Minutes of Administrative Staff Council Meeting

September 7, 2000


Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 1:30 by Chair, Mary

Beth Zachary

Members Present: Linda Bakkum, , Ann Betts, Pat Booth, Nora Cassidy,

Claudia Clark, John Clark, Wayne Colvin, Sally Dreier, Laura Emch,

Deborah Fleitz, Andrew Freeman, T. David Garcia, Kay Gudehus, Keith Hofacker, Tony Howard, Thad Long, Paul Lopez, Sandra Miesmer, Pamella Phillips, Mary Lynn Pozniak, Cheryl Purefoy, Anne Saviers, Nancy Vanderlugt, Robin Veitch, Barbara Waddell, Mary Beth Zachary

Members who sent substitutes: Ann Bowers for Diane Smith

Absent: William Blair, Sidney Childs, , Jane B. Myers, Penny Nemitz,

Keith Pogan, Charles Stocker, Jack Taylor

Approval of Minutes: Paul Lopez moved, Keith Hofacker seconded, and

the minutes were approved as distributed.

Chair Report:

The executive committee has been meeting and working on proposed

goals. The committee has discussed and attempted to articulate and

prioritize council's work for the coming year. Various questions that

have arisen were handled including requests for people and monetary

contributions for an ice cream social on Homecoming Spirit Day and

requests for examining and clarifying University policies.

Human Resources

The President's Compensation Plan distribution for year 2 has

occurred. A committee for hearing appeals was formed, the process

was created, and appeals have been submitted.

Donna Wittwer's mother died. Mary Beth Zachary sent a sympathy

card on behalf of ASC. Wittwer will be out until September 11.

Mary Beth Zachary and John Clark have been meeting to help clarify

ASC's work when it intersects with the work of HR. They hope to

continue the excellent working relationships with the staff in HR

that they have had in the past several years.

Becca Ferguson shared with John Clark and Mary Beth Zachary a

report documenting the last three years of staff hires at BGSU. The

report shows that "when there are internal candidates for positions

in all categories (Administrative, Classified - full-time and

part-time) greater than 50% of the time the internal candidate is

selected for the position." (handout). The question was raised

whether employees are always aware of vacancies on campus. Barbara

Waddell said that all campus vacancies are listed in the Monitor.

The suggestion was made to have a link from the ASC Website to the

Human Resources Website regarding job vacancies.

Discussions regarding the interpretation and application of FMLA

at BGSU began recently. The policy at BGSU is that FMLA is applied

concurrently with sick leave taken. The act itself states that it is

the decision of the employer and/or employee whether or not to run

them concurrently. Another point being discussed is the fact that

married couples who both work on campus share 12 weeks leave. The

act states that the employer can do more than this. The Board of

Trustees clarified this point at their meeting on June 27, 1997 but

their statement does not seem to completely clear up the issue.

Nancy Footer is examining their statement. Zachary and Clark will

keep council informed as the discussion proceeds.

Getting the revised Administrative Staff Handbook on the web is a

priority with HR.

Executive Vice President Linda Dobb

John Clark and Mary Beth Zachary met with Executive Vice President

Dobb and discussed the general direction/goals of Administrative

Staff. Dobb was supportive of the Spirit of BG Award.

The IT picture is looking hopeful. Dobb has hired a new budget

person who will start October 1. Dobb has sent out IT updates that

speak to the issues that affect us all. Zachary and Clark are in the

process of setting up meetings for the year and will, of course, keep

the reps up to speed with the content of those meetings.

Fall Reception

The Administrative Staff Fall Reception is September 22 in the

Mileti Alumni Center 10:30 - Noon. The program will begin

approximately 11:15. All are encouraged to attend and support the

new Ferrari Award recipient. Also, the Administrative Staff

Scholarship recipients will be introduced.

It has been strongly suggested that ASC set dates for the

receptions for next year early this year. We will attempt to set a

calendar for the 2001-2002 receptions with the President's office

soon in order to get the dates on his calendar.

Guests

There will be guests this year at three ASC meetings. The guests

will be Executive Vice President Linda Dobb at the October 5th

meeting, President Sidney Ribeau at the November meeting and Provost

Folkins at the January meeting. Zachary asked for suggestions for

other guests who might be invited to upcoming meetings and USG

President Marcos Popovich and Doug Kruzel from Employee Relations

were suggested.

Spirit of BG Award

The President's Office notified us that they have added $1,000 to

our budget for implementation of the Spirit of BG Award.

ASC Scholarship

The corpus of the ASC Scholarship is $89,633.24 as of 6/30/00.

One of the ASC goals for this year is to increase this amount.

Constituent Group Caucus

John Clark and Mary Beth Zachary will be calling together the

Constituent Group Caucus. It is ASC's turn. They will see what comes

of those meetings this year. It was not an active group last year.

Legions

The Legions have met twice since the last ASC meeting. The first

was the annual retreat. The major focus of the second meeting was an

update of the BGSupernet project. President Ribeau spoke of several

issues, one of which was the legal fight in which the University of

Michigan is engaged for this entire region regarding Affirmative

Action. Unlike other legal cases around this issue, 11 major

corporations are supporting the efforts of Michigan to retain their

Affirmative Action program. Michigan is willing to carry the battle

to the Supreme Court.

Ribeau encouraged support both for the events surrounding the

athletic activities this weekend and especially for homecoming

activities.

Zachary announced that the campus picnic is tomorrow.

Chair-Elect Report:

John Clark reported on an update from Don Bell regarding the

technology infrastructure project. The project is on target and in

some cases ahead of schedule. Some areas will fully use BGSupernet

by March. Clark announced that Don Bell will give a report today at

4:00 p.m. in BAA 1007.

Clark also reported on the ASC budget. The amount received this

year is the same as last year: $2041. There was a $201. carry over

from last year and a $746. total carry over. The total amount in the

budget is $2787. The budget will be spent in the following manner:

$1,800. on awards and $700. on refreshments for receptions.

Secretary's Report:

Mary Lynn Pozniak distributed the updated schedule of Council

meetings and the constituent lists. She asked that the committee

chairs e-mail her a copy of the reports they give at each ASC meeting.

Committee Reports:

Amendments:  No report

External Affairs:  Thad Long reported that the committee will

meet next week and will discuss the ASC Fall reception, the

possibility of having a tent at a home football game, the Homecoming

Parade, and the Holiday Parade. Also, he announced that volunteers

are needed to distribute ice cream and popcorn from 11:00 a.m. to

3:00 p.m. on Spirit Day, which is October 5.

Awards and Special Recognitions: Tony Howard reported that

ASC received $920. - $940. For the Spirit of BG Awards. ASC has been

asked to work with Classified Staff Council as they will also be

granting Spirit of BG Awards.

Internal Affairs: This committee is in need of a chair.

Mary Beth Zachary reviewed the duties of the committee for this year.

The Internal Affairs Committee will:

• examine the ASC election process and find ways to streamline it;

• revise the charges of the ASC committees;

• examine the bylaws to see what effect the following changes have had: ASC is smaller than it used to be, people have to stay off

• council for two years between terms, and committee membership is supposed to be 50% council members; and

• make sure that bylaws agree with the Administrative Staff Handbook.

Personnel Welfare: No report

Professional Development:  Ann Betts reported that feedback

from the ASC Professional Development Morning indicated an interest

in either having the conference during Spring Break or running it

twice in the same day and having the same sessions in the morning and

in the afternoon. There is interest in topics related to taking care

of self and others.

Salary:  David Garcia reported that the committee would meet next week.

Scholarship: No report

Ad Hoc Committee on Performance Evaluation Revision: John

Clark reported that the committee has divided into three groups to

write the revision. One group is writing the preamble, another group

is writing the overview and rationale, and the third group is writing

the time line for evaluation. The committee will meet next week and

will be finished with the revision by the end of September.

Old Business: none

New Business:

Bylaw restrictions

The bylaws require that all ASC committees be composed of 50% Administrative Staff Council members. There are many people who are not on ASC who would like to be members of committees. The Amendments Committee will examine the bylaws and present alternative language that will not restrict committee membership. In order for committees to begin their work for the year and not be bound to the current restrictions, Wayne Colvin moved to suspend in Article 2, Section 2 the statement, "Non ASC members shall comprise no more than 50% of standing committee membership" until February 1, 2001 in order to allow the Amendments Committee to present alternative language. Laura Emch seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

2000-2001 Goals

The handout listing proposed ASC goals for the year was discussed and some modifications were suggested. Mary Beth Zachary will revise the sheet and redistribute it at the next ASC meeting.

Good of the Order:

• Paul Lopez announced that a film by Tony Howard on the topic of children grieving and coping strategies will air this Sunday at 10:30 p.m. on WBGU.

• Keith Hofacker reminded council that "Oklahoma" will be performed in Kobacker Hall this coming Friday and Saturday.

• Thad Long announced that he has two tickets to give away for the football game against Pitt this Saturday.

• Barbara Waddell passed out posters that contain the text of the University's "Resolution Reaffirming the Commitment to Diversity"

• Claudia Clark announced the upcoming program,"Positive Images: A Body Esteem Retreat For College Women" to be held on September 16

• Wayne Colvin promised that the paving by the stadium would be completed in time for the football game on Saturday.

• Deborah Fleitz encouraged us to attend events sponsored by the College of Musical Arts. She shared the fact that 90% of the events are free.

• Cheryl Purefoy announced the following: There will be a computer sale next week at the Reed Street warehouse. These computers are for home use and non-employees are also welcome to purchase these computers.

• The fall auction will be held on October 14. Among the items to be auctioned there will be a sailboat.

• Printing Services will accept documents for printing that are sent electronically.

• The Post Office is recruiting for a manager.

• The University is discouraging employees from receiving personal mail at work.

Keith Hofacker moved and Deborah Fleitz seconded to adjourn the meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:13 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Lynn Pozniak

Secretary