May 1, 2024; the governor’s deadline is May 31, 2024.
Division update: the ADRC is looking for proctors for exam week. They announced that their office will move soon, and a formal announcement is forthcoming. They will be closed May 16, 17, 18 for the move.
The direction of the IC will be determined at a later date.
OTHER REPORTS
The following reports were linked to the April agenda:
Staff Senate Foundation account reports $1,285.30
Minutes of the Employment Benefits Committee meeting for November 2023
OLD BUSINESS
None
NEW BUSINESS
None
ANNOUNCEMENTS
ADJOURNMENT
As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1:42 p.m.
NEXT REGULAR MEETING: May 15, 2024, at 1:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Melissa Lane
Administrative Manager
Beth McCoy
Recording Secretary
