Statewide*Administration*Assembly

1. Call to order and roll call

Present:
Betty Dupee, President
Holly Abshire, Vice President
Lisa Sporleder, Secretary
Terri Kruse
Laura Letuligasenoa
Carla Yurkovich
Peggy Byers
David Rohwer
Nelda Carlson
Machelle Haynes

Absent:
Leafy McBride

Others present:
Pat Ivey
Gage Choat

2. Adopt Agenda

Motion: Moved by Lisa Sporleder, seconded by Holly Abshire, passed with no objections.

"The Statewide Administration Assembly hereby moves to adopt the agenda of July 15, 1998. This action is effective July 15, 1998."

3. Approve minutes

Page 3, 1st paragraph- Holly Abshire wished to correct the text so that it reads, "it was suggested that Ann Ringstad write a letter...."

Page 4- Holly Abshire noted that Peggy Byers nominated Abshire for president.

Page 4- Lisa Sporleder noted that the motion shouldn't read that voting privileges were extended only for election of officers--they were extended for the whole meeting.

It was noted that the date on the minutes needs to be changed to Monday, June 8th.

Item 10, second to the last paragraph- Abshire wished to change the text to: "Kruse and Abshire talked about the problems with the administrative assistants not being trained adequately in budget and purchasing policies and who are responsible for banner entry and budget projection."

Motion: Moved by David Rohwer, seconded by Lisa Sporleder, passed with no objections.

"The Statewide Administration Assembly moves to approve the minutes of June 8, 1998 as modified. This action is effective on July 15, 1998."

4. SAA Member Reorganization

Betty Dupee noted that Laura Katucki and Carolyn Bragg resigned, and wondered if they should reelect members or have the alternates replace them. Pat Ivey noted that the constitution dictates that the highest vote-getting alternates will fill the voting members vacant position. Thus, Nelda Carlson and Machelle Haynes became voting members to the assembly. The SAA decided to send out a memo for the UA staff in order to recruit volunteers to fill the alternate positions and to update the constitution to address the procedure for replacing alternate members.

Motion: Moved by Lisa Sporleder, seconded by Laura Letuligasenoa, passed with no objections.

"The Statewide Administration Assembly resolves to distribute a memo to the eligible UA staff requesting volunteers to serve as alternates on the Assembly. This action is effective July 15, 1998."

5. Staff Alliance and System Governance Council Meetings

STAFF ALLIANCE: Pat Ivey noted that the Staff Alliance has concluded its meetings for the year. She mentioned that there will be issues coming up for them when they resume that are also important to the SAA, such as health care benefits.

SYSTEM GOVERNANCE COUNCIL : Pat Ivey said that there was a forum on July 23 from 2:30PM-4:30PM that would include Mike Humphrey and Patty Kastelic to discuss health care benefits. Mike Humphrey will give a final projection on how much money is needed to meet the health care costs, and the projected price of the health plans. The forum will also address further changes which may increase the cost of the health care plan. The forum is open to the public, and will be held in the Sherman Carter Conference Room in Butrovich Building, Fairbanks, as well as in Anchorage (contact Alisa Curry in the UAA Governance Office for more information,) and in Juneau (contact Rita Bowen for more information.) Pat Ivey referenced a report written by Rita Bowen, Brian Brubaker, and Bev Frey, who attended the super health benefits task force meetings.

The System Governance Council is also in the process considering adding voting alumni representatives to the Council, one of the purposes being to consolidate support for the university during the legislative process.

6. Reading of Proposed Change to the Constitution

A first reading was given to the proposed change to the constitution. Holly Abshire made the addition, "...prior to the annual onsite meeting...."

The proposed changes read as follows:

Article III Section 6:
Elections shall be concluded at least one month prior to the annual onsite meeting in May.

Article IV Section 2:
The SAA President, Vice President, and Secretary for the next fiscal year shall be elected for a one-year term from and by the SAA at its annual onsite meeting.

Motion: Moved by Lisa Sporleder, seconded by Laura Letuligasenoa, passed with no objections.

"The Statewide Administration Assembly will give the proposed change to the constitution its second reading at the next regular meeting. This action is effective July 15, 1998"

Betty Dupee noted that the practical implications of the change are that elections of the SAA members will be in April instead of May, and the election of officers and the annual onsite meeting will be in May instead of June.

7. Legislative and Gubernatorial Survey Discussion

Pat Ivey noted that this year is an election year, and there are two surveys being produced for the candidates. The alumni associations have already begun collecting information by telephone for a survey consisting of five questions. They began calling on Tuesday night, July 14. The alumni associations will give these results to the system governance office staff, who will put them on the internet. System Governance will also include other relevant information about the candidates on the web. After the primary elections, there will be a more in-depth survey for the remaining candidates. This second one will be a written survey. These results will also be published on the internet. Betty Dupee wanted to send out an email to the statewide employees about the results of the survey, and Ivey said that she intended to do so.

8. Employee Surveys

An Anchorage member asked if the employee surveys are confidential. Betty Dupee replied that she thought they were. Lisa Sporleder asked if the survey wanted to know locations or MAU's. David Rohwer suggested recommending a clarification on the question of location, but it was noted that the corrections were due some time ago. The Assembly noted that they knew of nobody who had received a survey yet.

9. Salary Increases Discussion

Betty Dupee read aloud an email memo she received from Pat Ivey. Dupee listed the options presented in this memo: an across the board grid adjustment, a non-recurring lump sum payment, a payment timed to cushion employees from potential health benefit charges in January of 1999, and/or a modification of salary range structure for classifications with severe recruitment and retention problems. Pat Ivey noted that the money for the salary increases is coming from funds appropriated to the University to pay salary increases for non-classified and APT employees.

Betty Dupee suggested that the Assembly try to come up with a suggestion they can present to the personnel office. Much of the Assembly felt that the best solution was a lump sum payment, because it keeps the health care and salary issues separate and because it benefits everyone. Some members of the Assembly wondered if a grid shift would benefit the red circled employees, and several members concurred that whether those employees received the full amount of money would depend upon how far above the line they are. Many Assembly members felt that using the money to deal with recruitment problems was a bad idea, because that is a university problem and the salary money should not be used to deal with it. Betty Dupee noted that percentage-wise, the lower paid employees will benefit more from a lump sum payment than the higher paid employees. Dupee also pointed out that the employees could elect to use the lump sum money to offset the health care cost increases. Dupee also suggested that for accounting purposes, the lump sum would probably be easiest.

Terri Kruse was concerned that the chancellors would make the decision on how the money is distributed rather than the employees. Kruse hoped that Human Resources would wait on making a decision. Lisa Sporleder suggested sending the group a memo expressing the Assembly's recommendation. An Anchorage member thought it would be a good idea to get a better explanation of what moving the grid means. Dupee noted that the assembly needs to send out the memo quickly, because of the time restraints imposed by the Board of Regents schedule.

The members wondered if employees who work only part time should receive the same lump sum payment as regular employees. The Assembly decided to include wording in the memo which provided that the amount received is proportional to the percentage of time worked.

The Assembly discussed the extended temporary employee situation and decided to include them. Temporary labor pool employees are not included.

After some discussion, the Assembly decided to vote on the wording for the recommendation. Any further amendments can be addressed at a special meeting on Friday, if required.

A role call vote was called to decide the question of whether or not the members supported the motion.

Motion: moved by David Rohwer, seconded by Lisa Sporleder, approved unanimously by a role call vote.

"The Statewide Administration Assembly moves that funds appropriated for non-represented classified and APT employees, over and above regular step increases be divided amongst regular and extended temporary non-represented classified and APT employees in a lump sum payment based on percentage of employment. This action is effective on July 15, 1998."

(NOTE: Soon after the assembly meeting, it was found that the issue of how to distribute the salary increases was not going to be addressed in the August Board of Regents meeting, so this motion was held pending further information.)

10. Health Benefits Discussion

Pat Ivey noted that she sent out an email message containing the health benefits report that Brian Brubaker co-authored. Ivey said that the university has already figured out how much they will pay per employee and the employees must cover the remainder. Terri Kruse felt that even with the information being provided, many people won't notice what is happening with their health plan until it affects their paychecks. Pat Ivey said that another option has also been introduced for discussion in which those employees who use the plan more will bear more of the financial burden.

11. Leave Share Program Refresher

Pat Ivey noted that the attachment to the agenda under item 11 is an excerpt from current Board of Regents policy. She brought up the article in the News-Miner about the university employee who has spent all her leave due to her child's illness, and was being asked to return to work or take extended leave. Ivey noted that the definition of a catastrophic illness is determined by the campus personnel. Dupee had heard that human resources was considering only allowing employees to donate annual leave rather than sick leave. Terri Kruse and Betty Dupee noted that this policy change would hurt those who need leave, because fewer people would be willing to donate annual leave than sick leave.

Holly Abshire said that after having talked with some people, she felt that the article was slanted. Abshire felt that the university policy was not presented adequately in the article.

12. Financial Overview Training (Banner)

Holly Abshire talked with Raye Ann Robinson, and Robinson agreed that a better support and training program is needed. Robinson said she would bring it up at her next staff meeting. An Anchorage member was concerned that employees would be trained for operations they are not authorized to do.

13. Butrovich Building Directory

Gage Choat informed the Assembly of the Butrovich Building Directory updates. Choat noted that he had completed blow-ups of each floor, in addition to an updated full building layout and name list.

14. SAA Home Page Renovations

Gage Choat asked if there were any suggestions for improvements to the current SAA homepage, which he was in the process of updating. Additional suggestions or changes should be sent to him.

15. Items for Next Month's Agenda