Staff Senate Minutes - August 17, 1999
Employee of the Month: Judy Spivey, Communications Department.
Present: Dave Bargen, Dennis Choplin, Dee Ellingson, Shelly Fleck, Deb Huryta, John Lakey, Bonnie Mumm, Sue Petersen, and Jane Sheldon
Absent: Carol Hines, Kathy Livingston, Tim McMullen, and Mike Miller.
- Call to Order
- Adoption of Agenda (Fleck/Bargen)
- Minutes were approved as printed
- Unfinished Business
- Marketing Committee
Mumm was invited to attend the Marketing Meeting, along with the Faculty Senate president and Student Senate president, regarding some marketing initiatives to develop school spirit. Goals that were mentioned: get more spirit on campus, get people to attend the ball games, get people interested in what is happening on campus, and how to make students feel welcome. This is not just for outside people, but within our own staff. It was discovered that students were not aware that Fridays were designated to wear Blue and Gold. That practice will continue and the committee will try to get discounts for participants at local/campus stores. One of the ideas presented by Mumm was a suggestion by Carol Hines that whenever there is a special event on campus, the campus be flooded with Blue/Gold Flags similar to when World Affairs is held. The committee liked that idea and has ordered flags with facilities making the poles. It was suggested the flags also be put on the street running past the university.
Lakey commented that this year United Way would draw the names of two individuals to do half-court shoots for money at the first UNK home basketball game in December. The promotion will be called "Shooting for the Success". That should draw lots of interest and a large crowd.
It was suggested that Blue/Gold Fridays be advertised on the UNK message sign. A suggestion was also to have complete messages on one screen, rather than several screens. Huryta said quite often she receives too much information to do that.
Other suggestions to get students informed included notices in the Antelope or the in the residence halls. One activity that might encourage more participation could be pep rallies on Thursday evenings or Friday afternoons. One suggestion was to have residence halls or fraternities/sororities signup to be in charge of the pep rallies.
- Committee and Search Reports
- Child Care Committee
Lakey reported they have had to push the time frame back on having on-campus childcare. The target date is now second semester (Spring 2000). The RFPs have gone out to local childcare providers and are due back August 27th. The extra time will also help make a smoother transition from the Child Care Development Lab to the Child Care Lab. The priority will be to fill student childcare needs first. More information should be coming out in the UNK special Hub addition. Questions can also be addressed to John Lakey or Cheryl Bressington in Human Resources. Any grant availability should be directed to Richard Glotzer.
- Union Architect Selection Committee
Neither Hines or Miller was in attendance to report, but Mumm noted the committee would be forwarding the name of the architect to the Board of Regents for approval. Later there will be a website where information will be available and progress reports.
- New Business
- Chancellor's Retreat (August 13th & 14th at the Holiday Inn)
The Executive Committee was invited to attend on August 13th. Mumm and Ellingson attended. Representatives from Faculty Senate and Student Senate were also invited and attended.
The morning session was "Articulating the UNK Vision" moderated by Dean Schuyler. The task of the group was to develop a statement, with which everyone (students, staff, faculty, and administration) would respond when asked, "What is UNK?" Strengths of UNK, what we represent, what we want people to know about UNK, and how we are different from other institutions were discussed. The most support seemed to be for "A Premier Residential University for Undergraduate Education". Suggestions and discussion information will be forwarded to the Strategic Planning Committee.
The afternoon session was on recruitment and was chaired by John Oseth, interim vice chancellor of Student Life. Presentations by Ken Nikels, John Kundel, Barb Audley and Rodney Miller told what had been done thus far, as well as what was successful and what was not. Miller gave a CD presentation that could be sent to prospective students. Future plans are for this type of presentation to be available on the web. Kundel told how administration, deans and faculty have been on trips to schools to visit with students and counselors, and do special presentations.
Surveys have been taken in target areas to see what is known about UNK. In the Lincoln and Omaha areas especially, not much is known. Mention was made that our biggest competition is within the university system itself from the Lincoln and Omaha campuses. Also mentioned were target areas for out-of-state recruiting. Since our retention rate is fairly good, the problem is getting students here. Although UNK does not have open admissions, our standards are quite liberal.
Suggestions from Staff members included hosting more high school events so students become aware of UNK and also retaining our recruiters so UNK develops a rapport with high school counselors. When UNK visits schools, one of the biggest demands from students is to have faculty present, and UNK is addressing that demand with faculty participation in recruiting visits.
- Making A Difference
Ellingson and Lakey reported plans are being finalized for the all day event, which will be October 19th. Plans are to have the main speaker at the luncheon and have smaller sessions, two or three, both in the morning and afternoon similar to last year. The guest speaker is a faculty member at Doane College, so her humor would relate to the educational setting. Right now the main need is to find funding; the event will cost over a thousand dollars. Something different that may be tried this year is to have Chartwells provide a box lunch for a set fee so people attending the luncheon wouldn't have to go through the lines at the food court.
Any suggestions for the event should be forwarded to Brenda Jochum or Dee Ellingson. Assistance from Staff Senate will be needed at the event and soliciting door prizes.
- Staff Award For Excellence
The Chancellor wanted to have a Staff Award For Excellence at the opening convocation. Staff Senate was asked to provide the criteria and procedures for the award. Those were forwarded to the Chancellor for her approval. Since there is not time to get nominations from the whole campus for this year's award, Staff Senate was also asked to provide a list of three names to be considered for the award. Nine names were suggested and first, second and third choices were voted on. The top three names were then forwarded to the Chancellor, accompanied by background information on their service to UNK, the community, etc. The award will include a plaque and $1,000 to be used for professional development.
- Announcements
- Hub Interview
Jan Osborne from the Hub interviewed members of the Executive Committee concerning Staff Senate so there may be an article in UNK Today or somewhere in the newspaper.
- Adjourn
- The meeting was adjourned at 11:55 a.m. (Bargen/Choplin)
Next Meeting September 21, 1999, 10:30 a.m., Art Gallery, Student Union