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Minutes of Administrative Staff Council Meeting
October 5, 2000
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 1:35 by Chair, Mary Beth
Zachary
Members Present: Linda Bakkum, Ann Betts, Pat Booth, Nora Cassidy, Sidney Childs, Claudia Clark, John Clark, Wayne Colvin, Sally Dreier, Laura Emch, Deborah Fleitz, Keith Hofacker, Tony Howard, Thad Long, Sandra Miesmer, Jane B. Myers, Pamella Phillips, Anne Saviers, Jack Taylor, Nancy
Vanderlugt, Barbara Waddell, Mary Beth Zachary
Guest: Executive Vice President Linda Dobb
Members who sent substitutes: Claudia Clark for Mary Lynn Pozniak,
Bridgette Winslow for Diane Smith, Jane Myers for Robin Veitch
Absent: William Blair, Dave Garcia, Kay Gudehus, Paul Lopez, Penny Nemitz,
Keith Pogan, Cheryl Purefoy
Approval of Minutes: Laura Emch moved, Pat Booth seconded, and the
minutes were approved as distributed.
Guest Speaker: Executive Vice President Linda Dobb began by reminding
those present of the change in the administrative hierarchy instituted by
President Sidney Ribeau last spring. At that time, he created the position
currently occupied by Dobb and gave her responsibility for the following
University offices and departments: Human Resources, Affirmative Action,
ITS, LLR, Continuing Education, WBGU, and NWOET. Dobb then reported on the following challenges facing the new division:
1.) Affirmative Action: Barbara Waddell is moving forward on the diversity
resolution passed by the Board of Trustees last June and it is hoped that
the current diversity plan will lead to a continuous awareness of the need
for diversity.
2.) Human Resources: HR is working on classified staff evaluations (of
particular interest to those Administrative Staff who supervise classified
staff) and continuing to work on the next phase of President Ribeau's 5-7
year Compensation Plan.
3.) ITS: Twelve new employees have been hired to work with staff in
assigned areas on computing needs, web e-mail is being tested a web portal is being developed for students, and a 3-5 year strategic plan for ITS is being developed. The infrastructure project will also continue (e.g., a
new video system is being installed which will allow users to choose a
video to watch from an on-screen menu) and a system installed (CISCO
Netscape View) which will allow ITS to see and diagnose problems in the
network from a remote location.
4.) LLR: will be the first on-campus site for wireless computing.
5.) Continuing Education: will be improving summer offerings.
6.) WBGU: will be moving to digital equipment. They have also offered
political candidates free air time and will be showing these segments
through late October and early November.
7.) NWOET: will be offering a new Master's degree in Educational
Technology off-site.
8.) Other developments: Dobb referred those assembled to an article which
will be appearing in next Monday's "Monitor" about the increase in
insurance costs that will increase employee contributions in all three
plans for the coming year. Vision insurance will no longer be available at
all. Dobb remarked that the situation mat BGSU is "symptomatic of what is
happening in this country" and indicated that it is becoming increasingly
difficult to keep insurance costs down.
A discussion period followed which resulted in the following information
being shared or clarified:
1.) A Wellness Program is being looked at in terms of how many people will
use it. The initial cost was projected as $35,000 (Dobb stated that it is
more likely to be close to $50,000) and this cost would have to be
justified by demonstrating that a sufficient number of staff would attend
the programs that were offered. Other comments made were that staff needed to feel supported by their supervisors to go to these programs, that
workloads don't always change when a person attends a program leading to
added stress, and that wellness programs need to creatively reflect the
changing times to attract a modern audience.
2.) Safety issues were discussed including the availability of Red Cross
CPR training (e.g., Barbara Waddell stated that she still trains service
people on campus) and fire safety (e.g., the proper use of fire
extinguishers). It was noted that John Curliss of Environmental Health and
Safety will offer such training with one week advance notice.
3.) Tech Grants 2000 were mentioned in terms of the fact that they will be
prioritized by the dean or vice president of the staff members department
or division.
4.) In response to a questions about why Continuing Education uses
off-campus teachers when there are on-campus people qualified to do it, Ann Betts shared that there are a number of ways that Continuing Education develops its curriculum and that staff who are interested in teaching could approach her or Cindy Smith with their ideas about classes they would like to teach.
5.) The Family Leave Act was mentioned in terms of the stipulation that a
couple working for the same employer is only entitled to 12 weeks between
them rather than 12 weeks for each of the partners. Dobb stated that this
"has to be looked at" in terms of how the law is applied at BGSU.
Chair Report: Mary Beth Zachary reported that there had been some
resignations from council . She then thanked Anne Saviers for agreeing to
chair the Internal Affairs committee along with others who are taking
responsibilities on this year.
Zachary also commended the ad hoc committee on Performance Evaluation for their thoroughness, their diligence, their efforts, and their thoughtfulness on behalf of Administrative staff. Their document is now in our hands.
Zachary also reported that she and John Clark have met in their regular
meetings with the Director of Human Resources and also with Executive Vice President, Linda Dobb. In these meetings they have learned:
1.) that Mercer is in this week to gather data from which to evaluate the
ranges. HR created a list of positions in each range with the position description and years in position. Mercer will select benchmark positions and run those against their market database. This analysis will take a couple of months. They'll let HR know their recommendations.
2.) Regarding the President's compensation plan year 3, HR will be identifying all positions that have not been yet touched by any of the actions to date in the compensation plan. The next step will be to identify positions for which we have market data because the positions are identified in the CUPA data. HR will then make a list of those not having market data. Those positions will have market data gathered.
3.) Regarding health insurance: Our medical costs went up last year. Because we are self-insured, when our costs go down, we can lower premiums, when our costs go up, our insurance costs will go up. This coming year, we will have increases in our insurance premiums. For those in the PPO and Plan 3, our premiums will still be less that we paid for insurance in 1994. Plan 1 costs will rise to a greater percentage than will the PPO and Plan 3. The vision plan will be dropped. It is not a good value for our faculty and staff. HR will begin detailing the information regarding the insurance
situation in the Monitor.
4.) The current version of the Admin staff handbook is online via the HR
website. Zachary and Clark also met with the Constituent Group Caucus and raised the issues of the implementation of the Family Medical Leave for married couples and also the interest in creating a catastrophic sick leave
pool. Zachary also reported that she and Clark would be meeting with the Board of Trustees the day following the present Council meeting. The ASC report will include updates on carry-over items such as the Performance Evaluation Revision, the compensation plan year 2, our scholarship awards. It will also include an announcement of this year's Ferrari Award winner and the ASC goals for this year. Zachary also informed those present that the next ASC report to the BOT will focus on putting human faces on Administrative Staff. Beside having a video of our BG Best Award honorees (thanks to Paul Lopez's efforts), the report will include information about Administrative Staff who are in positions of leadership outside their jobs. Zachary said that she will be calling for names via the ASC listproc.
Zachary concluded by updating the list of guests who will be attending the
December ASC meeting. It is expected that Rebecca Ferguson, Donna Wittwer, Doug Kruzel, and Patrick Kelly will all be attending.
Chair-Elect Report: John Clark thanked those who attended the fall ASC
reception and said that more than 90 people had attended. He also thanked
Pam Phillips for providing the table decorations.
Clark then gave an update on issues related to the IT Committee:
1.) ITC is expecting an announcement soon about voluntary migration to a
new mail system. He directed those present to the following website for
additional information: http://www.bgsu.edu/email/migrate.html. A new
Eudora will also be available and users will have the option of choosing
either or both.
2.) The committee is beginning to move forward on strategic plan,
beginning with dividing the committee into six areas. Strategies will be
discussed further at the next meeting on October 20.
3.) On the issue of desktop replacements: there are no immediate plans
for picking up replacements as has been done in the past. The first
priority is to address the needs of those people who are not yet on a
replacement schedule. Offices and departments are being advised to be
creative in finding ways to purchase desktops with their own funds and to
strongly consider getting equipment that is supported by ITS.
Clark also reported on the issues addressed at the Constituent Group Caucus meeting which were as follows:
1.) Current policies related to the Family Leave Act
2.) Developing a catastrophic sick leave pool
3.) The Wellness Program
4.) The increase in Health Plan costs
5.) The Student Health Advisory Committee is also looking at revisions to
their health plan
6.) The possibility of Ohio universities forming a coalition for health
care costs (this is already being explored re: prescription drug plans).
7.) A Prorated buy-in for health care coverage for part-time employees
8.) Diversity recruitment, promotion, and retention, alarm at the loss of
faculty of color
9.) The possibility of establishing a "one-stop-shopping" academic
advising center
10.) Improved recruitment and facilitation of international students
Secretary's Report: no report
Committee Reports:
Amendments: no report
External Affairs: Thad Long reminded those assembled that today is Spirit
Day and mentioned related activities. He also thanked his committee for
their work on the ASC fall reception and reminded everyone about the
Holiday Parade. The date for the Spring ASC reception is being finalized
based on President Ribeau's availability to attend.
Awards and Special Recognition: Tony Howard reported that the Spirit of BG Awards form is being finalized. Once this happens, the form will be mailed
out once, then be available on the ASC website.
Internal Affairs: Ann Saviers reported that she has updated the ASC
Orientation handbook, but has not yet received feedback from her committee members.
Personnel Welfare: Laura Emch reported that the committee is discussing its charges for the year and plans to break into subgroups. She also said the committee will be doing research and fact-finding related to their various goals.
Professional Development: Ann Betts reported that the committee reviewed evaluations from last year's professional development mini-conference. She indicated that several themes had emerged and that these have been organized into a "request for feedback" to be sent to the ASC listproc. The committee has also decided to hold the event when classes are in session because of the number of staff who take time off during spring break, which was being discussed as a possible time for the event next year. She also reported that attendance was up this past year over the previous year (104 vs. 72).
Salary: no report.
Scholarship: Sandy Miesmer reported that the committee is planning a
raffle to raise money for the scholarship fund this year, but no goal has
yet been set.
Ad Hoc Committee on Performance Evaluation: Mary Beth Zachary referred those present to the document generated by this committee and a discussion ensued with the following conclusions: that the document allows for individual differences between departments/offices while maintaining some consistency among them. Performance evaluation and merit have two
different purposes , but the current proposal still connects the performance evaluation process to the individual department/office's merit document. While no one can guarantee that staff will comply, it is hoped that the proposed system will yield few enough deviations that Human Resources will be able to enforce it more easily. The document will be discussed at the next ASC meeting.
Old Business: Mary Beth Zachary referred those present to the proposed
changes to the bylaws. These will be discussed at the next ASC meeting.
New Business: none
Good of the Order:
Barbara Waddell reminded those assembled about meetings that have been set up to discuss the Diversity Plan.
Deb Fleitz reminded those assembled about the upcoming Music and Arts Festival, the details of which can be found on the College of Musical Arts Website.
Ann Saviers distributed a handout about the International Friendship Program which matches international students with a family so that they have social outlets outside of the university.
Mary Beth Zachary announced that Jerome Library will have wireless
computing available to check out for use in the library within the next
month.
Keith Hofacker moved and Ann Saviers seconded to adjourn the meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Claudia A. Clark substituting for Mary Lynn Pozniak, Secretary
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