Minutes of Administrative Staff Council Meeting

January 4, 2001


Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 1:35 by Chair, Mary Beth Zachary

Members Present: Ann Betts, William Blair, Pat Booth, Sidney Childs, Claudia Clark, John Clark, Wayne Colvin, Sally Dreier, Laura Emch, Kay Gudehus, Keith Hofacker, Tony Howard, Thad Long, Paul Lopez, Sandra Miesmer, Mary Lynn Pozniak, Anne Saviers, Tom Scavo, Nancy Vanderlugt, Robin Veitch, Barbara Waddell, Mary Beth Zachary


Members who sent substitutes: Keith Hofacker for Deborah Fleitz, Kay Gudehus for T. David Garcia, Robin Veitch for Jane B. Myers, Dawn Burks for Diane Smith


Absent: Linda Bakkum, Nora Cassidy, Sandra DiCarlo, Penny Nemitz, Pamella Phillips, Keith Pogan, Cheryl Purefoy, Jack Taylor


Guest Speaker:
Provost John Folkins began by stating that he has been meeting with many
groups on campus and he would like this to be the first of a series of meetings with ASC. He then shared his observations after having been on campus for eight months. Folkins feels that the people are great. They are friendly and exhibit a caring attitude toward others, the University, and the city of Bowling Green. He is excited about what is happening on campus. The Institutional priorities are the University's guiding principles, including student success and retention. Folkins was encouraged about the state budget situation and the Success Challenge opportunities when he began at the University. Since that time the state's economy has gone downhill. When the governor's budget comes out we will see how the University does in light of the fact that the state has many expenses including increased health care costs. This is a new legislature as a result of term limits and the new people want to cut budgets.

Folkins then discussed three areas that he feels need to be fixed at the University. The first area involves obtaining funding in order to increase compensation for all areas. The second area involves increasing instructional resources in order to provide needed seats for students. The goal is to offer students selections that are appropriate for them and reasonable class sizes. The third area involves increasing operating budgets enough to provide for adequate staffing.

In order to provide funds for these areas, the University is working on two
initiatives. The first involves increasing private funding through the
University Foundation. The second involves recruitment and retention. The
Office of Admissions as well as everyone else at the University is responsible for this initiative. Each college will report on new initiatives for
recruitment and retention for fall 2001. Staff are invited to put plans forward and the provost will provide funds for chosen initiatives. Al Gonzales is working on a long-term strategy including the possibility of offering $1,000 scholarships to selected eighth graders.

Folkins then spoke of enabling early recruitment for instructors. Currently
the offers are late and the salaries are low, and many offers are for only one year. Then the instructors receive a letter in November stating that they won't be rehired. Faculty Senate is working on a better system that may involve changing the charter. Formerly the colleges were asked to submit yearly requests for instructor staffing to the provost. Now the money is being given to the colleges so that they can make the choices regarding how many instructors are needed in which areas. The goal is to make the funding stable year to year. The departments can then broaden their searches since they will be able to recruit earlier. Colleges were told how much money they will receive. They have responded that it is not enough.

Folkins then discussed the fact that Pepsi has pouring rights at the
University. The University will receive millions of dollars that will go to
benefit students through funding to student services and organizations. Staff should let Chris Dalton know if any machines are in unfavorable locations.

Discussion followed regarding compensation issues. A concern was raised
regarding salary caps. Administrative staff members are the only University
employees who have salary caps. Administrative staff who have been at the University long term and have been high performers get to the point where they can receive no further rewards. Folkins suggested moving caps up or making exceptions. The point was raised regarding the 3% salary increase being available to all who earn merit by performing their jobs satisfactorily. There are people who do their jobs very well but do not have the opportunity to do other things that would gain them super merit. It was felt that those individuals should at least receive a cost of living increase. Folkins was asked if there is a benchmark for administrative staff relative to other institutions. Folkins said that there is no benchmark established and he feels that it would be difficult to do for administrative staff. Given enough data, we may have a good idea regarding where we stand. Folkins responded to the question of whether there are any plans to increase compensation other than wages by stating that at this time there are no plans along those lines. There has been a 15% increase in health care costs. Provost Folkins closed his remarks by thanking staff for all our efforts.


Approval of Minutes: Wayne Colvin moved, Pat Booth seconded, and the minutes were approved as distributed.


Chair Report:

Executive Committee:
The Executive Committee has been discussing topics and questions for our guest, Dr. John Folkins, Provost. In addition, we have been discussing what we might include in a philosophy of compensation. The representatives and past chairs will be asked to contribute their thoughts to the process within the next week.

Human Resources:
We have not met with Human Resources since our last meeting.

Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees meeting at Firelands was cut short due to adverse
weather conditions. The President's report, the constituent reports, and the report by Dr. William Balzer were not given orally but were to be submitted in writing to the secretary for distribution to board members. Our report focused on the variety of ways in which administrative staff contribute to our campus community, and to our broader communities. Our efforts are professional, compassionate, and reflect positively on the university at a minimum. The effects on recruitment and retention of students remain undocumented. The list presented to the board detailed submissions by less than 20% of administrative staff and filled 7 pages of single-spaced 10 point type. It is an impressive list of contributions.

Legions
The most recent Legions meeting focused on the University capital plan.
Highlights included: Hanna is "up for" the next cycle of renovation, then
University, and then Moseley. This set of cycles carries through 2006. Funds for these projects have been borrowed (temporarily diverted) for the Technology Infrastructure Project, but that money will soon be replaced in the budget. Theater and Chemistry and Biology are crucial capital planning needs that aren't currently in any budget--present or future.

*A word of explanation was provided: In any capital planning budget, the
first biennium is the only one that is truly expected to happen. Fifteen million dollars per year must be specifically prioritized for earmarked capital
expenditures, but the second half of the biennium is always kept flexible--i.e., expenditures targeted there may or may not happen. We also heard that the university has considered a co-generation partnership for electricity with the city but has concluded that the proposed new facility
would not meet our needs. New ideas for alternative power sources might be considered, though.


Chair-Elect Report: no report

Secretary's Report: no report


Committee Reports:

Amendments. No report

External Affairs.
Thad Long reported that the date and time for the Spring ASC Reception has been set in conjunction with the availability of President Ribeau. It will be held on Thursday, May 31, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Awards and Special Recognitions. No report.

Internal Affairs
Anne Saviers submitted the following report:
Mary Lynn Pozniak, Claudia Clark, and Anne Saviers met on December 22, 2000.

Primary discussion focussed on ASC election issues:
- Executive will be asked to verify that apportionments are correct.

- Efforts will be made to streamline the election procedure.

- Chair of IA will contact Joe Luthman to review constituent lists with the
goal of ensuring that functional areas are properly represented.

- The issue of stopping out for 2 years will be re-visited with regard to
regulations as stated in ASC amendments and by-laws.

- By-laws pertaining to election procedures will be reviewed and suggestions for possible revisions will be submitted following consultation with the Articles and By-laws sub-committee.

- Procedures for soliciting self-nominations will be clarified.

- A schedule will be set up identifying the dates for mailing and collecting
of the different ballots and voting information.

- IA Committee will develop election ballots and make sure that they are
printed and distributed appropriately; ballots will be color-coded by functional area.

Anne also asked committee chairs to look at the committee descriptions to see if more information needs to be included.

Personnel Welfare
Laura Emch submitted the following report:
During the month of December, Inge Klopping and Laura Emch met with Mary Beth Zachary to discuss the committee's progress so far and to clarify remaining charges. The next committee meeting is January 12, 2001.

Professional Development
Ann Betts submitted a report showing the results of an e-mail request sent in October regarding topics to be addressed during a professional development day. Staff expressed an interest in the following topics: customer service, assertiveness, balance in life workshop, generation gap in the workplace. The following dates are available in Olscamp Hall: March 7, 8; April 2, 3, 9, 19, 26, 30. Betts prefers April 26 due to time constraints and other conferences. Kate Augustine will work with the committee to make sure that efforts are not duplicated.

Salary. No report

Scholarship
Sandra Miesmer reported that the committee is working on the raffle. The
letters will go out on January 10. Staff will be able to designate
Administrative Scholarship as a part of the Family Campaign.


Old Business: none


New Business:
The President's Compensation Group is engaged in developing a philosophy of compensation for BGSU employees. There was a discussion of recommendations that ASC can present to the group for them to consider as they develop this philosophy. One recommendation is from information contained in the Administrative Staff Handbook. The handbook proposes that funds outside the merit pool be used to correct salary inequities. Another recommendation was for job descriptions to be written so that either the job could ordinarily be completed in a 40 hour work week or if not, some additional compensation is provided. It was recommended to encourage supervisors to compensate employees in some way if and when their positions require that they work more than 40 hours per week. It was also suggested that the University give long term contracts to those who have been at the University a long time.


Good of the Order:
- Wayne Colvin reported that Hayes Hall is now on the new network.

- Thad Long informed us that he is the chair of the University Safety Committee. They met once and are discussing educating employees regarding safety issues. Bring issues to Thad.

- Kay Gudehus asked for volunteers for the Presidents' Day open house. A total of 130 are needed and 85 have responded so far.

- Robin Veitch announced upcoming men's and women's basketball games.

- Tom Scavo reported that the Executive Vice President signed a contract with Blackboard for a web portal. August 1 is the target date for implementation. Student information will be available on the portal including financial aid information and a listing of students' schedules. Scavo also reported that a recruiting campaign is beginning this month including radio and television advertisements and an updated Web site.

- Mary Beth Zachary reported on the Kent State University portal. She is a KSU student and can check her grades and can register for classes through the portal.

- John Clark suggested that we check the my.ucla portal.

Keith Hofacker moved and Sandra Miesmer seconded to adjourn the meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:05 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Mary Lynn Pozniak
Secretary