Staff Senate Minutes
University of Nebraska at Kearney
February 19th, 2008 - 10:30 a.m. in the
Nebraskan Student Union – Sandhills Room
Present:
Administrative: Kauders, Bressington, McQueen
Managerial/Professional: Benitz, Schaffnitt
Service: Geiger, Heinowski, Gilbertson
Office: Meier, Wardyn, Beerbohm
Ex-Officio: Lakey
Absent:
Guests:
Members of the Leadership UNK 2007-08: Roz Sheldon, Dianne Holcomb
Recognition of February Employee of the Month
Marilyn Morehouse
Office Associate, Academic Success
Recognition of Department of the Month
Department of Chemistry
Guest Speaker – Deb Murray
Director, Center for Rural Research & Development
Deb shared with Staff Senate the mission of the Center for Rural Research and Development which focuses on entrepreneurship and innovation empowering the region’s residents to seek avenues of rural economic development by building entrepreneurial and professional capacity, and by encouraging creating thinking about the economic growth of our region. She said that the center focuses on outreach efforts, offering a portfolio of innovative programs and initiatives for various constituencies. The programs are organized into three areas: university, community, and global partnerships. Deb said examples of the community partnerships include the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program; the Baldwin Free Enterprise Seminar Series; and the Wells Fargo Seminar Series. University Partnerships include a Market Research Program; Community Research Projects; and the Kay Payne Undergraduate Student Case Competition. Deb said that Global Partnerships include the Business and International Education Program. This area can be further broken down into the areas of an International Business Minor, International Business Internship Program, Business Study Abroad Program, etc. Deb also talked about the High School Entrepreneurs Boot Camp they are hosting this summer for rising high school juniors and seniors within central Nebraska. She said the camp will teach participants how to write and develop a sustainable business plan and at the end of the week, they will be offered the opportunity to present their business plans to a panel of judges.
Guest Speaker – Lee McQueen
Director, Facilities
Lee McQueen updated Senate members on the Bruner Hall of Science construction project. He showed the architect’s drawings on what the project will look like when it is completed and how the space will be allocated within the building. Lee informed the Senate of the timeline of the different construction phases for Bruner Hall. He said the target date for completion is December 2009.
Lee also talked to the Senate about the extensive, multi-phased construction effort to develop a centralized heating and water distribution system. Construction is scheduled to begin the first week of March. He said that NPPD is also currently erecting a new electrical substation next to the spillway. Lee indicated that there will be tunnel work done on campus this spring and encouraged everyone to check on the Facilities web site for construction map updates. The electrical outage that was scheduled for May 10 – 12 has been changed. The new schedule will include two outage periods instead: Saturday, May 10, and Sunday, May 25, between the times of 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
- Call to Order– Benitz
- Open Floor– Staff members are welcome to have open discussion with Senate
- Adoption of Agenda –Bressington, Beerbohm
- Approval of Minutes - Kauders, Bressington
- Financial Report – Kauders presented the February financial report to Senate members. Bressington, Wardyn
- Correspondence – A thank you note was received from Julie Klahn.
- Unfinished Business
February’s Friday Afternoon Club – There were 25-30 people who attended the Friday Afternoon Club on February 8th at the Alumni House.
Committee Reports
Election Committee – Schaffnitt – The nomination process will be from March 6 – 13. An e-mail invitation will be sent out to permanent employees inviting them to nominate a fellow employee to serve on Staff Senate. Nominees will be contacted after March 13 to ask their permission to place their name on the election ballot. On March 20, the final voting ballot will again be sent by e-mail to permanent employees and will continue through March 27. The entire voting process will be done anonymously.
Employee Recognition Committee – No Report
Performance Management Committee – No Report
Procedures Committee – No Report
Professional Development Committee – Bressington - Cheryl stated that 140-150 people attended the Staff Recognition Day in January. She reminded everyone about the workshop on March 26 with Dale Sunderman. The workshop is called “TUMS: A Prescription for Burnout” and will be held in the Nebraskan 310. A motion was made by Lee McQueen, seconded by Audrey Kauders, for Staff Senate to pay the lodging expense for the guest speaker at the March 26 workshop. Motion was carried by Senate members.
Mentoring Office/Service Dependent Scholarship Committee – No Report
Information Technology Advisory Committee – No Report
Strategic Planning Committee – Benitz – The committee met on Monday, February 18. Some key points from the meeting include: enrollment at UNK is down 500 students from Fall 1998; UNK loses 22% of their students between their freshman and sophomore year; and UNK loses 22% of their students between their sophomore year to their graduation date.
Fundraising Committee (ad hoc) – No Report
- New Business
- Vacancy of Managerial/Professional Senator – A motion was made by Kauders, seconded by Heinowski, to wait and fill this vacancy during the upcoming election. Motion was carried by Senate members.
- Loper’s Women’s Walk for Athletics – Bressington passed information out to the Senate members regarding the Loper’s Women’s Walk. All proceeds from this event will earn money for scholarships in women’s athletics at UNK and strengthen what we do for men’s athletics. Jaime Lundgren will be attending a Senate meeting in the near future to discuss the Loper’s Women’s Walk further.
- USA Today – Collegiate Readership Program – During the pilot’s first week, UNK students read 3,291 newspapers, for an average of 658 newspapers each day. Because the newspapers are being paid for by student fees, staff is encouraged not to pick up and read newspapers out of the bins, as that would inflate the daily count, which would then raise the prices charged to the students. If there is a large number of staff who would like to take a paper daily, we would need to explore the option of assisting with the semester costs.
- Staff Senate Roundtable – Staff members update the Senate on events happening in their offices/departments
Fauneil Meier – The International Food Festival will be held on Sunday, March 2, 3:00-6:00 p.m. in the Health and Sports Center.
Mike Geiger – Moving along – nothing special is happening
Wilma Heinowski – The new parking software bid was sent to the Vice Chancellor; Public Safety is getting ready for Facilities’ construction projects and the Elite 8 Basketball Tournament is coming up.
Audrey Kauders – At our January board meeting for MONA, a policy was approved allowing MONA to bid at art auctions such as those on E-bay.
Brandon Benitz – Busy planning Blue & Gold Welcome Week – making some modifications to the schedule as students will be moving into the dormitories on Thursday instead of Friday this year.
Cheryl Bressington – I am hoping to achieve an 85% participation rate for the student Title IX Athletic Survey we are doing by March 5.
Jan Beerbohm – In Finance we are doing the second billings and the 1098T’s went out to the students from the state.
Jamie Schaffnitt – The Peking Acrobats were a success. John Dau, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, will be speaking on Wednesday, February 20, at 7:00 p.m. in the Nebraskan.
John Lakey – Firefly passwords are going out; sessions on using Firefly will be taking place on campus soon; otherwise, business as usual.
Lee McQueen – Facilities is getting ready for the NCAA Elite 8 Basketball Tournament and the State Speech Contest which will be held over spring break.
Laura Wardyn – Bills were due last week
Leadership UNK Participants “Roundtable”:
Roz Sheldon – Busy with counseling and health care for students; also in the process of conducting a survey.
Dianne Holcomb –Ben Nelson will be on campus tomorrow to discuss the solar cell grant.
XI. Announcements
- Staff Senate is always seeking nominations for Employee and Department of the Month! All nomination forms are available on-line on the Staff Senate webpage
- Anyone in the UNK community is encouraged to attend Staff Senate meetings
- Next Meeting – March 18th @ 10:30 a.m. in the Sandhills Room of the Nebraskan Student Union.
XI. Adjourn – meeting was adjourned at 11:55 a.m. – Kauders, Beerbohm
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