Wright State University Unclassified Staff Advisory Council USAC Minutes 6/11/02

Minutes

November 21, 2002

The meeting was held in Room 158 University Hall. USAC Chair-Elect Donna Totten called the meeting to order at 2:33.

Attendees were:

Jeff Bowman, CaTS
Rita Chislaghi, University Libraries
Lura Clapper, Budget Planning/Res. Analysis
Sally Clayton, Office Of General Counsel
Solomon Cooper, Disability Services
Michelle Feichtner, Financial Aid
Tamara Jones, Human Resources
Mary Kenton, University Honors Program
Cheryl Lauricella, University Libraries
Jana Lehman, Raj Soin College Of Business
Michelle Martin, Affirmative Action
Angel Murphy, Human Resources
Mike O'Neal, Residence Services
Nancy Pestian, CaTS
Donna Totten, VP Business and Fiscal Affairs
Susan Wehmeyer, University Libraries
Rick Zech, Budget Planning and Resource Allocation

APPROVAL of MINUTES

The minutes of the USAC meeting of October 17, 2002 were approved as posted on the web site.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Rick Zech, Athletic Council, Wellness and Recreation
A meeting of the council was held October 25th. The Steering Committee will review the constitution and bylaws of the council. The Budget Committee will review athletic department revenues and costs. The Learning Resource Center will be expanding in the basement of Rike Hall and sharing space with the Math Learning Center. Remodeling will start in December.

The Faculty Senate raised the question of whether coaches should advise students athletes about turning professional. The Senate also questioned whether prayer is required for the athletes during athletic activities or events. Prayer is not currently required.

NCAA academic standards will change for the entering class of 2003. Core Courses will increase from 13 to 14 and a sliding scale will maintain the 2.0 grade point average but eliminate the test score cut and change the percentage of progress (number of credit hours completed).

Bridgett Williams, Head Women's Basketball Coach was featured for the Coaches Corner. She spoke about her players, recruiting and the schedule. The athletic director reported on the fall sports updates, the pavilion and the TV schedule for basketball.

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced that the WSU softball team finished with the 13th best grade point average of all Division I programs in the country during the 2002 season. Wright State recorded a 3.285 grade point average last season and was one of four Horizon League schools to make the list.

Michelle Martin, Parking Services
Michelle reported that no Parking Services meetings have been held.

Solomon Cooper, University Dining Services

Solomon’s report on the Dining Services Meeting of 11/21/02 is appended to these minutes.

OLD BUSINESS

Student Affairs Representative

Mike O'Neal of Residence Services was announced as the new representative from Student Affairs.

Faculty Senate Minutes

The president of the Faculty Senate has agreed to forward the minutes of their meetings to the USAC and CSAC Chairs so that items of interest may be shared with staff.

Proposed University Staff Council

During the meeting of October 17, 2002, USAC agreed to pursue (in cooperation with CSAC) the development of a committee which could help staff remain informed about ongoing and anticipated issues of interest and could offer opinions regarding these issues to the President, the Provost and other campus decision-makers while such input is still meaningful (before a decision is made). The USAC and CSAC officers met with Bill Rickert to discuss a joint council.

The officers agreed to bring back a proposal to USAC and CSAC for the formation of a University Staff Council. This council would act as a subcommitee of each of the larger groups and would consist of five members from each council, the President, Provost, Associate Provost and other campus decision makers as needed.

USAC approved the formation of a University Staff Council as well as the following recommendations:

The Chair of USAC will serve on the University Staff Council.
The agenda for each meeting will be set by the Associate Provost in consultation with the President, Provost and the Chairs of both USAC and CSAC.
The University Staff Council will meet 5 or 6 times per year at times coordinated with WSU Board Meetings. Meetings will be posted to the university calendar.
Four representatives to the University Staff Council will be appointed by the USAC Chair from among the members of the USAC. A representative from each of the four USAC constituencies will serve 2 year terms: Academics, Academic Support, Business and Advancement, Student Affairs. Representatives from Academics and Student Affairs will be appointed in the spring of odd years to begin service in the fall. Representatives from Academic Support and Business and Advancement will be appointed in the spring of even years to begin service in the fall. Representatives may continue to serve on the University Staff Council after their term as a USAC representative has expired. The USAC Chair may be appointed as a representative from his/her own constituency after service as chair is completed.

It was agreed that USAC will request the addition of the Chair-Elect to the University Staff Council as an ex-officio member. It was further agreed that USAC should deliberate the development of additional USAC subcommittees such as a Benefits subcommittee to review questions and proposals submitted by staff and to forward issues to the University Staff Council for discussion. The planned survey of unclassified staff will be used to help discover what subcommittees are desirable.

Survey Question Development

Angel Murphy of Human Resources will help USAC develop its survey instrument. A volunteer subcommittee of Donna Totten, Jeff Bowman and Susan Wehmeyer will work with Angel. The survey will most likely be online and provide for anonymous input. Areas in which opinions will be solicited include: merit leave, pay scale study, comprehensive leave reporting, core business hours, expectations of USAC representatives, and desirable subcommittees.

Above and Beyond Program

Tamara Jones of Human Resources reviewed the program. She reported that some nominations have already been received. She will send an additional announcement to the staff listserve that the brochures have been distributed and forms are also available online.

Fee Remission

Discussion tabled on the issue brought forth by a constituent about extending fee remission for courses at the Kettering Center to part-time staff. Tamara Jones reported that Human Resources is continuing to investigate this issue.

NEW BUSINESS

Proposed Bylaws Revision

The following changes to the Charter/Bylaws were approved: Additions are in BOLD type and underlined.

Section IV-Officers and Committees

Officers
Officers of the Unclassified Staff Advisory Council shall be a chair, chair-elect, immediate past chair, and a secretary. The secretary and chair-elect shall be elected each year by the council from all members of the council. At the conclusion of the chair's term, the chair-elect shall become chair for the next year.

Duties of the Officers

The chair shall preside at all meetings, and the chair (or designee) shall represent the unclassified staff to all appropriate bodies and individuals.
The chair-elect shall assume all responsibilities of the chair in case of the chair's absence or resignation.
The secretary shall maintain a record of all meetings, assist with correspondence, record attendance, and maintain election eligibility and voting records. The secretary shall distribute the minutes of the Unclassified Staff Advisory Council meetings to the unclassified staff and keep the unclassified staff informed of activities of the council.
The immediate past chair shall meet with the officers and attend USAC meetings to provide advice and continuity for the organization.

The officers shall be responsible for maintaining the budget of the Unclassified Staff Advisory Council in consultation with the council and in accordance with university policy.

Committees
The officers shall be responsible for appointing, or recommending to the president, representatives to serve on university committees or task forces. All unclassified staff are eligible for appointment.

The USAC officers shall be responsible for appointing, or recommending to the president, representatives to serve on university committees or task forces. Representatives will be selected from letters of interest submitted by prospective candidates. All unclassified staff are eligible for appointment.

University Committees

The term of service for representatives on university committees shall be set by the bylaws of the applicable committee. If no length of term is specified, service shall be for one academic year. Representatives shall not serve more than two consecutive terms. Replacement representatives, if needed shall complete the length of the original term, but are eligible for appointment to their own term of service.

University Staff Council

Five representatives to the University Staff Council shall be appointed by the USAC Chair from among the members of the Unclassified Staff Advisory Council (USAC). The USAC Chair shall serve as a member of the council during his/her term of office. A representative from each of the four USAC constituencies will serve 2 year terms: Academics, Academic Support, Business and Advancement, Student Affairs. Representatives from Academics and Student Affairs will be appointed in the spring of odd years to begin service in the fall. Representatives from Academic Support and Business and Advancement will be appointed in the spring of even years to begin service in the fall. Representatives may continue to serve on the University Staff Council after their term as a USAC representative has expired. The USAC Chair may be appointed as a representative from his/her own constituency after service as chair has been completed.

Parking Services Representative

A new representative to the Parking Services Committee is needed to begin immediately. The representative will be selected according to the new procedure outlined above. A call will go out immediately for interested unclassified staff to submit letters of interest to Carol Vuckovich.

Employee Suggestions

Requests were submitted for USAC to investigate a 4-day workweek and establishment of a flexible healthcare spending account to compensate employees who do not enroll to receive WSU healthcare benefits. USAC will defer these questions while considering a proposed Benefits subcommittee to review and recommend about these sorts of questions..

A request was also submitted to investigate web-based opportunities for professional development. USAC will also defer this question pending a proposed Professional Development subcommittee.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 3:55 p.m.

NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of USAC will be held Thursday, January 23, 2003, 2:30 pm -- Room to be announced.

Minutes submitted by Susan Wehmeyer, USAC Secretary, 11/22/02