Staff Council Q & A

This is the place to find the answers to questions, comments, and concerns you sent to Staff Council. Any question we receive is sent to the appropriate area with a request to provide an answer to the chair of Staff Council.

 Before each answer will be the department or area we contacted for the answer.

Question received on 05-16-07:  Recently, 5 employees were denied Staff Development funding because they were from the same department and attending the same seminar.  The supervisor for these 5 employees approved and felt it was important to send them to the same seminar.  Could this part of the Staff Development Funding guidelines be looked into for possible revision, increasing the number of individuals that can be considered for funding to at least 5 reflecting consideration for larger departments?

Response from Gina Peavy, Staff Council Chair: Staff Development Funding is to be used as a supplement to departmental budgets for training, it is not in place to provide training for a department.  If a department supervisor feels it is important enough for all employees to receive training, then the department is responsible for providing funding.  The Guidelines state the purpose of the limit is so one person who receives the funding can them come back to the department and share the knowledge gained.  The Guidelines relevant to this question reads:

Question received on 02-07-07:Over the past couple of months, the (name removed) has had problems getting our promotional materials approved in a timely manner from University Communications. Lately, we have sent our student worker down to University Communications to have our materials approved and stamped; only to be told that the person who does this duty isn't in the office. There is another person in their office who could do this, but it seems like he's never in the office. And, we have been told that the other professional staff member does not want to take that responsibility. Which means, our materials are left in the office. On a good day, we can pick up our materials the next day. But, there have been times when it has been almost a week before we received our materials. This is just inexcusable.

What I want to know is what exactly University Communications can and cannot do. I do not recall any memo from University Communications about a change in material approvals. Come to think, I do not recall Student Activities sending out a memo saying they no longer performed that task. Where is the internal customer service?
 

Response from Bryan Jackson, Director of University Communications: University Communications strives to process approvals within two days, and -- whenever possible -- the same day they are received.  And, in those cases where materials need quick approvals, we do our best to expedite things.  Of course, things usually go smoother all the way around when there is adequate lead time – especially if changes are required.

Normally, there are two individuals responsible for approving promotional material, Zach Kincaid and myself – and yes, there are times when we are both out.  The area of responsibility of our other professional staff member – Ben Holcombe – is media relations, which does not include design approval. So it is not a case of his not wanting to assume such responsibility. More importantly, Ben says he has never been asked to approve any such materials.

In investigating this particular complaint, it appears there may have been some confusion over the approval process.  University Communications has NOT always approved flyers because this task was originally performed by Student Activities.  However, some time during the past year the office inherited this task, although it’s not clear that there was ever any formal notification – either to other departments or to even to some of the University Communications staff.  In addition, staff changes in our office and elsewhere on campus may have also played a factor.

Although it’s not clear when this particular problem occurred, it should be noted that over the past couple of months University Communications had already taken steps to help ensure the timely approval of materials we receive for review.  In addition to me and Zach Kincaid, our administrative assistant, Sequena Moon can also now approve some of these materials (generally limited to those used on-campus).  In addition, we log all such requests when they come into our office and when they are approved.  A check of those logs finds that turnaround has usually been given the same day received.

Frankly, having to go through an approval process sometimes may seem like an unnecessary burden, but it’s there to help ensure that the GCSU logos and graphics are being used properly and consistently – and sometimes they are not.  So we appreciate your cooperation and patience – and pledge to do our best to accommodate you as we work toward our goal of providing the best customer service possible. However, if there is a particular, recurring problem I’m not aware of, I am always happy to personally handle the matter and do my best to resolve it to everyone’s satisfaction. 

Thanks for the opportunity to respond.

Question received on 01-31-07: I went to the post office today and they were out of book stamps so I wanted to get some out of the machine. They didn’t have any dimes or nickels to give me so that I could put in the correct amount because it doesn’t give change, so then I asked for change for a 5 dollar bill and they didn’t have any ones. They told me to go to the bookstore to get change while they just sat there, but I just couldn’t understand why they are so short changed over there. They have a sign that says their open from 10-4 but they couldn’t help me at all for what I needed and it is only Tuesday.

Response from Dave Groseclose, Assistant VP for Human Services & Budget: Thanks for sharing the mail room concern with me.  I can’t tell from the note if this occurred yesterday morning or afternoon.  I was in the mail room for about 3 hours yesterday morning sorting mail.  While I was there I did hear the conversation when someone came to the window asking for stamps.  I don’t know who it was, but the conversation was very brief as the person was told that they were currently out of stamps.  The conversation was very polite on both sides of the window.  I don’t know if this was the same person that sent you the note or not as evidently, there was more than 1 person that came by looking for stamps.  I also noticed that very shortly after that visit to the window, Crystal got out the cash drawer and counted out the cash in order to purchase stamps from the US Post Office and get change from the business office.  I didn’t pay much attention at the time, and it probably would have gone totally unnoticed except for the fact that while I was there, she had me approve the form used to spend the cash from their drawer at the US Post Office.

I called and talked to Crystal regarding the note you received.  She confirmed that in fact they were out of stamps and change.  All they had were $5, $10 and $20’s.  They go through a tremendous number of stamps, selling them to students and staff alike.  A large portion of the stamps are sold to students that need one $.39 stamp.  They pay with a bill of some denomination and as a result the change goes very quickly.  They have often found themselves out of stamps, out of change, or both. 

I asked Crystal to try and keep a little ahead of the curve on this from now on.  I asked her to order stamps a bit sooner, and try to keep more change in the box.  I asked that when  she starts to get low on change, to go get change from the bookstore. She said that she would do her best to do so.

As a side note I offer these thoughts.  There is an old saying about walking a mile in another man’s shoes.  I really wish that some of the folks on campus could spend a week (or even 1 day) in our mail room.  I happened to be in the mail room yesterday trying to help them get caught up.  They have 2.5 staff members to handle the mail and packages for about 2,000 students and all of the departments on campus.  It is difficult to imagine the volume of mail that comes into that mail room on any given day.  Besides the 6 – 8 tubs of campus mail that is picked up each day, they receive 8 – 12 tubs of student and campus mail from the US Post Office.  Add to that the packages of books from places like Amazon (over 750 such packages last week) and things get pretty backed up.  Everything there is still manual with the exception of the postage machine for outgoing mail.  All of those books which will not fit in the mail box have to be written up on a slip which is placed in the student’s box, marked for retrieval when the student shows up at the window. 

That is one example of the many tasks that are done by the 2 employees that stay in the mail room, while the .5 EFT employee is out picking up or delivering the mail.  They also do all of the forwarding, looking up the correct box number or address for the hundreds of pieces that come in each week improperly addressed, etc. etc.  Patsy and Crystal do not complain.  I am not complaining either.  Nor am I trying to make excuses for them, but I do feel compelled to try and explain some of the reasons for what many people perceive as inadequate service.  Five years ago when we had fewer students, fewer faculty and staff, and even fewer departments, we had 3.5 EFT in the mail room.  We lost a position due to budget cuts and have never gotten the position back.  I continually ask for the position, but it has always been passed over for higher priority needs.  It would be hard to do a job day after day, where there isn’t even a glimpse of a light at the end of the tunnel.  It’s sad, but that is pretty much what it’s like in the mailroom.  While there is most definitely room for improvement, I honestly feel that they do a very good job under the circumstances they face every day.

 I know this is a much longer response than you expected and most likely wanted.  The important thing is that we will try to do a better job of keeping stamps and change in the mailroom.  Patsy and Crystal will continue trying to handle the duties assigned to them as efficiently as they can.  I would be happy to discuss this further with you, or with the individual that raised the issue if you think that is warranted.  Thanks for sharing the information with me.  I promise that we will work on the problem.

 

Question received on 09-06-06: Why is the Physical Plant not represented on Staff Council?

Response from Gina Peavy, Staff Council Chair: In March of 2006, elections were held campus wide for Staff Council Delegates to serve for the 2006 - 2007 year. Nominations were solicited by the out-going staff representative, Patrice Terrell, in the Business and Finance Division. After nominations were received, an election was held. Business and Finance was the only division that did not hold elections electronically via email. Paper ballets were distributed and collected by Mrs. Terrell.  The Physical Plant is represented by two very dedicated delegates, Ms. Jamie McDuffie from Human Resources and Ms. Lilia Biktyakova from the Business and Finance Office.  Representation is by division and not specifically by department.   

Question received on 07-06-05:  The state of the mail situation on this campus has got to improve.  We all understand that the mail room is understaffed.  Is there anything that can be done to get this office adequate staffing?  It should not take three days for interoffice mail to get across campus, and mail should run once in the morning and once in the afternoon.  It's taking entirely too long to send and receive mail on such a small campus.  With all of the positions on campus, one would think an extra mail handler position would be a useful place to put funds. 

Response from Martha Strawsma, Assistant to VP for Business & Finance/Director of Administrative Services:  Due to budget limitations, we were unable to fund another mail carrier position in mail services for FY06.  We realize that the majority of the campus would like to have mail delivery two times a day, but it's not possible at this time.  We will continue to try to get a carrier position funded. 

Question received on 03-09-05:  I am a relatively recent hire.  I have not seen an agenda that Dr. Leland intends to follow throughout her presidency.  I am surprised that a new president would take on some of the issues that she has chosen to take on at the beginning of her tenure, i.e., changing the school's name again.  Please advise whether an agenda is available to the campus community.

Response from the President's Office:  If the writer is interested in her agenda, many of the main points are enumerated in her inaugural address at http://www.gcsu.edu/inauguration/address.html. 

Question received on 03-09-05:  The Colonnade mentioned an increase on parking fees for A decals to $120.  Is this true, and if so, how can staff refuse the proposal in order to keep it at least the same amount?

Response from Carol Brown, Staff Council Chair:  Staff Council was not asked to participate in this discussion.  At the present time, this is just a proposal.

Question received on 03-04-05:  I learned from an article in the student newspaper this morning that our parking fees are going up to $120 for A permits.  I called Ken Vance, and Ken explained that the fees were going from $7 a month to $10 a month.  While I am sure some increase may have been needed, I think a $36 per year increase (30%) is excessive.  I am very concerned with the fact that nothing has been said to staff about this huge increase.  Where is Staff Council regarding issues like this?

Response from Carol Brown, Staff Council Chair:  Staff Council was not asked to participate in this discussion.  At the present time, this is just a proposal.

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