MINUTES

April 15, 2010
9:00 - 10:30 am

339 Fawcett Hall

IN ATTENDANCE

Kiel Rottgen, Curt Pederson, Kary Brigger, Craig This, Karen Strider-Iiames, Melissa Vanzant, Mary Healea, Lindy Lauterbach , Jacqueline Neal, Kevin Knapp, David Bringhurst, Nancy Pestian, Chris Wydman, Denise Anderson, Jerry Hensley, Megan Watson.

USAC Members Absent: Wendy Riddell, Jason Kohlhepp, Rob Boley, Jennifer McCamis.

USAC Committee Members Absent: Vivian Mitchell, John Holm.

A. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by Curt Pederson, USAC Chair, at 9:02 a.m.

B. Approval of Minutes for March 18, 2010.

The minutes were approved as presented.

C. USAC Committee Reports

1. Community Service - Rob Boley, Jacqui Neal, Curt Pederson - Still waiting on funding issues but should know shortly.

2. Compensation, Benefits, and Equity - Denise Anderson, David Bringhurst, Mary Healea, Jerry Hensley, Kevin Knapp, Jason Kohlhepp, Kiel Rottgen - The group is meeting on a regular basis, every Friday at 11. David read a document that the committee recommends USAC forward to WSU administration requesting information and input on the upcoming budget for FY2010-11. Curt suggested trying to meet with Robert Sweeney on May 5 before approving this statement. Trying to get this approved by the end of April due to the FY2010-11 Budget, even though we know we won’t make much of an impact on this budget, but hoping to have a voice for fiscal year ‘11. David asked USAC members to authorize Curt to begin discussions with administration with our budget issues: Motion approved.

3. Newsletter - Rob Boley, Kary Brigger, Wendy Riddell - Staff Development Day date is wrong on the draft newsletter. Suggested doing this after our monthly meetings to promote open communication with unclassified staff-  We want your feedback added to the newsletter.  Need to change the USAC website – contact us needs to go to Curt and not Chris. ‘You asked we answered’ type thing on the letter. First time going out should be an email blast to let unclassified staff know it’s going to be a link on the Employee Tab on WINGS.  Next step would be to push it to the new Newsletter tab that will be on WINGS in the future. Lake Campus should be mentioned on the newsletter each month. Naming the newsletter-maybe have this as a contest at our open forum.

4. Nominations - Denise Anderson, Rob Boley, Kiel Rottgen - No real update; things don’t happen until the end of April.

D. WSU Committee Reports

1. Athletic Council - Vivian Mitchell - Megan Watson spoke about some athletics-related issues. Men’s basketball coach Brad Brownell accepted the head coaching job at Clemson for $1 million. New head coach named as Billy Donlon for a smaller salary than Brad had at $200000. This saves the university money and Brad will be paying back $50000 for the contract breakage.   Women’s basketball is in search for new coach- new coach’s salary will be similar to Billy’s due to the gender equity issues.

2. Diversity Advocacy Council - Megan Watson - Notes attached.

3. Parking Services - John Holm - No report.

4. Semester Conversion Committee - Chris Wydman - Still stopped with faculty-go to website for more information on latest news. RFP for teaching enhancements submitted.  This afternoon webinar on academic advising being sponsored by semesters committee. Negotiations are ongoing, but really getting in a time crunch. WAC and CORE items need to be in place by Summer to be able to catch up.

5. Sustainability - Karen Strider-Iiames - Notes attached.

6. University Dining Services - Melissa Vanzant - No report.

7. Wellness and Recreation - Craig This - Notes attached. Staff picnic dates are Tuesday, May 25th (Lake Campus) and Tuesday, June 15th (Main Campus). WIN-Women in Nature event is on Saturday, May 1. USAC will most likely do a 50/50 Raffle again at the picnic, but we need to get a table and decide on a charity.

8. WSU Bookstore - Mary Healea - Spring quarter was the first quarter to start renting text books-1250 transactions-very successful. And will increase the number of titles offered each quarter. Rental of the clickers-not doing that at this time but considering.

9. WSU Staff Council - Jacqueline Neal, Mary Healea, Rob Boley, Curt Pederson, Chris Wydman - No report.

10. WSU SC President's Award for Excellence - Kevin Knapp, Chris Wydman - Nominations are open. Everyone is encouraged to submit nominations - deadline is the 23rd. You now need 2 letters of support instead of 3. Website is updated with changes.

11. WSU SC Human Resources Committee - Jacqueline Neal, Mary Healea, Rob Boley, Curt Pederson, Chris Wydman - Automated leave system is going to phase 2  of testing (looking for testers) and hope by this summer. HR Survey online has had 570 visits with 50 individuals completing it since October. HR is going to close out the survey and relaunch it soon, with additional promotion. The final version of the revised job abolishment letter is out and getting looked at one more time. HSA website problems have been fixed. Bill pay was open on April 12. The group discussed hiring practices. Certain positions on campus have required background check, but not everyone is required to have one…possibly need to have this in place for ALL employees. Under the new healthcare reform, dependent coverage goes up to 26, but Ohio already approved up to 28. Also under the new healthcare reform, on Jan 1st, flex plan or HSA carriers will no longer be able to get reimbursed for OTC meds. Increase to 20% tax penalty for improper health reimbursement. The employee separation checklist is almost complete. CSAC revised the CECS checklist and submitted it to HR. They already have one and are comparing the two to make one for the entire university to use. Also discussed were issues with files on employee's computers and making sure the right files are saved in the correct manner.

E. Other Business

F. Adjournment and Next Meeting

The meeting was adjourned by Curt Pederson, USAC Chair, at 10:36 a.m. The next meeting is in 339 Fawcett on Thursday, May 20th @ 9:00 a.m.