STAFF COUNCIL MEETING
Thursday, May 15, 2003
2:00 p.m., Chappell 106
Present: Barbara Monnett (presiding), Rose Murner, Neil Jones, Carol Brown, Ann Portwood, Kenneth Manson, Kathy Hill, Jennifer Brooker, Kim Ireland, Cindy Diaz, Cindy Potts, and Teri Hollar. Excused: Susan Demmon. Absent: Valerie Smykal. Guests: Jill Harper, Lori Strawder, Susan Kukua, Paula Jefferson, Virginia Simmons, and Jim Purcell.
Call to Order. Barbara Monnett called the meeting to order at 2:00. She shared a thank you note from Physical Plant and the grounds crew for the summer hats Staff Council purchased for those employees.
Approval of the minutes. A motion was made, seconded, and approved to approve as written the minutes of the March 6 and April 17 meetings.
Staff annual surveys. Barbara introduced Dr. Jim Purcell to share results of the recent staff survey. Overall satisfaction declined slightly, but there were not that many changes from last year to this year. The results of the survey can be found at http://info.gcsu.edu/intranet/ippa/staffandfaculty.htm. Jim asked that we look at the questions on the survey and decide if the questions should stay as they are or if new questions should be added or deleted. This is our opportunity to make sure we are asked questions about issues that matter to staff. Staff can send their ideas about the makeup of the survey to Cindy Diaz. Barbara asked for a volunteer to chair a sub-committee to make recommendations about the survey, but we decided to wait until the June meeting because we want new staff delegates to have an opportunity to serve on the sub-committee. Barbara thanked Jim for attending the meeting.
Results of Staff Appreciation Day survey. Rose Murner gave an update on the results of the recent Staff Appreciation Day survey. Most staff that responded to the survey were willing to contribute money to help fund a Staff Appreciation Day. (Of 300 staff, only 60 responded to the survey.) However, with the change in the presidency, now we’ll have to wait and see how the new president feels about having a staff appreciation day.
Secretary title ideas. Teri Hollar shared her idea about possibly changing some staff’s working titles. The term “secretary” is somewhat outdated now, and a more current title of “administrative professional” is commonly used in other businesses. The Board of Regents assigns our “B code” and Human Resources assigns our working titles. The BOR has recently revised the “B codes” but has not made the new list public. Barbara will check with Bonnie Sims to see if she can get the new list. Part of the job title issue has already been addressed in our pay study, and we will have to wait and see what comes from that study before we change any working titles. Barbara thanked Teri for her suggestion.
Other Business.
Barbara asked for suggestions about buying something for new employees to receive during the New Employee Orientation. We’d like to purchase something with Staff Council’s name, and/or e-mail and web address imprinted. This would be a good way for new employees to become familiar with our council. Suggestions were: notebooks, post-it notes, pens, stress relievers, etc. Barbara will see what she can find.
Teri had a suggestion about forming a Staff Council Alumni Association that would be a network of previous members. Previous members could meet once per year to network and offer new ideas for the current members. It would be a good idea to keep everyone involved and provide an opportunity for them to get together. Teri also suggested a purchasing a plaque that would list past members. The plaque would provide continuity and acknowledge past participants. It would also serve as a history of Staff Council. As a start, we could have an archival area on our web site. Since Staff Council is a part of the university statues, and one of the requirements in the statutes is archival information. Teri will work on our archival section.
Kathy Hill brought forth a request she had received via e-mail about using staff development funds to hire tech teams. These teams would come to specific offices and train the office staff there on certain technologies. The group discussed this request and decided this was something that is department-specific. Therefore, it should be paid for with departmental budgets. This request does not fit within our guidelines.
Neil Jones updated the group on the recent meeting Staff Council delegates had with Chancellor Meredith about the presidential search.
Lori Strawder asked whether or not there is a staff representative on University Senate. We do have staff representation. The chair will always serve, and the president has appointed two more staff, Kathy Edmondson and Cindy Diaz, to serve also. We will always have at least one staff representative on University Senate.
Rose shared an article about August State’s Staff Council adopting an inner-city school and purchasing playground equipment for it. Our Staff Council may want to think about some community-oriented projects such as this one to encourage our community involvement and show that we support our community as well as our campus.
Announcements.
The annual staff appreciation Ice Cream Social is scheduled for Thursday, June 5, at 2:30 p.m. in MSU Dining Hall. All employees are invited to attend. This event is sponsored by President Rosemary DePaolo and Staff Council.
Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m. The next meeting will be Thursday, June 12, 2003, at 2:00 p.m. in A&S 2-51. (The original meeting date was June 5, but that date was changed because of the ice cream social that afternoon.)