University of Nebraska Kearney

Staff Senate Minutes - November 16, 1999

Employee of the Month: Carol Hines, Facilities.

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

Out-going members present: Shelly Fleck and Jane Sheldon.

Absent: Mike Miller and Sue Petersen.

Guest: Billy Rayburn .

1. Call to Order
   1. Recognition certificates were presented to the out-going members. Present to receive certificates were Fleck and Sheldon. Miller and Petersen will be sent theirs.

   2. Since there are four new members, everyone introduced themselves and told where they work on campus. Mumm welcomed the new members and noted that Staff Senate meets every month on the third Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. Meetings normally last an hour and a half. If you are unable to attend, you need to notify one of the officers so that you are excused. If you have more unexcused absences than is allowed, you could be removed from membership.

2. Agenda Adopted (Livingston/Bargen)

3. Election of Officers
   Mumm noted that the current officers would conduct this meeting and the new offices would preside at the next regular meeting. Lakey conducted the elections, which had the following results:
   President: Mumm was nominated (Livingston/Ellingson). Nominations Ceased (Livingston/Bargen). Mumm will serve as president.
   Vice President: Nominated: Livingston (Ellingson/Bargen) Hines (McMullen/Choplin) Members voted twice with both times resulting in a tie. The tiebreaker resulted in Livingston being elected as vice president. The Procedures Committee was instructed to develop a procedure concerning tie votes.
   Secretary: Nominated: Ellingson (Choplin/Livingston). Nominations Ceased (Bargen/McMullen). Ellingson will serve as secretary.
   

   Livingston noted that three of the members had received Kudos last month. They were Bonnie Mumm, Carol Hines, and Jane Sheldon. Pictures are on the Central Administration website.

4. Minutes Were Approved as Printed

5. Unfinished Business
   1. Election Procedures
      Mumm noted that last month there were three issues raised about the election process. The Procedures Committee suggested that each eligible employee nominate one person, instead of two, and that cards be sent out to those nominated as opposed to calling. E-mail was also suggested, but there was the issue that not everyone has access to individual e-mail. If cards are used, the time frame required in the by-laws might need to be revised in order to give ample time to respond. McMullen, a member of the Procedures Committee, elaborated on what and why the committee was making the suggested changes. After much discussion, the matter was turned back to the committee to recommend a revised time frame, etc. (McMullen/Choplin).

6. Committee and Search Reports
   Mumm listed the Senate's committees and function of each, which are:
   • Committee on Committees: recommends appointments for standing and ad hoc committees;
   • Election Committee: coordinates elections once a year;
   • Employee Recognition: promotes incentives for rewarding excellence in performance and service;
   • Executive Committee: (composed of the officers) reviews reports, plans agenda, and makes recommendations;
   • Performance Management: considers issues relevant to staff mission, compensation, and evaluation;
   • Procedures Committee: reviews Board of Regents bylaws, Staff Senate bylaws and the Employee Handbook;
   • Professional Development: promotes participation in education/training opportunities.

   In addition, the Chancellor or other groups on campus ask Staff Senate to nominate someone to sit on other committees. Staff Senate can nominate either a member or a non-member. An example would be Billy Rayburn who represents the staff on the Facilities Advisory Committee, but is not a member of Staff Senate.

   1. Facilities Advisory
      Rayburn noted she had recently attended her first meeting, which did include viewing the portion of the video dealing with the Facilities Master Plan presented by the Chancellor to the Board of Regents. It identified how they plan for change. Goals incorporated following a survey on space analysis and review of physical characteristics included land use, building use, where entrances will be placed, retaining some open space, circulation (how you get around on campus), and parking. Rayburn noted that 22 of the 42 buildings on campus are in need of major renovation. (Some of that due to the computer age and ADA.) Rayburn also handed out a list of the proposed new features for the Nebraskan Student Union Addition/Renovation. In addition, she noted that Mike Miller had identified past, current, and proposed LB309 projects. (The State Legislature appropriates so much money each year for state agencies to apply for to help with maintenance. UNK can and has applied for this money which is a matching fund amount. Currently the state provides 80% and UNK 20%. ) Rayburn noted for 1999-2000 UNK will receive money to do some elevator replacements (Bruner & Library), window replacement (Fine Arts), roof replacement (Cushing), steamline replacement (Fine Arts), and emergency generator (Health & Sports). Rayburn also mentioned the Campus Emergency Plan prepared by Bill Davis and the results of the Safety Walk held on September 29th. Rayburn advised the Senate that Davis will be posting signs in residence halls stating the halls are open to residents and authorized guests only. This allows Public Safety to remove or arrest any unwanted individual in the halls.
      Mumm noted that since monies from student fees will be involved in the Nebraskan project, there are students involved on both the Union Steering Committee and Foster Field Steering Committee. There is a website, which gives information concerning the renovations, which can be accessed through the Student Government link. Danube addressed questions about the proposed post office, copy center, large computer lab, and fitness center, which are among the new features for the Student Union.

   2. Information Technology
      Bargen stated the recent meeting started with a presentation by Kim Schiopporeit. Students will now be able to register using the website, instead of by phone. Also available on-line will be information concerning whether classes are open or closed. They can also do a search for classes by time schedule, topic, etc. and access their financial aid information. In the future, they will even be able to pay for classes using their credit card on-line. Students will also be able to view their Degree Audits.
      John Falconer, from Sponsored Programs, visited with the committee about grant possibilities. The committee discussed general computer lab usage. Don Carpenter and his class are doing a study of lab usage in Otto Olsen. The committee also discussed the possibility of labs in other locations, such as the Library and Student Life. Hopefully more and more students will bring their own computers and the need for more computer labs will go down. Also departments have been asked to assess their needs and send a plan to the committee to consider. Since students are paying technology fees, the committee would like to do a survey to find out what their wants/needs are.

   3. Strategic Planning
      Livingston noted at the last meeting they viewed the Chancellor's video presentation. She asked Staff Senate members if they had seen it. Since a number of them had not, it was decided to arrange to have the video shown to the group at one of the regular meetings. Livingston noted that we need to be aware that UNK's vision is to be "the premier undergraduate residential university".

   4. Student Life Functional Review
      Mumm noted the committee had been meeting on a regular basis and had visited with numerous individuals and had also held an open forum. The committee's charge was to see if the current organization strategy is the right one for this campus. She noted some changes might be viable for this campus. Shortly they will provide a recommendation to the Chancellor.
      For new members, Mumm explained that one of the purposes of Staff Senate was to get communication out to make the large group of staff have a voice on campus. Currently staff does have representation on a large number of committees. Those individuals then report back to Staff Senate so members know what is going on on campus. Then if staff have questions or concerns, members can respond.

7. New Business
   1. Classification Compensation
      Lakey reported that Classification Compensation is still on track. It has been slowed because so many people are also working on SAP. Some Senate members have served on committees that developed key behaviors for the job families. Those are currently being refined. The thing that is taking a lot of time, is reviewing the job titles which will be used in the new system. One goal is to reduce the number of job titles, but have secondary titles which would be more descriptive. The second newsletter about it should be out soon. Those changes should be starting in July of 2000.
      Mumm mentioned the recent notice about the upcoming changes in NuFlex benefits. She just wanted new members to be aware that there is a U-Wide Benefit Committee. UNK members are Allen Jenkins, Mary Tiedeman, and Amy Charland. So if you have concerns, contact them.

8. Announcements
   Due to the holiday break, the next meeting has been changed to December 14, 1999, 10:30 a.m., Art Gallery. Student Union Committee assignments will be decided at this meeting.

9. Adjourn
   The meeting was adjourned at 11:40 a.m. (Choplin/Huryta).