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Thursday, February 4, 1999 Alumni Room, University Union
Call To Order: The meeting was called to order by Chair Deb Boyce at 1:35 p.m.
Members Present: William Blair, Joyce Blinn, Deborah Boyce, Dianne Cherry, Claudia Clark, John Clark, Judy Donald, James Elsasser,
Michael C. Giles Jr., Pat Green, Linda Hamilton, John Hartung, Keith Hofacker, Sandy LaGro, Paul Lopez, Gene Palmer, Jan Peterson,
Mary Lynne Pozniak, Cheryl Purefoy, Bonita Sanders-Bembry, Jane Schimpf, Robin Veitch, Deb Wells, Calvin Williams, Mary Beth
Zachary
Introduction of Substitutes: Cindy Colvin for Matt Webb, Diane Smith for Marilyn Braatz, Stacy McDaniel for Sidney Childs.
Introduction of New Members: Michael C. Giles will be taking Shelly Appelbaum's place.
Resignation: Craig Bedra resigned membership on the Administrative Staff Council due to schedule conflicts. John Clark will
represent Craig's constituents.
Guest Speakers: Donna Wittwer (Alternative Retirement Plan) and Marcia Latta (Family Campaign)
Donna Wittwer explained about the Alternative Retirement Plan (ARP) that is available for employees who have worked at Bowling
Green State University for five years or less and are currently not receiving benefits from the state system. There are approximately
200 full-time faculty and 200 full-time administrative staff who would be eligible to elect this plan. Full-time means 40
hours a week. Those persons who have Non-Student Letters of Appointment are not eligible. She encouraged the ASC representatives
to encourage their constituents to educate themselves about the retirement plans. During the week of February 15, there wild
be ten sessions (two in the evening) to educate people about the plans.
According to Donna, employees have two choices: to stay in PERS or to elect the ARP. Once a choice is made, they cannot change
as long as they are here at BGSU.
Both PERS and STRS are public retirement plans, and are "defined benefit" plans. This means that there is a guaranteed monthly
benefit upon retirement based on (1) age, (2) service credit accumulated, and the final average salary.
The Alternative Retirement Plan is a "defined contribution plan". The account balance is made up of contributions by the employee,
BGSU, and investment return. The employee then has a choice of investments with the carrier he selects. The benefit is determined
by the account balance and the payment option chosen when the employee when he applies to receive it. . Eight insurance companies
are certified to offer ARP in Ohio. Donna suggested that those considering the ARP to ask questions and to look at the companies
portfolios, return on investment, and experience with other Alternate Retirement Programs.
With regard to medical benefits, under PERS the employee would have to be working for ten years within the system. ARP has
no health care coverage. With regard to disability and survivor benefits PERS pays. With ARP, the employee only has the money
that has accumulated in the retirement plan.
With STRS, there is immediate vesting at 5 years, no loans can be taken from the account, and spousal consent is needed if
the spouse will not be the beneficiary.
The window to enroll is 120 days (May 24) starting January 25, 1999 when the Board of Trustees voted to offer the plan. The
freeze date is March 3l. Once an employee elects to join the ARP system, he can change vendors once a year (within ARP), but
cannot go to the State System.
There were questions and discussion.
Marcia Latta, the Interim Director of Development talked about the "Family Campaign", a formalized annual employee contribution
plan tied in with the Core Values of the University. She said that when she asks persons and companies outside the university
to contribute, it helps to see that BGSU's employees are also contributing to their university. The Board of Trustees Foundations
Board and the Alumni Board will be contributing to the Family Campaign.
The priority project of the Family Campaign is the renovation of the Union, but employees can designate the unit to which
they are contributing. The employee determines the amount and can choose how to pay. All gifts are tax deductible. Within
the Union will be an Interactive Lounge for faculty and staff. Volunteer committees are being formed that will require only
minimal time.
The January minutes were approved with Keith Hofacker making the motion and Mary Beth Zachary seconding it.
Chair's Report:
Due to Deb's schedule conflicts:
The next ASC meeting will be on March 18 (not March 4) in the Campus Room (same time)
April's meeting will be April 8 in the Campus Room (same time).
Deb Boyce said that at the January meeting of the Board of Trustees the Alternative Retirement Plan was adopted. Applications
for the 1999 freshmen class are up 5% from last year and the 3600 freshman cap may be reached this summer.
Deb said that President Ribeau said he is pleased that Taft is an education governor for both K-12 and higher education.
The Professional Staff Development Committee will hold a conference in March at BGSU
James Elsasser has agreed to serve on the ASC Executive Committee as Shelly Appelbaum's replacement.
John Clark has agreed to take over the constituents of Craig Bedra.
Ed O'Donnell is reconfiguring the Dining Service Advisory Board Policies and Procedures and will report back to the ASC.
Chair-Elect's Report: no report
Secretary's Report: no report
Committee Reports:
Ad Hoc Committee on Professional Evaluation: (composed of ASC members and Human Resources) is in the process of looking at
the process and the product. The Institute for Psychology Research and Application (in the Department of Psychology) is conducting
a study to determine the effectiveness of the current evaluation process including the tool and the process to see what works.
They will be using focus groups and are currently honing questions for these groups. The responses will be collected via audio
and transcriptions and coded. They will be anonymous.
Awards and Special Recognition: The "BG BEST" nomination letter has been sent and the deadline is March 26 to win the highly
coveted Falcon. The March deadline date was selected to avoid conflict and confusion with the Ferrari process which is a separate
award.
Personnel Welfare: Pat Green reported that although the university has moved to a 100% merit evaluation (as designated by
the Board of Trustees), the term ‘merit’ has not been defined in an understandable form. The document created by the Committee
and passed by the ASC has been agreed to in concept by the vice presidents, they are having trouble with the language. Thus,
the language will need to be redrafted.
Professional Development Committee: Jane Schimpf said that three grants have been awarded (maximum of $500). There are still
grant moneys available. According to A Professional Development Institute will be held on March 17 in the morning at Olscamp
Hall. The Committee has been working with Continuing Education. According to Claudia Clark, the program topics will be:
(1) A two-part part series:
Workplace Survival - 9-10:15
Surviving Campus Violence (outside speaker) - 10:45-12:00
(2) Specialized Communication
The Writing Process- speaker is Bonnie Fink from SPAR presenting practical tips for business communication
Effective Interaction with Today's Students Greg DeCrane
Personal Enrichment with Dr. Laurie Willmarth speaking about the Balancing Act and Eye of the Tornado (balancing exercises)
Ad Hoc Professional Connections Committee: is looking for mentors who have worked at the university for less than five years.
Scholarship Committee: applications will go out on Monday February 8. For raffle tickets, call Deb Freyman in the Biological
Sciences Department.
Amendments, External Affairs, Internal Affairs, Salary Committee, The Ad Hoc Committee on Teaching Compensation: no report
Discussion Items:
1. Unit-Level discussions of mid-year performance evaluation process and merit criteria. In some (but not all) units there
already discussions taking place how merit is interpreted. If the merit pool is 3% or less and the employee is doing his /
her job, then all employees are considered to have achieved to the first level of merit and all get across-the-board raises.
Some areas are not interpreting this first level in different ways and may inadvertently discriminate among employees by dividing
up that pool unequally. A fund is available to help those employees who do not reach the first level of merit and who may
need to take some professional development training.
Discrimination is made among employees when the pool for salary increases is from 3% to 5%.
2. How do we reward super-merit? Bonuses not tied to base pay would be one option. Bonuses have already been rewarded in the
past but there is no operational system in place. Do we want a bonus policy? If no funds are available, is a bonus system
an option? Can we carry it through to the next year and award it then if funds are available?
Old Business: none
New Business: none
Good of the Order: none
A motion to adjourn was made by Linda Hamilton, and seconded by Mary Beth Zachary.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:10.
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