Staff Council Meeting

Staff Council Meeting summary

December 12, 2012

Staff Council met December 12, 2012 at 2:00p.m. in 267 University Hall

Members present: Craig This, David Bringhurst, Audwin Jones, Kym Sellers, Elizabeth Styers, MaryRaider, Vickie Slone, Susan Wehmeyer, Lena Friend, Pat Fox

Guests:          David Hopkins, President

Henry Limouze, Associate Provost for Faculty & Staff Affairs 

Cheryl Hutchinson, Staff Development Day Co-Chair

1)    Performance Appraisal

A subcommittee was tasked by President Hopkins to address improvement of Performance Appraisal rates.  The subcommittee has had their first meeting with the proposal going to the cabinet in December.

2)    Staff Development Day

Cheryl reported that the theme of Staff Development Day, scheduled for January 16, is Creating Community through Campus Conversations.  A communication will be going out to staff soon.  The potential for taping SDD sessions for future podcast was discussed.  President Hopkins will send out a memo that staff are encouraged to attend and that if supervisors are not able to allow staff to attend, alternate development should be offered.

3)    Compensation Analysis

President Hopkins plans to attend the presentation of the Compensation Analysis report with CSAC members to be held Friday, December 14.

4)    Wright Way Policy

A communication will be sent to Robert Sweeney proposing that messages be sent out on the “Official” listserve to direct employees to the changes in the WWP.

5)    Classified and Unclassified Staff Handbooks

These handbooks are seriously outdated and contain incorrect information.  They need to be either taken “off line” or have a disclaimer added that information may not be accurate until they can be updated.  Henry will check into this.  The paper versions of the handbooks need to be updated as well.

6)    Smoking Policy

A Smoking Policy Task Force is being set up at the request of President Hopkins.  Various groups (USAC, CSAC, Faculty Senate, Student Government) have been asked to set up ad hoc committees to discuss a smoking policy.  Each group will have one or more representatives on the Task Force which will send a recommendation to the President and then to the Board of Trustees which will make the final policy decision.

7)    Winter Leave

President Hopkins made clear that no decision has been made on Winter Leave for future years.  The administration is looking into many things including how other universities handle this type of closing and will try very hard to not force especially classified staff to use vacation for this purpose. President Hopkins also shared that a decision will be reached on how to handle Winter Leave in future years no later than the end of January.  Craig added that some unclassified staff have indicated a willingness to donate vacation into a pool that classified staff could use.  Henry will look into this.

8)    Wellness Program

Concerns have been expressed over data security, however laws prohibit the release of individual data to the University.  There is also an issue of the program being viewed as punitive rather than an incentive.  There is a need for a follow up communication to clear up any misunderstanding regarding data security.  Henry will work on this.

9)    “Ask Henry” email question and answer

Council will work toward getting this initiated and will make clear that not all questions will be answered; that Staff Council will be involved with question selection.  Henry shared his desire that this opportunity to pose questions be limited to staff only.

10)Further discussion of Performance Appraisals and the need for supervisor training took place.  President Hopkins shared that it will be made clear to supervisors that part of their own evaluation will be their completion of evaluations for their subordinates. There is need for accountability and for reminders in order for Performance Appraisal completion rates to improve.  A suggestion was made from USAC that perhaps the Leave Report in WINGS Express could be used to track Performance Appraisal completion.  Leadership training for supervisors is critical as evidenced by employees who do not take advantage of the university’s tuition remission because their supervisors will not allow them to take classes.  President Hopkins stated that we will have mandatory training for supervisors.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:50 p.m.

The next scheduled meeting of Staff Council is Wednesday, January 9, 2013 from 2:00 – 4:00 in 267 University Hall.