University of Nebraska Kearney

Staff Senate Minutes - January 19, 1999

Employee of the Month: Tracey Brown, College of Education, Computer Based Testing.

Present: Dennis Choplin, Dee Ellingson, Shelly Fleck, Carol Hines, John Lakey, Tim McMullen, Mike Miller, Bonnie Mumm, Sue Petersen, Steve Robinson, and Jane Sheldon.

Absent: Rex Kendall and Kathy Livingston.

Guests: Anita Kucera and Cheryl Bressington.

1. Call to Order and Introduction of Members.

2. Adoption of Agenda (Robinson/Hines).

3. Minutes were approved as printed.

4. Unfinished Business
   1. Annual Report - Anita Kucera, past president, presented the draft of the annual report. She highlighted things the Staff Senate had done this past year. Those included 1) Proposed change of the composition of the Faculty Senate's Professional Development Committee. 2) Strived to recognize and reward excellence in performance and service. 3) Worked on issues and provided recommendations to improve the climate on campus relating to performance management, compensation and evaluation. 4) Worked with campus committee on day care. 5) Continued to review and revise the bylaws of Staff Senate. 6) Assisted with "Making a Difference" Seminar. 7) Established the "UNK Staff Recognition Fund" with the Foundation. 8) Provided a member for the Employee Health and Wellness Task Force. The report also provided a listing of areas the Staff Senate will continue to work on and committee reports. Minutes of Staff Senate meetings will be added before the report is completed and given to the Chancellor.

   2. UNL Meeting - Anita Kucera was invited to UNL by the UAAD (University Association for Administrative Development) and UNOPA (University of Nebraska Office Personnel Association) to provide information about UNK's Staff Senate. UNK has the only such organization in the university system. One of UNL's groups is similar to Staff Senate only they have dues ($10 per person) and the Chancellor and the President do not recognize them. They publish a newsletter and work toward campus unity. Some issues they are concerned about are similar to ours - pay for performance, the evaluation process, and morale on campus. Currently they are trying to find out if there is enough interest in going to the Staff Senate idea. One of the pushes to having Staff Senates on every campus is then they could be recognized by the Board of Regents just like Faculty Senate and Student Senate is. Although there was much interest, there was also some resistance. Their main questions were are we credible and do we have a voice. Kucera told them we do have access to the Chancellor and noted we have a voice, even if it is not always heard. However we have come a long way in three years. What came out of the meeting is that UAAD would like to meet at least once a year, preferably every semester, with the UNK Staff Senate to talk about staff issues on both campuses and what is being done to work on those issues. Also it would develop a comradery with others in the university system. Kucera said her goal is to go to UNO next month and then UNMC. Members discussed what Staff Senate could list as their value to the UNK campus and accomplishments. Kucera was asked to keep Staff Senate informed as to her meetings with UNO and UNMC.

   3. Attendance - A reminder was given to members to inform one of the officers if they can not attend a meeting. Several members had a problem with the time of the meetings, due to other commitments. It was decided to change the meeting time to 10:30 a.m.

   4. Committee Assignments
      Employee Recognition: Dennis Choplin, Carol Hines, Rex Kendall, Kathy Livingston, and Bonnie Mumm, chair. (OSAC representative-John Rinaker)
      Election: Shelly Fleck, Tim McMullen, Stephen Robinson, Jane Sheldon, and Kathy Livingston, chair.
      Performance Management: Rex Kendall, Mike Miller, Sue Petersen, Stephen Robinson, Dee Ellingson, secretary, and Kathy Livingston, chair. (OSAC representative - Jim Lange).
      Procedure: Dennis Choplin, Mike Miller, Tim McMullen, secretary, and Dee Ellingson, chair. (OSAC representative-Billy Rayburn)
      Professional Development: Shelly Fleck, Carol Hines, Sue Petersen, and Jane Sheldon. (OSAC representative-Wilma Heinowski).

   5. Staff Senate Web Site: Judy Spellman has been working on this and getting it up-to-date. Tim McMullen will keep it updated.

5. Committee and Search Reports.
   1. Employee Recognition: Mumm reported that they had looked into the cost of a 2X4 ad in the Kearney Hub for Employee of the Month. The Hub has A special Employee of the Month ad on the 2nd Saturday of the month. Cost is $56.00 ($672.00 for the year). Members thought this would bring more visibility and recognition by the whole community. A motion (Choplin/Fleck) was passed to ask the Chancellor if she would fund the $672 a year.

   2. Procedures: McMullen reported the committee met January 14th and chose Dee Ellingson as the chair and Tim McMullen as the secretary. New members were brought up to speed on work done by the committee the previous year. Unfinished business that will be pursued includes 1) Assembling a bound copy of the Regents' Bylaws for members of Staff Senate (a recent copy was found to be missing pages). 2) Follow up with the Faculty Senate on a recommendation concerning membership on the Professional Conduct Committee. Goals for 1999 include 1) Reviewing the Policies and Procedures Manual when the updated version is ready in the spring. 2) Become familiar with the Regents' Bylaws and 3) Propose revisions to the Staff Senate Bylaws if necessary. Next meeting is March 11 at 9:00 a.m. in COPH 305. Ellingson noted that she had visited with the past president of Faculty Senate who said the Faculty Senate had never acted upon the proposed change in the makeup of the Professional Conduct Committee. Mumm asked Ellingson to pursue the matter.

   3. The search for the Director of Computer Services - no report.

   4. Sheldon, who is on the search committee for the VCAA Search Committee, stated the committee met Thursday, but she was in Lincoln. According to e-mail information, they discussed the format of how they will review the applications. They are to start now reviewing the 28 applications.

6. New Business
   1. February 5th - Friday Afternoon at Alumni House. Staff Senate and OSAC will co-host the event. Every one is asked to furnish snacks in a serving dish. Fleck was designated to handle the public announcements. Mumm will get the paper products and will arrange for helpers to get the pop/drinks. A valentine theme will be used and a Kissing Booth was suggested by OSAC.

   2. Class Compensation - Lakey, assisted by Cheryl Bressington, presented a slide presentation. NU Values is the name given to the project, which involves all the campuses. It is entirely different than the current classification/compensation system and will not be implemented in the same way as the current system. Currently to get a pay increase for a certain position, you had to do a reclassification. You would not have to do that in the new system The slide presentation outlined the objectives of the project and the planned steps to accomplish those objectives. It also emphasized the role of the supervisors and the need for training to ensure equity across campus. It will shift the role of Human Resources from gatekeeper to resource consultant. All staff will be evaluated using the following proposed core competencies: (which should fit every job on campus) 1) communication 2) customer focus 3) inclusiveness 4) problem solving 5) resource management 6) technical expertise. In addition, other competencies that can be considered are accountability, adaptability, initiative, innovation, integrity, planning/organizing, quality focus, self-development, self-management, strategic thinking and team focus. Supervisory staff also have two additional core competencies - coaching/communication and leadership. For them, four other competencies that may be considered include decision making, developing talent, project management, and team leadership. Competencies are defined as the combination of observable and measurable skills, knowledge, abilities and personal attributes that contribute to and enhance the employee's performance and ultimately result in UNK success.

      Competencies will also lead to the development of market related salary bands and the placement of jobs within those bands, distribution of monetary awards through salary adjustments and incentive payments, and the creation of employee development and career planning opportunities in an associate performance management process. Lakey noted he would like feedback, especially on the proposed core competencies, and would like to work with the Performance Management Committee on this. Another opportunity will come later to assist with performance evaluations. Bressington will lead the U Wide Committee on that so Kearney has the opportunity to take a lead role. Work will continue with Buck Consultants to further develop and implement the NU Values program. Implementation is planned for the year 2000 or 2001.

7. Announcements
   1. Human Resources Spring 1999 Training Program Schedule was handed out.

8. Adjournment was at 11:30 a.m. (Hines/McMullen).

The next meeting will be February 16 at 10:30 a.m.