University of Nebraska Kearney

Staff Senate Minutes - February 15, 2000

Employee of the Month: Donna Walker, Nebraskan Student Union

Present: Dave Bargen, Dennis Choplin, Tim Danube, Dee Ellingson, Terry Gibbs, Carol Hines, Dannien Jones, John Lakey, Kathy Livingston, Tim McMullen, Bonnie Mumm, and Ron Roth.

Absent: Deb Huryta

Guest: Keith Riffle, Coordinator of Student Activities, Nebraskan

1. Call to Order

2. Agenda Adopted. Bargen (Danube).

3. Minutes and Correspondence
   1. Minutes of the January 18th meeting were approved as printed.

4. Unfinished Business
   1. None

5. Committee and Search Reports
   1. Committee Goals
      Employee Recognition - Bargen reported that he was elected chair. Five goals were established. Those are: 1) To select the employee of the month and forward that name for KODOS consideration. 2) Establish a Department of the Month award with a traveling trophy. 3) Build support for a Foundation Fund for a Staff Recognition Award. 4) Assist with the Annual Service Award Luncheon. 5) Administer the Staff Award for Excellence.
      Election Committee - Livingston stated the committee didn't meet; their only goal is to conduct the elections.
      Performance Management - Livingston, chair, reported the committee had met and the single goal is to be involved with the NU Values Process which is university-wide. The committee will meet as needed to act as a sounding board for the director of Human Resources and his staff.
      Procedure Committee - Did not meet.
      Professional Development - Did not meet. Mumm noted the committee is without a chair at the moment and asked Hines to call a meeting. Mumm also offered some suggestions for goals. In the past, new employee orientation has been suggested, along with a mentoring system.

   2. Strategic Planning Committee
      Mumm reported that each Vice Chancellor gave a report of what had been happening in their area. VC Lewis reported that there are now 15 web sites up and running. Also the promotional video is scheduled to be ready March 1. It was suggested that they look into the possibility of also having the web sites in Spanish. VC Lewis is also tracking any legislative issues which could impact the university. Mumm announced that Board of Regent members would visit UNK on Friday, March 31st, and then stay and hold their monthly meeting on April 1st in the Cottonwood Room.

      VC Randy Haack reported on construction progress on campus. The east wing of West Center is now open. The first floor of the Communication Center should be completed in March and the third floor is already finished. Right now the center area of West Center is torn up. The design of the College of Education building is now completed; ground breaking should be in July or August. The Board of Regents has approved the program statement for the Student Union and ground breaking will be in July. Architects are working on a design for a future football/soccer/track area for Foster Field. Currently they are in the process of selecting an architect for Bruner Hall. Later they will also be selecting an architect for the Otto Olson partial renovation. In addition, they are working on a grant for the Mary Morse Lecture Hall.

      VC Oseth reported on recruiting. Mumm noted that UNK is now using more faculty to visit at schools and this has had a positive response. Reports are that UNK admissions are up 10-20% from the previous year. However when students have to make their final selection, it is dependent on what financial aid they would receive.

      Mumm reminded members that President Smith has set up a Commission for the Development of Criteria for Evaluation and Prioritization of Academic Programs. As they look at reallocations and budget cuts in the future, they want to have a set of criteria that they can refer to, as they are cutting and reallocating funds. Livingston noted that the process will be similar to the Program Review which is done every five years, only this will be done on an annual basis for all departments. This committee will be concerned with the academic side only while the Burns Commission will be concerned with the reallocation within the administrative area. They will work in conjunction with each other and the process would be used to reallocate within our own campus. Only in extreme circumstances would it cause reallocation between campuses.

      The final item on the agenda was to look at indicators, which show process toward achieving those goals, and benchmarks for ways to identify how we are meeting those goals. Mumm noted she had given us the goals at an earlier meeting. Currently they are assigning individuals to work on each of the goals. Mumm asked to be on Goal #3 which is to attract, retain, and reward talented people - students, staff, and faculty. That group is looking at head count enrollment, total student credit hours produced, average ACT Scores of full time freshman, percent of incoming freshman who graduated in the top half of their class, percentage of faculty who have resigned, percentage of managers, professional staff, and office/service who have resigned this past year, measure of diversity, etc.

   3. Search Committees
      Mumm sits on the search committee for the Vice Chancellor of Information and Technology and reported that they had 18 applications. Currently they are working on developing the short list for telephone interviews. Two other searches that are going on are for the Dean of Natural and Social Sciences and the Vice Chancellor of Student Life. Mumm noted she had sent a letter to VC Roark and requested that a staff representative be included on both committees. Included in the letter, she asked if he would like Staff Senate to make recommendations. He responded that the Chancellor will select the committee, but if we would like to forward some names for her to consider, he would give them to her. Mumm asked if anyone would like to sit on either committee. Ellingson noted she would like to be on the search for the Dean of Natural and Social Sciences and Livingston noted she would like to be on the search for the Vice Chancellor of Student Life. A brief discussion with new members was held as to how much time is involved in the search process.

6. New Business
   1. Professional Conduct Committee
      Mumm stated that members needed to elect two Staff Senate members to serve on this Faculty Senate committee. Those individuals must be either managerial/professional or administrative. New members were provided with an explanation as to how this committee came about, who serves on it, and what its function is. Mumm listed which members would be eligible for election for a one-year term. Livingston/Danube nominated Ron Roth and Roth/Bargen nominated Tim Danube. Both were elected by unanimous vote.

   2. Facilities Advisory Committee
      Mumm stated that Rex Kendall, who has left the university, was a member of this committee, so a replacement needs to be selected. Mumm asked for volunteers. Terry Gibbs will serve on the committee.

   3. Chancellor's Facilities Master Plan Presentation
      This power-point presentation was given to the Board of Regents at their October meeting. For this viewing, Livingston read the Chancellor's script. The plan outlines the concepts for the development of the physical campus of the University of Nebraska at Kearney. These included the planning process, general planning objectives, physical planning objectives, planning factors, space analysis, physical characteristics, planning goals, campus entrances, open space, circulation, parking, current capitol projects, and future capital projects. The presentation elaborated on these areas.

7. VII. Announcements
   The next meeting will be March 21, 2000, 10:30 a.m., Art Gallery, Student Union

8. VIII. Adjourn
   The meeting was adjourned at 11:35 a.m