STAFF COUNCIL MEETING
Thursday, November 14, 2002
2:00 p.m.,
Chappell 106
Present: Barbara Monnett (presiding), Rose Murner, Kathy Hill, Cindy Diaz, Neil Jones, Susan Demmon, Kenneth Manson, Teri Hollar, Carol Brown, Jennifer Brooker, Ann Portwood. Excused: Kim Ireland. Absent: Lynda Grable, Valerie Smykal. Guests: Harry Keim, Bonnie Sims, Pat Wilkins, Kendall Stiles.
Call to Order. Barbara Monnett called the meeting to order at 2:00.
Approval of the Minutes. The minutes of the October 17 and October 30 meetings were approved as written.
Direct Deposit. Barbara welcomed our guests Harry Keim, Bonnie Sims, and Pat Wilkins who came to talk about direct deposit. Harry mentioned that a proposal has been taken before the president's staff for approval that would require any new employee hired on or after January 1,2003 to be enrolled in direct deposit. It is hoped that the new employees will share the benefits of direct deposit with some of the older employees and encourage their participation. The latest push we made for direct deposit resulted in about twenty people joining, but we still have a large percentage of employees who don't participate. Harry then went on to list some of the advantages of direct deposit: it's a secure system that is virtually fool-proof; there have never been any problems with deposits; employees can deposit into more than one account at more than one bank; there is extreme convenience to the employees; there is a substantial cost savings to the institution; and money is accessible to the employee earlier than if they waited for payroll checks to be delivered in campus mail (the money is already in the employee's account at 8:00 on payday). There is simply no downside to having direct deposit. Direct deposit is an extremely efficient way to operate.
Harry did say that sometimes employees want to get their payroll checks early for one reason or another (emergency, out of town trip, vacation day on payday, etc.). He has okayed this in the past, but it will probably not be so easy for employees to do it in the future. If the employee had direct deposit, he/she would not have to worry about trying to get the payroll check early. It would already be deposited in an account. Also, the university has to require its payroll employees to come in on holidays to distribute payroll checks. This, too, could be eliminated with the use of direct deposit. For employees who don't have access to a bank account, the university has worked out a deal with MidSouth Federal Credit Union. For a $5 membership fee, employees can open a savings account (with no credit report check) at the credit union and have their money directly deposited there. They can then go to the branch office located in PawPrints Bookstore and get their cash at 8:00 a.m. on payday. If they terminate their employment with the university, the $5 membership fee is refundable. However, once an employee signs up for direct deposit, he/she must continue to have direct deposit at some institution for the length of employment here.
A motion was made, seconded, and approved for Staff Council to endorse the proposal that requires new employees hired on or after January 1,2003 to be enrolled in direct deposit. Barbara thanked Harry, Bonnie, and Pat for coming to the meeting.
Staff Development Guidelines. Barbara and Rose Murner have
met with the president to discuss our proposed staff development
guidelines. Dr. DePaolo needed additional information and had some
questions about the draft of the guidelines. The group decided to table
the vote to accept the guidelines until a later meeting in order to get
input from the president.
Staff Excellence Award. The Fall
Semester Staff Excellence Award ceremony will be on Thursday, December 5
at 9:00 a.m. in Maxwell Student Union Lounge. Nominations for the award
are being accepted until 5:00 p.m. on November 25.
GCANS Nursing
Program. Barbara introduced Kendall Stiles to talk about the Christmas
project our nursing students are sponsoring. The students work closely
with the local Meals on Wheels and FRIENDS and are collecting donations
to benefit the recipients. Staff Council usually adopts a needy family
at Christmas and makes donations to them. However, the group felt that
this GCANS project would reach a wider audience and also aid in
promoting a service learning idea for our students. A motion was made,
seconded, and approved to help sponsor the GCANS project this Christmas.
This project will also help foster the partnership between our
university and our community. Kendall will find out more information
about collection points, deadlines, etc. and get back to the group.
Anyone interested in making a donation can bring it to the Staff
Excellence Award ceremony on December 5. Collection boxes will be
available in MSU that morning.
Other Business.
Kenneth
Manson had suggested having a representative from TRS come to campus for
a retirement seminar. Representatives from TRS cannot come for a small
group seminar, but Bonnie has approached them about coming for a
university-wide session. She will share more information with us as she
gets it.
Announcements.
John Webb, Don Smith, Ed Layfield, Robin
Tanner and Herdie Simmons did a great job on our suggestion boxes located in Physical Plant and Ennis. We
appreciate their hard work and hope that staff will make good use of the
boxes.
Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 2:40 p.m.
The next regularly scheduled meeting will be Thursday, January 16, 2003.
(Remaining meeting dates: March 6, April 17, May 15, and June 5,
2003.)