Draft Minutes

Tuesday, November 8, 2005

10:00am – 12:00 noon

Audio bridge # 800-519-1987, pin *1622936*

Fairbanks site:  Room 212A Butrovich Building

 

 

1.         Call to Order and Roll Call  

 

Members Present:                                            

 

            Jeri Cary, UAS Staff Council, Vice Chair

            Jana Ring, UAS Staff Council

            Lori Merdes, Statewide Administration Assembly

            Bob Kizer, UAA APT Council

            Maya Salganek, UAF Staff Council

            Kimberly Stanford, UAA Classified Council

            Jeff Stepp, UAF Staff Council

 

            Others Present:

            Pat Ivey, Executive Officer, System Governance

            Jodi Bailey, Administrative Coordinator, System Governance

            Debra Carter, Employee Communications Specialist

            Jim Johnsen, Vice President for Faculty and Staff Relations

 

2.         Adopt Agenda

           

MOTION:  Moved by Lori Merdes, seconded by Maya Salganek, passed without objection.

 

“The Staff Alliance moves to adopt the agenda for the November 8, 2005 meeting.  This action is effective November 8, 2005.”

 

3.         Approve October 11, 2005 minutes                                                 

http://gov.alaska.edu/Staff/minutes/2005/10-11.pdf

 

MOTION:  Moved by Kimberly Stanford, seconded by Jana Ring, passed without objection.

 

“The Staff Alliance moves to approve the October 11, 2005 minutes as amended.  This action is effective November 8, 2005.”

 

 

4.         Chair’s report

 

            There was no chair report.

 

5.         Public Comments

 

            There were no public comments.

 

6.         Staff Governance Reports - SW, UAS, UAA, UAF

 

Statewide:  http://gov.alaska.edu/saa/

 

Lori Merdes spoke of the upcoming holiday potlucks and their service projects which include the annual Love Inc. donation and the military outreach projects.

Pat Ivey gave details regarding the military service projects; one for a welcome home basket for four soldiers who are returning home in January and one for soldiers currently overseas. 

 

Debra Carter brought up the discussion that was held regarding the non-completion rate when staff uses the tuition wavers.   

 

UAS:  http://www.uas.alaska.edu/staffcouncil/

 

Jeri spoke of the last staff council meeting that took place a few weeks ago.  The Wellness Program was the main topic, with Mike Humphrey as their guest to discuss their concerns.

 

             UAA:  http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/governance/

 

Kim spoke of the last Classified Council meeting. The ad hoc events committee discussed the upcoming chili feed on December 16. They are also working closely with the APT Council on whether or not to have a food or clothing drive. 

 

The staff training ad hoc committee is working closely with Human Resources.   The co chairs of the committee are going to be meeting with Human Resources next week to discuss staff training issues. 

 

The community campaign is beginning, and the council will have a guest speaker at the next meeting to discuss possible events. 

 

Steve Rollins from the Faculty Association talked to Classified Council at their last meeting to inform the Council about the group and what it does.  Kim participated in one of their meetings last week upon the request of Steve, to help keep the Council involved.

 

Assembly met and finalized their goals and objectives for the year.  They have three primary goals.  One is to work on advocacy and awareness from a legislators stand point.  Governance communication was another.  They will begin monthly postings to the UA governance website from the governance leaders with a link for the UA electronic digest to notify people that the information has been posted.  They are going to finish up the speakers bureau, which has been carried over from last year.  Their administrative support structure has been changed to make it more efficient to allow more guests and discussion at their meetings.

 

Kim and Bob Kizer were selected as the representative, to the University Facilities Assembly.

 

At the APT Council’s last meeting, they appointed a person to the Diversity Action Council.  They discussed the pros and cons of the Wellness Program, and would like the numbers on how positive the participation was.

 

UAF:  http://www.uaf.edu/uafgov/staff/index.html

 

Maya spoke of the legislative luncheon they hosted during the AFN convention.  The feedback from the event shows more structure is needed.  The luncheon consisted of 55 individuals including staff, students, faculty, three representatives, two senators and two staffers.  They have followed up from the luncheon with sending letters to the legislators advocating the University.

 

Staff Council has received resignation from the chair of the Workplace Ethics Committee due to supervisory pressure.

 

They put together an ad hoc committee to add a supervisory award, and they are also restructuring the Chancellor award to exclude executive staff.

 

They had a chairs’ retreat.  The primary focus was communication and how to better relay information to constituents.

 

Jeff Stepp had coordinated two Wellness informational sessions to inform staff of the program.  Staff Affairs committee will be putting forward a motion to create an ad hoc committee to primarily work on the Wellness program.  The Council discussed allowing an hour and a half lunch for staff who do a physical fitness activity during lunch.

 

Online elections are underway, but paper elections are being used for the even units. 

 

A draft memo from Chancellor Jones has been released to the President, his cabinet and the various governance groups stating he agrees with Staff Council to discontinue the sale of tobacco at the Wood Center to coincide with the recent Wellness Program.  The Staff Council’s opinion in the memo was misrepresented, so the Council is currently working with the various governance groups to coordinate their response back to the Chancellor explaining that Staff Council never gave a formal or informal decision on the matter.  Jeri and Bob believe that there are no cigarettes sold on their campuses.    

 

7.         Employee Relations

 

7.1              Jim Johnsen, Vice President, Faculty and Staff Relations

 

Jim informed the group that there will be an ACAS 2.  He will have the various committees meet again to discuss the progress of the original ACAS recommendations.  They want to show how much money has been saved and what programs have been implemented. 

 

Jim Johnsen also stated that he received tentative approval for a new position (Human Resource Information System) that will focus on the implementation of the non ACAS programs like the Wellness Program or the new ORP retirement program.  This position will enhance the responsibility of the University.  It will also keep the current staff from being overwhelmed with the implementation of the new programs and let them focus on their current daily tasks.

 

Jim also discussed the diversity question brought by Jeff Stepp, of how efficient the university is with staying within the guidelines of hiring minorities.  Maya also expressed to Jim Johnsen the need for training to be distributed to the rural sites.

 

He was glad to inform that they have hired Debra Carter, the new Employee Communications Specialist.

 

7.2       Staff and Supervisor Training

 

Jim commented that there have been two external reviews for Human Resources done in 2002 and 2004, stating that communication between the campuses needs to be improved.  To help with that, he has been advocating for a new position (Statewide Director of Training and Development) with the help of Lisa Sporleder, to primarily focus on supervisory training.  The position will work in the statewide office to assess the current training that is being offered.  This position will also work on a form of succession management planning because during the next couple of years, some of the top fifteen executives will be retiring.  Jim would like the University to be proactive with preparing the current staff for the upcoming positions and have them compete, instead of having them appointed.  Jim will also have that person assist with the development of the professional development plans (career ladders).

 

The job description has been completed and approved by President Hamilton but is currently awaiting funding approval from Randy Weaver, the Controller.  Jim would like staff alliance to nominate someone from the group to partake in the search committee. 

 

MOTION:  Moved by Kimberly Stanford, seconded by Jana Ring, without objection.

 

“Jeff Stepp has been nominted to represent the Staff Alliance on the hiring committee for the Staff Training position.”

 

7.3       Employee Education Benefits                                                          

Regents Policy 04.06.010

            http://www.alaska.edu/bor/policy/4p/p04-06.html

            University Regulation 04.06.010

            http://www.alaska.edu/bor/regulation/4r/r04-06.html

            Employee Tuition Waiver Study – two documents

            http://gov.alaska.edu/council/2005-10-06.employee-dependenttuitionwaiverreportA.pdf

http://gov.alaska.edu/council/2005-10-06.employee-dependenttuitionwaiverreportB.pdf

 

Pat stated that there is a revision for the Regents regulation being drafted that will say to the effect, that if an employee or a dependant drops a course without just cause or there is a failure to complete a course, they will need to pay for the class.  As of now, there doesn’t seem to be an interest in reducing the benefit. 

 

Maya brought up the discussion of whether or not an audited course would have the same stipulations as the regular courses.  Maya would like to have a survey done to discuss the question of why they’re dropping their courses.  Maya also suggested that if a staff member is forced by a manager to drop a class or there is added pressure of their job, the staff member should not have to pay for the class themselves.  Pat mentioned a student who has been enrolled for seven semesters as a dependent student.  This student is using a tuition waiver and receives an F in every course.

 

Jim Johnsen is suggesting implementing a vesting option for the employee’s dependents when they use the employee education benefits, but the same rules will remain for employees. He is considering the idea of running a report after the semester ends, to get a list of staff who failed.  The staff who fail will receive a letter requesting information as to why they failed and if there is no just cause (life changing event) as to why, then the funds will be deducted from their payroll. If that idea is approved, they will change the tuition waiver form to state that the staff member authorizes the University to withdraw the course funds from their payroll if they do not pass the course.  Kim brought up the question of who would be authorized to determine what just cause is.

 

Jim stated that there is an internal audit being done to compare the employee tuition failure rate compared to the regular student population. 

 

Maya suggested minimizing the vesting period option and maybe only fund 50% of the classes to allow the staff member and their families to become more connected to the community.  Kim also discussed the idea of implementing something to cover the “repeat offenders” who sign up and drop a course after the drop date continuously. 

 

There is an interest to exempt or include the CPM (certified public manager) program in the tuition waiver program.  If they choose to implement that change they will wait until they change the tuition waiver program as a whole.  Maya also suggested that either health oriented classes not require a waiver or to not have it deduct from the total credits that are allowed for waivers, to promote better wellness.

 

Jim would like to clean up the program to show to the Legislators that the university is monitoring where the money is going and that we have an accountability process implemented for this program. 

 

7.4       Legislative Items                                                                  

http://gov.alaska.edu/staff/2005-10-24.weyrauch.pdf

            http://gov.alaska.edu/staff/2005-10-24.harris.pdf

 

Jim Johnsen reported that the fixed costs will most likely get funded by the legislators.

 

MOTION:  Moved by Maya Salganek, seconded by Jeri Ring, passed without objection.

 

“Staff Alliance moves to approve the letters on contingency that Lori Merdes approves electronically with the corrections.”

 

7.5              Wellness Project Update

 

Every time an email from Summex requesting individuals to go online and fill out the survey, the Summex server would get overwhelmed and would slow the process down.  The hard copy of the survey will go out to the individuals who did not go online soon.  The paper survey will end on November 26th.

 

Jim Johnsen stated, the $100 rebate to the individuals who completed the survey will hopefully reflect on the payroll prior to the Christmas holiday.  If the spouse filled out the form, there will be an additional $100.   If their deduction does not equal that amount, it will spread across the pay periods to allow everyone to get the $100.  The banner entry to reflect the deduction will be done centrally in the statewide office.

 

Juneau and Anchorage would like an email to discuss how the rebate will reflect and when and where it will reflect.  Juneau suggested informing the University as a whole.

 

Maya expressed the concern that some staff members had, that they were not comfortable with Premera’s logo being at the top of the survey.  Jim expressed that Premera already has the information on staff.   The university is only going to get summary data, from Summex  in a percentage format as a result from the surveys. 

 

7.6       Other Employee Relations Items

 

There were no other items.

 

8.         Governance Regulation                                                        

http://gov.alaska.edu/staff/2005-04-21.governancereg-final.html

 

            Pat is waiting for the notes from General Counsel of the needed changes.  Once Pat is informed she will tell Kim, who can gather the various individuals to begin revamping the regulation again.

 

 

9.         Agenda items for next meeting, December 13, 2005

 

Agenda items may include, but may not be limited to: ACAS 2, legislative update, wellness project, employee education benefits, staff and supervisor training, and university diversity update

 

10.       Other items of interest

 

            There were no other items of interest.

 

11.       Comments

 

            There were no comments.

 

12.       Adjourn

 

The meeting adjourned at 11:45 AM