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Minutes of Administrative Staff Council Meeting
April 5, 2001
Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 1:33 by Chair, Mary Beth Zachary
Members Present: Ann Betts, William Blair, Pat Booth, Nora Cassidy, Sidney Childs, Claudia Clark, John Clark, Wayne Colvin, Sally Dreier,
Laura Emch, Deborah Fleitz, Kay Gudehus, T. Keith Hofacker, Tony Howard, Paul Lopez, Pamella Phillips Keith Pogan, Mary Lynn
Pozniak, Susan Sadoff, Diane Smith, Tom Scavo, Jack Taylor, Nancy Vanderlugt, Robin Veitch, Barbara Waddell Mary Beth Zachary
Members who sent substitutes: Julie Ash for Linda Bakkum,
Absent: Sandra DiCarlo, David Garcia, Thad Long, Sandra Miesmer, Jane B. Myers, Penny Nemitz, Anne Saviers
Guest Speaker: Larry Weiss
Larry Weiss from University Relations and Governmental Affairs spoke regarding the state budget for higher education. In
the Governor's budget introduced in January, the amounts discussed were increases of between 5.25% and 6.25% in the State
Share of Instruction for the coming year. There are several factors that have since impacted the state budget and the ability
of the state to support the proposed increase. The state has had declining revenues. Also, the state is required to find
a new way to fund K - 12 education because in the old method there was an over-reliance on property taxes. The state put
more money into K - 12 education but the Ohio Supreme Court said that it was not enough and that lawmakers have until June
15 to answer to the Ohio Supreme Court. In addition, there is a major Medicare shortfall. The state must balance the budget
each year. There could be a possibility of utilizing "rainy day funds" to balance the budget, however there is no agreement
on this in Columbus.
The state budget process began in January, when the Governor introduced his version of the budget. From there it went to
the House Finance Committee and to a subcommittee. It was due to be voted upon in the House yesterday but that did not occur.
Due to vacation, this vote will now take place at the end of April. The budget will then move to the Senate. The Senate
will want a version of the budget that is different from the House version. There will be a committee composed of members
of both groups that will meet to resolve the differences. They are aiming for June 1 to pass the budget. They would then
have two weeks to submit information to the Ohio Supreme Court regarding K - 12 funding.
The State Share of Instruction for higher education has been reduced in the proposed budget to a 2% increase. According
to some senators, the Challenge Grants are in peril. Success Challenge affects Main Campus and Access Challenge affects Firelands.
There may be an exemption on the 6% maximum increase in fees allowed per year perhaps allowing as much as a 9% increase.
Tuition increases however would not be enough to make up for the shortfall. In addition, universities will draw criticism
if they increase tuition more than the current 3-4% rate of inflation.
Weiss suggested that BGSU employees, students, and parents call or write to the legislators in Columbus and ask that the
Governor's budget of 5.25% - 6.25% for higher education be reinstated. He suggested that staff mention the benefits of higher
education for students and how our services help students. It is important to write on private stationery and not to utilize
University stationery. Weiss referred us to handouts he distributed listing points in favor of increased funding for higher
education, and a directory of state legislators. He suggested that we send letters to members of the House in the next seven
to ten days and that we target the list of House leaders from Householder to Miller. The letters should be addressed to Honorable
(name), Ohio House of Representatives, 77 South High Street, Columbus, OH 43266. He also suggested sending letters to the
Senate in two weeks and targeting the list of senators from Finan to Mallory. These letters should be addressed to State
Senator (name), Ohio Senate, Senate Office Building, Columbus, OH 43215.
Corrections to Minutes: Pamella Phillips had a substitute last month. The substitute was Deb Freyman.
Approval of Minutes: Keith Pogan moved, Claudia Clark seconded, and the minutes were approved as distributed.
Chair Report:
President's Compensation Working Group
Mary Beth Zachary and John Clark were invited to have conversation with the President's Compensation Working Group (PCWG).
In a prepared presentation, they called for a discussion of values and philosophy upon which to build a compensation plan.
The reasons for building a plan are to:
o Aid in recruitment, allowing potential employees to visualize opportunities at BGSU
o Reinforce the value of BGSU's current administrative employees
o Assist in building employee morale and retention
o Create common ground; minimizes surprises and disappointments
o Minimize differing or unmet expectations and mis-communications
o Build appropriate expectations for compensation-related "events"
o Allow employees to make informed, rational employment decisions
o Aid institutional and unit planning
o Reduce policy conflicts and policy application discrepancies
o Provide stability for employee and employer.
Administrative Staff Council hopes to enter into a plan-building discussion to articulate policies and procedures regarding
the following:
o Range evaluation and movement of ranges
o Periodic, systematic market review of all positions
o Acceleration to/toward range midpoint (a Mercer assumption)
o Salary progression throughout the ranges
o Salary inversions and egregious compressions
In the meeting, many of the participants asked questions and raised issues. It was a positive meeting, however, Zachary
and Clark have yet to hear a formal response from PCWG as regards the content of the presentation.
Also at the meeting, Zachary and Clark learned that forming a catastrophic sick leave pool could not happen at BGSU. Nancy
Footer, University Council, said that she had looked into the issue of creating a sick leave pool and BGSU can not, by law,
do it. There is explicit language that articulates the specific uses of sick leave for state employees. Pooling sick leave
is not one of them. There is an exception for collective bargaining agreements. There is also a court opinion supporting Footer's
contention. The only remedy she saw was legislative action to rewrite the law.
Human Resources
In meetings with Human Resources, Zachary and Clark discussed agenda items for the all-administrative staff meeting on
May 1, 2001 from 8:30 - 10:30 in Olscamp Hall. Zachary put out a call to gather questions from administrative staff members
and received messages from two individuals.
While working on developing a rotation process for the Administrative Staff Advisory Team, Personnel Welfare Committee
discovered some ambiguities in language and some potential points of confusion in the Handbook. They have proposed some changes
to the Handbook section "Administrative Staff Compensation Plan" which have been sent to Rebecca Ferguson. Most of the changes
are editorial in nature. Some are not. Discussion of the proposed changes will begin on April 10, 2001.
Constituent Group Caucus
There was a Constituent Group Caucus meeting this morning. Representatives from GSS, USC, CSC and ASC were present. The
issues discussed from GSS were forming a cross-functional committee to address international student concerns, graduate students
being required to take 12 hours to be considered full-time students in order to qualify for assistantship, the insufficiency
of graduate student stipends. Of concern for both student groups were the funding amounts and processes regarding student
fee allocation to student organizations, the allocation of "Pepsi contract" money, and safety on campus with regard to Blue
Emergency light visibility.
Legions
The most recent Legions meeting included a presentation by Dr. Don Neiman, Dean, Arts & Sciences and Marcia Latta on family
campaign progress. Also presented by the Office of Vice President for Student Affairs was the Student Emergency/Crisis Plan.
Jill Carr addressed University responses to student emergencies and crises. She asked that anyone knowing about a student
in crisis notify her office.
President's Office with Eileen Sullivan
John Clark and Mary Beth Zachary met with Eileen Sullivan to talk about the President's Compensation Working Group (PCWG)
presentation. Eileen will follow up the discussion with members of the PCWG.
Regarding the Human Resource Leave Committee, one faculty name has been submitted to Human Resources to serve on the committee.
Zachary had hoped to move the Board of Trustees minutes regarding FMLA use by married couples to the forefront of the discussion
so that the policy could be clarified before the beginning of the next contract year.
Zachary requested an update from Richard Bowers of the Wellness Program Survey. He responded with the following news:
"The report was completed and submitted to Linda Dobb, Ed Whipple, and Becca Ferguson. At Dr. Whipple's request, copies of
the report were also forwarded to the President's Cabinet for review. There was a 42 percent return rate on the 1,500 surveys
sent. A commendable level of interest was expressed within the returned surveys."
ASC has been asked to submit topics for discussion at the President's Panel. The following two issues will be submitted:
o What can the students and employees of the university do to help assist legislators to understand the implications of under-funding
higher education in Ohio?
o ASC hopes to work with the President's Compensation Working Group to articulate a systematic approach to compensation for
administrative staff that is broad enough to provide flexibility to the administration and clear enough to provide for appropriate
expectations by staff.
Zachary is working with ITS representatives to reinstate the ASC link to the Offices and Organizations page on the BGSU
web page.
Council member Cheryl Purefoy is leaving the university and will take a position at the University of Akron. Her last day
is April 6. We wish her well.
Zachary asked all ASC reps to complete the Student Union Survey.
Zachary will submit Keith Pogan's name to serve on the University Planning Council.
Chair-Elect Report:
John Clark reported that council members have approached him regarding ASC awards. They hope that when giving awards, ASC
will also remember staff members who have not been at the University as long.
Secretary's Report:
Mary Lynn Pozniak announced the winners of the elections for ASC reps in the following functional areas:
Academic Departments: Jim Dachik
Academic Support: Carl Dettmer
Institutional Support: Montique Cotton and Robert Zhang
Student Support: Amelie Brogden, Tina Coulter, Sally Johnson, Sue Lau, and Clarence Terry
Technology: Mike Fitzpatrick and Phyllis Short
Pozniak also announced that the candidate for ASC Chair-Elect is Laura Emch and the candidate for ASC Secretary is Diane
Smith.
Committee Reports:
Amendments. See Old Business
External Affairs.
There was a request by Matt Webb to speak to ASC that has been referred to External Affairs for consideration.
Awards and Special Recognitions.
Tony Howard reported that the committee is working on the mailing for the Ferrari Award and he expects that it will be sent
the second week in May. Howard also announced that the BG Best Awards would be presented at the ASC Spring Reception on May
31 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the Mileti Alumni Center. Lastly, Howard asked the Reps to remind their constituents to
nominate administrative staff for the monthly Spirit of BG Award.
Internal Affairs No report
Personnel/Welfare
Laura Emch reported that PWC has been working diligently on updates to the Administrative Compensation Plan Position Evaluation/Re-evaluation
Process. The current process in use can be viewed at http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/ohr/handbooks/ under: Additional Administrative Handbook Information/Administrative Staff Compensation Plan.
Professional Development.
Ann Betts reported that brochures for the Professional Development Day have been distributed. Some sessions filled quickly
and had to be moved to a location that could accommodate more participants.
Salary. No report
Scholarship No report
Old Business:
ASC Standing Committee Charges
Amendments Committee Report April 5, 2001
After reviewing, the proposed changes to Appendix A Article 2. The committee recommends that all of the proposed changes
with the exception of one be sent to the floor of the full council.
The committee does not recommend the deletion of "One member from each vice presidential area and the presidential area shall be on the committee. Committee members shall have
been employed by the University for at least three years" from section F. These two sentences should be maintained to insure a fair, diverse and broad knowledge base for the decision
making process. One of the functions of the committee is to select the winners of the various awards given by the ASC. The
committee selects the recipients not the council as a whole and thus the varied committee compliment needs to be maintained.
Most of the other committee's must report their work to the full council before their work is approved; the Awards committee
does not. We recommend that the terms vice presidential area and presidential area is changed to functional areas so as to
adhere to the present terminology.
Such that Section F to read as follows:
Awards and Special Recognition Committee - This committee shall be composed of at least one member from each functional area.
Committee members shall have been employed by the University for at least three years.
Thad Long, Chair of the External Affairs Committee, proposed that the phrase "provide assistance for BG Effect" in Section
2H be deleted from the charges of External Affairs.
Laura Emch, Chair of the Personnel/Welfare Committee proposed a change to Section 2B, Personnel/Welfare Committee. Emch
proposed that the word "be" in the last sentence should be replaced by "also serve". The sentence would then read: "The chair
of PWC shall also serve on the Executive Committee."
Claudia Clark moved to accept the suggested changes to the ASC committee charges and Wayne Colvin seconded the motion.
The motion passed unanimously.
New Business: None
Good of the Order:
- Robin Veitch announced that the Falcon Club Auction would occur on May 19. The items to be auctioned are listed on their
website.
- Deb Fleitz shared that the 2001-2002 Festival Series was announced last week. Included in the schedule is the Moscow Philharmonia,
a Russian baritone, and a jazz violinist. Fleitz encouraged all to buy tickets. Fleitz also announced that next week there
will be a dance company performance and cautioned that the performance will include partial nudity.
- Tom Scavo announced that there will be Black Board training for faculty next week and faculty will be given access to begin
to develop coursework. Scavo explained that Black Board is both a portal and a course management tool. As a portal, students
will have a personalized sign-on page, called "My BGSU", where they will have access to news and information. Authentication
is being worked on. As a course management tool, faculty can develop syllabi. There are tools to help facilitate a unified
presentation to students for both Web based and traditional courses. The system will be available on August 1 in a limited
form.
Wayne Colvin moved and Deborah Fleitz seconded to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 2:46 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Lynn Pozniak
Secretary
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