1. Call to order and roll call

Present:

Marie Scholle, Chair, and 1995-1996 President, and 1996-1997 representative, UAF Staff Council
Rita Bowen, President, UAS Staff Council
Dorothy Fuller, 1996-1997 President, UAA APT Council
Donna Lyons, Co-President, UAA Classified Employee Council, sharing seat with Nuss
Ella Nuss, Co-President, UAA Classified Council, sharing seat with Lyons
Michelle Littell, 1995-1996, Vice President, Statewide Administration Assembly

Absent:

Donna Chantry, Vice Chair and Vice President UAS Staff Council
Eleanor Martinez, Vice Chair, and 1995-1996 UAA APT Council
Betty Dupee, 1995-1996 President, Statewide Administration Assembly
Grant Matheke, 1995-1996 Member, UAF Staff Council
Ron Pierce, 1996-1997 President, UAF Staff Council

MOTION: Moved by Bowen, seconded by Nuss

"The Staff Alliance moves to adopt the agenda, as amended to include a legislative update by Vice President Wendy Redman, for the June 11, 1996 meeting. This action is effective June 11, 1996.²

MOTION: Moved by Lyons, seconded by Bowen

"The Staff Alliance moves to approve the minutes of the May 14, 1996 meetings. This action is effective June 11, 1996."

Scholle recommended that the Staff Alliance members review the leaves and benefits section of the agenda for the June Board of Regents meeting. She stated that this issue will be reviewed by administration through the fall, to look at possibly changing the current benefits plan, depending upon the economic climate.

Scholle noted that Patty Kastelic would be presenting charts to the Board which compares the university with other government agencies, such as the City of Fairbanks, the State of Alaska, and the Fairbanks North Star Borough. She stated that this does not make a fair and accurate comparison because the accrual rates at these agencies are different from the universities, in that they have combined sick and annual leave, and when they quit or retire, their leave bank is 100% funded, whereas at the university does not get the bank of their sick leave at time of termination. She state that this chart makes it look as though university employees are getting more sick and annual leave than the other agencies, and this is a false representation of the universities benefits.

Scholle stated that the Board will be voting on the Family Leave Act and the Dispute Resolution issues, but that there was no new information to be reviewed by the Alliance.

Scholle reported that the Staff Alliance had a very busy year in FY96 and provided the following as an informational item to the members.

June 13, 1995: dispute resolution policy & regulation, June 1-2, 1995 Board of Regents meeting update: BOR approval of Phase II of the new compensation plan, legislative update, Scholle elected chair
July 11, 1995: presentation by President Komisar, dispute policy and regulations, and review UA grievance handbook, motion that grievance council members be trained mediators, motion that consideration of termination for cause be changed to ³not less than five (5) working days², certificate of appreciation to Mike Mayberry
August 8, 1995: supervisor training, goals for the Staff Alliance during FY96 (supervisor accountability and standardized employee training programs)

Scholle noted that these training programs have been sent down to the campus staff council for their review. UAF Staff Council had some problems when the support and money were taken away just prior to their training day. Anchorage campus has been working with the UAF Staff Council by sending information on employee training.

September 12, 1995: Dispute policy and regulations, report on the Board of Regents meeting August 17-18, 1995, feedback on Alliance goals and objectives October 30, 1995: report on the October 13-14 Board of Regents meeting, personnel policies and regulation drafts (sexual harassment, and dispute resolution motion that AAOs are to every effort to preserve the confidentiality of informal investigation and resolution efforts and in doing so, to give do regard to all factors including the cultural backgrounds of the alleged offenders and victims), union issues, indirect compensation, geographic differential bill; impact on rural staff
December 6, 1995: annual leave and sick leave changes, job evaluation information, statewide PAC
January 12, 1996: legislative update, job evaluation update, staff representation on regents¹ committees
February 14, 1996: First joint convocation with Alliance of Faculty Senates and Coalition of Student leaders, participation of Alliance members during committee meetings, salary changes and findings, compensation responsibilities policy 04.05.03, dispute resolution policy 04.08 recommendations, leave policy 04.07, legislative activities; February 12 memo re: Consultation with Staff Alliance on the Suspension of University Regulations 04.05.03 D.2.e. Re-evaluation and 04.02.02 C., D., E. and G. Job Evaluation Process; and coordination of staff, faculty and student legislative efforts
March 12, 1996: job evaluation project update, leaves and other benefits, RIP update April 16, 1996: Development of Policy and Regulations policy 01.02.- and 01.03: motion to include consultation definition, constitutional provisions for membership, staff governance newsletter, Board agenda - staff interest items (leaves, dispute resolution, FY98 planning assumptions), legislative activities.
May 14, 1996: Development of Policy and Regulations, motion relating to continuation of benefits for domestic partners and UA employees, June Board agenda items, human resource mission statement policy 04.01., leave policy and regulations, dispute resolution policy, job evaluation progress, paid sick leave usage

At this time, Pat Ivey and the Staff Alliance members presented Marie Scholle a plaque in appreciation of her outstanding leadership in FY96.

The constitution calls for an election of a chair. The constitution provides that

G. Official Spokesperson

1. Election

The official spokesperson for Staff Alliance shall be the Chair of the Alliance, elected by and from the voting membership by a majority vote.

2. Duties

The Chair shall a) preside over all meetings of the Alliance, b) represent the Alliance, and c) serve as primary contact on behalf of the Alliance to the President of the University and the Board of Regents. Should the chair be unable to attend a Board of Regents meeting, the chair may appoint a replacement to speak to the board on behalf of the Alliance.

MOTION: Moved by Nuss, seconded by Bowen, passed unanimously

³The UA Staff Alliance moves to elect Marie Scholle as the FY97 Staff Alliance chair. This action is effective June 11, 1996.²

As in past years, Scholle stated that a associate chair from each MAU should be elected in case the Chairperson is unable to attend a meeting.

MOTION: Moved by Fuller, seconded by Scholle, passed unanimously

³The UA Staff Alliance moves to elect Ella Nuss as the FY97 Staff Alliance UAA associate chairperson. This action is effective June 11, 1996.²

MOTION: Moved by Scholle, seconded by Fuller, passed unanimously

³The UA Staff Alliance moves to elect Rita Bowen as the FY97 Staff Alliance UAS associate chairperson. This action is effective June 11, 1996.²

MOTION: Moved by Scholle, seconded by Nuss, passed unanimously

³The UA Staff Alliance moves to elect Rita Bowen as the FY97 Staff Alliance UAF associate chairperson. This action is effective June 11, 1996.²

Scholle explained that she and Pat Ivey would like to put together a handbook for new members explaining how the Staff Alliance works, the rules and regulations, and procedures for submitting information. She stated that over the next few meetings information the Staff Alliance will be discussing this. The following information on this subject was provided in the agenda:

Orientation will take place over the next few meetings, culminating in a governance leadership workshop in late summer or early fall. For this first session, the Alliance will begin reviewing system and local governance, the Alliance constitution and bylaws, the governance review process, and how meetings are held, and agendas prepared and distributed. Then the Alliance will review how issues are communicated to local governance and to the university community, and how Alliance actions are communicated. The main avenues of communication are by e-mail, and through the internet. The Staff Alliance maintains its agendas, minutes, and other documents on the internet. Issues are distributed and tracked through the shared governance issue tracking system on the internet. The tracking system is designed to provide easier access to issues of a systemwide nature under review, or scheduled for review, by the Board of Regents, administration and faculty, staff and student governance. This tracking system is established and maintained by the System Governance Office in coordination with the Office of Regents Affairs and the Office of the President.

Alliance members may wish to advise the chair about which topics they would like to see covered in the next orientation session.

Staff Alliance handbooks are in preparation. Items scheduled thus far to be included are (in no particular order)

€ Calendar of meetings containing meeting dates for the Staff Alliance, Staff Alliance, UAA Classified Council, UAA APT Council, UAF Staff Council, and UAS Staff Council, Board of Regents, etc.;

€ Directory of members with photos and bios;

€ Governance organization chart and Regents¹ policy on

- Operating procedures, including Board protocol, deadlines for submitting agenda items for Staff Alliance meetings and for Board meetings, how issues are distributed to local governance and from local governance to the president and the Board;

€ Issues under review or scheduled for review;

€ Human resources policies and regulations;

€ Constitutions and bylaws, Staff Alliance, UAA Classified Council, UAA APT Council, UAF Staff Council, and UAS Staff Council;

€ Parliamentary procedures

€ Internet information on staff governance groups at other institutions

Alliance members may wish to request additional information they would like to see included in the Staff Alliance handbook.

[ed. note: The following press release was sent out announcing the election results:

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA SYSTEM GOVERNANCE NEWS RELEASE

JUNE 11, 1996

SCHOLLE IS BACK...........

Today, Marie Scholle was re-elected to a second term as Chair of the Staff Alliance to serve from July 1, 1996 through June 30, 1997. She also received an award from the Alliance for her outstanding service on behalf of the Alliance this past year. Scholle is the 1995-1996 chair of the UA System Governance Council and was the 1995-1996 chair of the Staff Alliance, is immediate past president and current voting member of the UAF Staff Council, and is safety officer for UAF Risk Management.

She has an A.A.S. in Paraprofessional Counseling from Tanana Valley College, a B.A. in Criminal Justice from UAF and an M.A. in Northern Studies from UAF. Prior to working at the university, Scholle was a police officer with the City of Fairbanks for ten years. In that capacity she served as a hostage negotiator, a field training officer and served on the sexual assault task force which investigated sexual assaults in the Fairbanks area. She has been with UAF since 1988.

...AND THE STAFF ALLIANCE HAS THREE NEW VICE CHAIRS

The Staff Alliance traditionally elects a vice chair from Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau to serve as Staff Alliance spokesperson when the chair is unavailable. Today, the Alliance elected Ella Nuss, Rita Bowen and Pam Sowell to fill those slots.

Ella Nuss is co-chair of the UAA Classified Employee Council. Nuss has worked for the University of Alaska Anchorage since 1989 and has been a member of the Classified Council for five years. She moved to Alaska in 1977 with her husband and three sons, one of whom is majoring in civil engineering at UAF. She is currently working as an administrative assistant with the Athletic Department. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from UAA in 1994 and is now working toward a Master's in adult education.

Rita Bowen works at UAS-Juneau as a liaison with the Regional Director of Student Services, the nurse practitioner and psychologist to provide better service for students. She has been involved in governance since 1991 and is committed to public service, public accountability and the fundamental principle of equal educational opportunities. She is responsible for the student services fiscal operations and assisting department managers with fiscal decisions. She is responsible for arranging special needs accommodations with students, instructors, advisors, vocational rehabilitation specialists and tutors to coordinate a variety of technical and administrative functions. She feels very challenged and enjoys her work with the University of Alaska.

Pam Sowell is president-elect of the UAF Staff Council. Sowell has been with Printing Services at UAF for the past seven years. She has served on the Staff Council for three years and became president-elect in 1996. She served on the UAF Grievance Council for one year and is co-chair of the UAF staff training committee.]

UAA Staff Council only meets ³as needed² during the summer months, as well as the UAA APT Staff Council.

Scholle stated that the only issue that may come up during the summer that the Staff Alliance would have to meet for was the Leaves issue and that it would not be necessary for the Alliance to meet on a monthly basis, but just to be flexible until September.

It was decided that the Alliance would meet in August unless there were no issues to be discussed and on September 24, prior to the Board of Regents meeting.

Scholle stated that, since the Board only meets once in Anchorage and once in Juneau and the remaining meetings are scheduled in Fairbanks, she intends to make a trip to UAA and UAS to meet with their Staff Councils to assure that everyone is up-to-date with the current staff issues and she would like to see a very active staff this year at each campus.

Scholle stated that the Staff Alliance will again have a convocation with the students and faculty in Juneau during the February Board of Regents meeting. She asked that the Staff Alliance members keep their calendars open during this time.

Scholle stated that she would like to see past governance members to get involved in different aspects of current governance issues, so that they may bring with them their knowledge of the history of current topics.

This issue was discussed under Item 4, Chair¹s Report.

Scholle noted that, for the very first time, the Governance Report was included in the Board of Regents¹ agenda for the June, 1996 meeting. Copies were sent to all governance members.

Scholle stated that Sharon Gagnon¹s term as president of the Board of Regents is up and the Staff Alliance, along with the Coalition of Student Leaders, the Alliance of Faculty Senates and the System Governance Council, would be presenting her an award of appreciation for her service at Friday, June 14th¹s meeting.

Date: August 20, 1996
Time: 9:30a - 11:30p
Meeting method: Audioconference
Agenda items: Sick and Annual Leave

a. UA Tracking System

Scholle discussed the UA Tracking System, located on the World Wide Web, to see if members were actively using the tool. Members stated that they had briefly reviewed it, but had not made a concerted effort to use it on a frequent basis. Scholle recommended that the members make a stronger effort to get used to using the Tracking System because this is where all the information is kept that is coming from the Board of Regents, Administration and Governance.

b. Legislative Update - Wendy Redman

Redman explained that the university ended up with a one-half percent increase over the current year. This is because the legislation funded the union contracts for 1996 and 1997, the AFT contract for 1997, and about one-half of the need for the non-covered salaries. Beyond this, the university ended up with approximately a one and one-half percent reduction in the overall operating budget, and then they added the compensation on top of it.

She stated that administration will have to figure out what this all means, and how they will allocate out the funds, and what the final reductions will be. She stated that there will definitely be some major reductions at the various campuses. Fairbanks is already underway in a reduction process. In addition to the reductions, the university must still complete the program assessment reductions. The obvious issues are, inflationary increases and operating cost increases that are going to have to be absorbed. She stated that this will be a very tight and difficult, and a very stressful year for the administration to try to figure out how to spread the funding all around.

She stated that a RIP bill did pass, but the university is still unclear whether or not they will participate in it. This RIP is very different than those of the past. On the positive side, it is a three-year RIP, so administration will be able to put in more than one window during that three year period of time. On the down side, the RIP has to be assessed position by position, that the savings have to be identified for each position.

Redman stated that the legislature did make a couple of changes in retirement programs that will not have major savings for a very long time, 1) for all new employees, it will take 10 years to vest for purposes of health care coverage (for purposes of normal retirement, it will still be the five and eight years for TERS and PERS); 2) the State of Alaska will accrue their leave at the rate at which it is earned. Currently an employee cashes it out at the rate at which you are making at the time of cash out. The University is currently not effected by this change, but it is likely that they will follow suit.

Redman stated that the University Land Bill was again vetoed by the Governor. She stated that the Board feels that, as a landgrant university, it is appropriate for the university to be seeking other sources of income to try to support their enterprise and the university simply cannot continue to go back to the students again. She stated that student tuition has been raised by 200% in the last decade. Redman stated that there are so few options available to the university for outside funding at this time and they will continue to fight for this bill.

Redman stated that she had been working with Senator Murkowski¹s office to do a land trade because the Federal Government wants some land that the university has, so they are willing to trade. Because of this, as an addendum to the land bill, Senator Murkowski put in a section that the Federal Government would match the State acre-for-acre and land. Unfortunately, this bill was formally introduced the day after the Governor vetoed the bill. He did send a draft, which Redman personally delivered to the Governor¹s office, the day before he vetoed the bill. So, when the Governor¹s office says that they didn¹t know anything about it, this is simply untrue, it just didn¹t make any difference to them.

The Anchorage Student Housing Bill was a success, and was passed by legislation. The ground-breaking and site work will begin this summer.

Ella Nuss stated that the APT and Classified staff at UAA would be submitting a resolution to change the bylaws for Staff Alliance. She stated that the reason for the resolution is that UAA staff would like to have an assistant chair to work along with the chair, so that when the current chair¹s term was up, the assistant chair could take over as chair and be well informed of all the current issues.