Minutes

May 22, 2003

The meeting was held in Room 158 University Hall. USAC Chair, Carol Vuckovich called the meeting to order at 2:34.  

Attendees included:

Mendy Beverly, CaTS
Jeff Bowman, CaTS
Kathi Herrick, University Libraries
Tamara Jones, Human Resources
Michelle Martin, Affirmative Action
Marianne Shreck, Research and Sponsored Programs
David Stuart, CaTS
Carol Vuckovich, Business and Fiscal Affairs
Susan Wehmeyer, University Libraries

APPROVAL of MINUTES

The minutes of the USAC meeting of March 20, 2003 and April 24, 2003 were approved as posted on the website.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Rick Zech, Athletic Council, Wellness and Recreation
Report of the meeting of April 25th, by Rick Zech was presented by Carol Vuckovich:

• Various year-end committee reports were distributed and discussed.  Any staff member wishing to review these reports may contact Rick for a copy.
• The Winter Quarter Grade Report was distributed.  Team Quarter GPA was 3.045 and University Wide was 2.868.  Team Cumulative was 3.020, University Wide was 2.928.
• the new Student-Athlete Welfare Committee was discussed at great length concerning the purpose of the committee and the language within the constitution bylaws.
• Golf and Women's Softball teams participated in the NCAA tournaments.  The baseball team is hosting the Horizon League tournament this week at Nischwitz Stadium.
• The final Athletic Council meeting for the academic year will be Friday, June 6, 2003.
• The National Employee Health and Fitness Day was held on the Quad on Wednesday, May 14th.  This event included a one mile poker walk (nearly 150 employees participated in the walk), free chair massages and other important information.
• The Retirees and Employee picnic will be Tuesday, June 24th in the Garden of the Senses.  The theme this year is Jimmy Buffett.  The Lake Campus picnic will be held on Friday, June 6th.

University Dining Services
Carol Vuckovich attended the May 15th meeting because the position of USAC representative is vacant..  Dining Services Minutes have been posted to the website.  Pat Kachurek (CaTS) has expressed interest in serving on the Dining Services Committee in the fall.  The next meeting is planned for October 15th.

Kevin Watson, Parking Services
Parking Services has not met since the March meeting.

OLD BUSINESS

Survey Question Development
Survey questions are ready.   USAC is waiting for Human Resources to prepare an email distribution list of unclassified staff.  They hope to have it ready by Tuesday, May 27th. 

Elections
Two positions were open in Academics, three positions in Academic Support, one in Business and Fiscal Affairs and one in Student Affairs.  Voter turnout was very low in Academic Support.  Some of the nominated candidates did not wish to serve.  Jeff Bowman reported the election results:

Student Affairs:  Jennifer Rice was elected to complete a 2 year term ending in 2005.

Academic Support:  Mendy Beverly was elected to a 3 year term ending in 2006.  Dave Stuart was elected to a 2 year term ending in 2005.  Academic Support lacked sufficient candidates to fill a third vacancy.  Jeff Bowman and Carol Vuckovich will serve on an ad hoc committee to review representation ratios and make a recommendation to the incoming USAC chair for action at the next meeting in the fall.  

Academics:  Joyce Howes and Michelle Martin were elected to 3 year terms ending in 2006.

Business and Advancement:  Marianne Shreck was elected to a 3 year term ending in 2006.

Human Resources Issues

Vacation and Sick Leave, Handbook, 4-hour rule

A final draft of the handbook was expected March 11th.  Pending discussion of vacation and sick leave accrual has caused the delay.  Research is being done to see how much it would cost the university to increase the maximum accrual of unclassified staff who have achieved 25 years of service from 352 hours/year to 400 hours/year.  Classified staff can accrue 600 hours/year at 25 years of service.  This issue and the issue of a written policy about when unclassified staff should report leave for deduction will be brought to Business and Fiscal Affairs on Tuesday, 5/28. [From the previous meeting:  Some departments follow an unwritten "4 hour rule" dating back to a previous administration which directed that leave of less than 4 hours should not be reported, but this procedure is not followed consistently across campus.  Human Resources reports that this issue will not be easy to resolve.  HR surveyed the Ohio  Interuniversity Council and found no reasonable convergent point.  HR will continue to work on the problem and will bring it before Business and Fiscal Affairs.]

Work Hours

An email on the official university list serve from Bill Rickert explained the resolution of the "official work hours" discussion.  The email reads:

FROM:  Bill Rickert, Associate Provost

SUBJECT: University Work Hours

A large number of staff and faculty responded to our request for feedback about a possible change in normal office hours. More than 3/4ths of those responding support a change to 8:00-4:30, but a significant number of you expressed great concern that earlier hours for your offices would be a step in the wrong direction. Importantly, those of you who opposed 8:00-4:30 hours did so out of concern for the needs of those served by your offices. A 5:00 pm closing is already too early, you argued, and so an earlier closing would merely make things worse.

It is very clear from your responses that the needs of people served by your offices vary greatly. No one scheduling model effectively serves all. Some offices can effectively fulfill their missions with an 8:00
a.m. starting time, others should retain the current 8:30 to 5:00 hours, and still others need to be open after 5:00 to accommodate those who need their services in the late afternoon, early evening, and even
later.

In response to your valued feedback, the university will delete the phrase in Policy #301.1b that states "Office hours are normally Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm." As a result, individual
department heads will determine the appropriate hours their offices need to be open in order to meet their departmental requirements, and they will schedule employees accordingly. The new policy to be effective June 16, 2003 (start of summer quarter) will read as follows--

The normal workweek for 100 percent full-time-equivalency (FTE) salaried and hourly staff is 40 hours. Since the university operates, at least in part, at all hours during the entire year, hours and days will vary according to university and departmental requirements, as determined by each employee's supervisor.

Under this new policy, we anticipate that many offices will open at 8:00 a.m. while others will continue to start at 8:30. As in the past, the hours offices are open and employees are scheduled should be based on the needs of the department. While some individuals may have altered work schedules as a result of this change, the total number of hours each person works per week is not affected.

I want to thank all of you whose thoughtful responses contributed to this new policy, which I am optimistic will effectively assist our successful transition to the new class scheduling model that begins in
the fall.

If you need further information, please contact me at 775-3036 or e-mail
me at bill.rickert@wright.edu.

911 procedures

Cindy Young reported to Carol that the emergency guidelines are still under review.  They hope to have them in print within 30 days.

NEW BUSINESS

Professional Membership/Certification

A question arose about the university policy regarding payment of membership dues.  Some departments on campus pay such dues and other do not.  Wright Way policy leaves the decision to the department and supervisor:

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 3:10 p.m.

 NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of USAC will be held in September.

 Minutes submitted by Susan Wehmeyer, USAC Secretary, 5/22//03

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Revised: 23 May 2003
with changes to Athletic Council Report