Staff Senate Minutes
University of Nebraska at Kearney
April 15th, 2008 - 10:30 a.m. in the Nebraskan Student Union – Sandhills Room
Present: Administrative: Kauders
Managerial/Professional: Schaffnitt, Benitz
Service: Geiger, Heinowski, Gilbertson
Office: Meier, Beerbohm
Ex-Officio: Lakey
Absent: McQueen, Wardyn, Bressington
New Senate Members: Jane Petersen (Managerial/Professional), JoLene Williams (Office), and James Lester (Service)
Recognition of April Employee of the Month
Julie Klahn,Associate Director, Health Care
Recognition of Department of the Month
Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council
Guest Speaker – Jaime Lundgren
Associate Director, Athletics
Jaime Lundgren talked with Senate members about the UNK Loper Women’s Walk that will be held on Saturday, September 13, 2008. She said that the Women’s Walk is a fundraiser designed to primarily benefit the female athletes in the UNK Athletic Department in the form of academic scholarships. Jaime said that the Loper Women’s Walk will be a 30-minute walk that will take place around the UNK campus. She told Senate members that the Walk is based on a team concept with each team captain recruiting as many walkers to be on the team as possible. Each participant is asked to raise a minimum of $50. Participants will be eligible for special prizes depending on the amount of money that they raise through donations. Jaime said that if anyone is interested in becoming a team captain or a walker in the event, please contact Jan Beerbohm in the Finance Office or Eve Green in the Athletic Department.
Guest Speaker – Randy Mattley
Director, Publications and Creative Services
Randy Mattley introduced himself to Senate members and gave some background on his personal history before coming to UNK. He said that one of the challenges he faces is the implementation and integration of the new campus identity. Randy said that this new core identity was created by a firm in Providence, Rhode Island and gave Senate members some history on why a new logo was needed. He said that the new icon is being used on a fairly limited basis right now on some of the publications coming out. He also said that some of the different forms of this logo will be implemented on campus over time. Randy showed some “mock ups” on how the new icon might be used in the near future.
- Call to Order – Benitz
- Open Floor– Staff members are welcome to have open discussion with Senate
- Adoption of Agenda – Two items were added to the agenda under “New Business”: Item E - New Representative for Gender Equity Committee and Item F – New Representative for Professional Conduct Committee. Kauders, Beerbohm
- Approval of Minutes –Geiger, Heinowski
- Financial Report – Kauders presented the April financial report to Senate members. Beerbohm, Schaffnitt
- Correspondence– None
- Unfinished Business
- Committee Reports
- Election Committee – Schaffnitt - Jami reported on the statistics from this year’s Senate election. She said that voter percentages and totals were considerably up this year especially in the Service area.
- B. Employee Recognition Committee – No Report
- C. Performance Management Committee - No Report
- D. Procedures Committee – No Report
- E. Professional Development Committee – Kauders – A graduation ceremony will be held on May 14 for the current Leadership UNK class.
- F. Mentoring Committee – Gilbertson – Deb reported that 100 candy jars were ordered for the Administrative/Professional Day. A motion was made by Benitz/Beerbohm for the Mentoring Committee to purchase lanyards for the welcoming packets for new employees. Motion carried.
- G. Office/Service Dependent Scholarship Committee – Lakey -After this year, the growth of the Foundation Endowed account will be given as scholarship money. The appropriate paperwork has been completed to reflect this change. John was acknowledged by Senate members for all of his hard work on this matter.
- H. Information Technology Advisory Committee – No Report
- I. Strategic Planning Committee – No Report
- J. Fundraising Committee (ad hoc) – No Report
- New Business
A. Update to By-laws – Benitz explained to Senate members the reason for the update to the current by-laws. Senators are being asked to consider the following as an addendum to the current by-laws:
When a Staff Senator is elected and his/her service area changes during the time between the election and the seating of new members, the person in his/her former service area who received the second highest number of votes will replace the Senator-elect.
As there was no discussion, the matter was tabled for unfinished business at the May 20, 2008 meeting.
B. Introduction of New Senators – Brandon introduced the newly elected Senators to everyone – Renee Ballenger (Administrative), Jane Peterson (Managerial/Professional), JoLene Williams (Office), and James Lester (Service).
C. Election of Officers for 2008-2009: Officers elected for 2008-2009 are: Jami Schaffnitt, President; Fauneil Meier, Vice President; JoLene Williams, Secretary; and Laura Wardyn, Treasurer. They will assume their positions as of May 1.
D. Recognition of Outgoing Senators- Jan Beerbohm, Deb Gilbertson, and Cheryl Bressington were recognized for their service to Staff Senate.
E. New Representative for Gender Equity – A motion was made by Kauders/Heinowski for Demaris Grant, College of Education, to serve as the new representative on the Gender Equity Committee. Motion carried.
F. New Representative for Professional Conduct Committee – A motion was made by Geiger/Schaffnitt for Audrey Kauders and Deb Schroeder to represent staff on the Professional Conduct Committee for the upcoming year. Motion carried.
Staff Senate Roundtable – Staff members update the Senate on events happening in their offices/departments
Fauneil Meier – The Japanese Association will be hosting their Sakura Festival on April 20, from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. in the Health and Sports Center.
Brandon Benitz – No pamphlets yet for Blue and Gold Welcome week – will have them for the May meeting. The theme this year for Welcome Week/Homecoming will be “UNK Through the Decades”. Freshmen students will move in to residential housing on Thursday, August 21.
Mike Geiger – Gearing up for summer – prioritizing lists for summer.
Wilma Heinowski – Not a whole lot new – more fences will be going up – watch Facilities map for updates.
Audrey Kauders – MONA recently had its big fundraising event. It was very successful with 543 people in attendance. There is an open exhibition of 19th century images of Nebraska currently at MONA. This exhibition is being held in collaboration with Larry Peterson and Gary Zaruba, UNK retired professors, who are the collectors of these historical prints.
Jami Schaffnitt – Saturday, April 19, is the 6th Annual Fun 5K Run/Walk. Faculty and staff can participate in the event. There is a $20 entry fee and registration forms are available at the Student Union Welcome Desk.
John Lakey – Performance evaluations went out recently to all supervisors. As the end of the school year is approaching, employees who are leaving need to complete check out information. The Retirement & Service Award Luncheon will be on Thursday, April 17, at 12:30 p.m. in the Ponderosa Room.
Deb Gilbertson – We are cleaning away – getting ready for summer.
Jan Beebohm – We are busy getting ready for summer; getting telephones calls about costs for fall.
James Lester – We constantly have a lot of things going on in the Union.
Jane Peterson – We are getting ready for Student Advisement and Enrollment. On the UNK home page, there is a new link appearing for new students and their parents. It is called “NEW2UNK” and it contains all of the information that was previously burned on a CD and given to new students.
JoLene Williams – The Honors Spring Banquet will be held soon. We have two positions open in Admissions that we will be hiring for.
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
- B. Anyone in the UNK community is encouraged to attend Staff Senate meetings
- C. Next Meeting – May 20th @ 10:30 a.m. in the Sandhills Room of the Nebraskan Student Union.
XI. Adjourn – meeting was adjourned at 12:17 p.m. – Kauders, Beerbohm