Staff Senate Minutes - July 16, 2002
Employee of the Month: Duane Hess, Systems Engineer, Information Technology Services
Present:
Directors -- Livingston, Roggasch
Managerial/Professional -- Bressington, Danube, Kucera
Office -- L. Clark, Ellingson
Service -- Lange
Ex Officio:
Absent: Anderson, Jones, G. Clark, Wilson, Lakey
- Call to Order
- Adoption of Agenda
- Items added to the agenda include: under Unfinished Business, d. Legislative Special Session, and under Announcements, c. Let's Have Lunch, August 14th, Tour of New Education Building.
Amended Agenda Adopted (Roggasch/Kucera)
- Minutes and Correspondence
- A note was read form Kara Mitchell thanking the Office/Service Scholarship Committee for selecting her as a recipient of the scholarship. Livingston noted that she had received a thank you note from Val Vierk who was selected as the Employee of the Month for June.
- Minutes of the June 18, 2002 meeting were approved as written (Roggasch/Kucera).
- Unfinished Business
- Senate Profile Updates
Ellingson passed out copies of everyone's profile as it will appear on the web. Committee assignments were also distributed. Ellingson asked that everyone check them and make any corrections and return them to her at the end of the meeting.
- July 1 Celebration, UNK Day, A New Beginning
Livingston thanked everyone who attended and noted everyone seemed to be upbeat and excited. She asked if there were any suggestions for improvement for next year. Bressington noted it was hard to hear the speakers. Livingston noted they were aware of that problem and have discussed ways to improve that. They noted they also had a department that didn't want to shut down, but wanted to attend. They wondered if things could be adjusted so they could come in groups. Roggasch stated they could see if they could serve food for a longer time and also have speakers at both the breakfast and the lunch.
- Monthly Newsletter
Roggasch passed around a mockup of a newsletter. She stated that if members decide they want a newsletter, her secretary, Michelle Widger, would take on the task of putting it together. Roggasch noted it could be just a two page (front and back) newsletter. Ellingson asked how often they would put it out. Roggasch suggested every month following the Senate meeting. Then anything that was discussed at the meeting that needed to be announced could be included. Suggestions for other items included a profile each month of a Senate member, Employee of the Month, Department of the Month, new hires, resignations, retirements, or a profile of a Senate committee. It was suggested that it might be fun to include a recipe or joke also!
Roggasch stated she hated to bring it up, but we need to discuss how we would pay for it. Livingston suggested we could do it electronically. Roggasch noted the problem with that is it would not be attractive when sent out via the employee list on Lotus Notes. It was suggested that it be put on the Senate web site. Roggasch stated they had talked about hard copy because there are still some employees who do not have access to e-mail or just don't use e-mail. Danube stated that if it was not too expensive, his department might be able to cover the cost. It was noted that if a copy was sent to everyone on campus, that would be about 750 copies. Roggasch noted that maybe copies should go out just for bulletin boards. It was suggested that a copy also be sent to the Faculty Senate president, Student Senate president, department heads and chairs, and other key people in order to keep the copy cost down. Then those individuals could in turn make the copy available to their organization or personnel. Ellingson noted that for the electronic version, there could be a link set up on the Staff Senate web site.
- Legislative Special Session
Livingston noted she wanted to briefly share with members a few additional comments. Randy Haack had visited with Staff Senate members in depth about the budget situation at the last meeting. Livingston visited with him again this morning for an update. The Board of Regents met this past weekend in Valentine and talked about budgets. They stated they would hold on any decision on salaries till this fall. Some people thought that meant the salaries for this year; others thought that pertained to the next biennium request. Livingston stated it does apply to the next biennium request. However at this time, there still has not been any decision on this year's salaries. So that is still an unknown. Next week the governor will announce his recommendations for the Special Legislative Session which begins July 30th. UNK will have a better idea at that time what it is facing in terms of the magnitude for the campus as well as for the whole University system. Groups (Administrative Council, Deans, etc.) have been working on how they will deal with the reductions.
Since the June meeting, the Staff Senate Executive Committee (Livingston, Ellingson and Jones), the Faculty Senate Executive committee, and the Student Regent, met with some individuals from Varner Hall to talk about the Special Session and the possible impact. Basically the position that the University is taking is that they are willing to take their share of cuts, but not more than their fair share.
Indications are that things have not improved since Haack talked to the Senate last month. The Forecasting Board meets next week so we will have a better idea of the outlook then. Another item that has to be considered is the petition that is being circulated for signatures which is trying to stop the tax increases that the Legislature approved in the last session. If that happens, we may find ourselves in yet another round of budget cuts. Bressington asked if there was a time-frame when the decisions will be made concerning budget cuts/raises. Livingston stated she thought they would come fairly quickly once the Special Legislative Session is done, because there have already been, and will continue to be, various groups meeting and working on this. Bressington noted that there are a lot of staff asking about their July 1 raises. Livingston guessed that we should know by the middle of August. She also anticipated that the legislators will not do much to change what the governor proposes. She felt by next week, we should have a feel of what the impact will be. From there, they will figure out the vertical cuts that Regent O'Brien talked about at the Regents Meeting. It was suggested that we ask Vice Chancellor Haack to come back in August, or the Chancellor if he is available, and have one of them visit with Staff Senate about the budget situation.
- Committee and Search Reports
- Election Committee
No Report
- Employee Recognition
Roggasch noted the committee has selected the Employee of the Month and the Department of the Month for August. She also stated they were pleased with the number of nominations that they received for the SAFE Award. The recipients will be announced at the Fall Convocation.
- Performance Management
No Report
- Procedures Committee
No Report
- Professional Development Committee
No Report
- Office/Service Dependent Scholarship Committee
No Report
- Making a Difference Subcommittee
No Report
- Mentoring Subcommittee
No Report
- Information Technology
No Report
- Strategic Planning
No Report
- Centennial Committee
No Report
- Marketing Council
No Report
- Parking Committee
No Report
- New Business None
- Announcements
- Next meeting August 20, 2002, Cedar Room, 10:30 a.m.
- Making A Difference, October 22, 2002, Nebraskan
- Let's Have Lunch, Noon, August 14, 2002, College of Education Building Tour, Lunch in Room B154
- Adjourn
- The meeting was adjourned (Roggasch/Danube) at 11:10 a.m.
Due to the absence of the secretary, the minutes were recorded by the vice president, Dee Ellingson.