Administrative Staff Council 2004 – 2005
Minutes: September 2, 2004
207 BTSU

Call to Order:
Joe Luthman called the meeting to order at 1:32 pm

Members present:
Wendy Buchanan, Jill Carr, Nora Cassidy, Rob Cramer, Dave Crooks, Kim Fleshman, Michael Ginsburg, Tim Hoepf, Lawrence Holland, Sheila Irving, Ann Jenks, Steve Kendall, Naomi Lee, Paul Lopez, Susan Macias, Debra McLean, Teresa McLove, Connie Molnar, Emily Monago, Jeff Nelson, Rich Peper, Rachael Schaffer, Sally Raymont, Diane Regan, Deborah Rice, Celeste Robertson, Mary Beth Zachary

Members Absent:
Judy Amend, Greg Dickerson, Lawrence Spencer, Robin Veitch

Guests:
Bill Knight, Rebecca Ferguson, Pat Kelly

Approval of Minutes:
Dave Crooks moved to approve the minutes of June 2004. Susan Macias seconded. Minutes were approved.

Chair:

Joe Luthman thanked Robin Veitch (Past Chair) and Tina Coulter (Past Secretary) for their hard work on Administrative Staff Council last year. Also thanked were Lona Leck, Ann Jenks and the Exec Team for all their hard work getting the vacancies on the ASC filled. As some of you have noticed, the last three or four years we have had declining numbers of representatives that was corrected last year. Thanks also go to Lona Leck who has taken over the ASC website and Deb Wells for the listproc.

In October, we will have someone discuss the blackboard discussion group. It will be similar to the one the faculty already uses. If you have suggestions for future meetings and/or guests please feel free to contact an Executive Council Member

Chair's Written Report

ASC Chair’s Report for September 2004

Briefly, here is a high-level view of issues we may/will see this academic year.

1) Rec Center cost reduction for spring semester for staff, in exchange for points earned in Well Aware, a wellness promotion program this fall.

2) Biennial staff survey is scheduled to be taken this fall. Bill Knight will attend our September meeting to highlight the survey and to invite as many staff as possible to participate.

3) Spousal rule proposed to go into effect for all faculty and staff. Eligible full-time-employed spouses would need to secure primary health insurance through their own employer. Rebecca Ferguson and Pat Kelly will answer questions on this issue during our September meeting.

4) "Organizing for Engagement" process launched by Dr. Ribeau in his Opening Day speech. This will be similar to the Community Building Process that ran during his first two years here at BGSU.

5) Change request for our handbook. Let's invite a Faculty Senate rep to be a full, participating member of ASC. This drive was initiated two years ago among all three constituent groups. But there was a contingency clause built into our initiative such that if Faculty Senate did not choose to follow suit, then we, too, would not invite Faculty Senate to ASC.

6) Blackboard Discussion group for administrative staff. Our October meeting will survey how this Blackboard offering will work.

7) We need a new welcoming process for staff who enter BGSU as a by-invitation-appointment. To the extent that the President must occasionally use this hiring approach, it behooves BGSU to have a process in place that helps introduce the new hire to staff, and staff to the new hire. In short, we need a process that replicates the interview.

Chair Elect:
Thank you to the members of the executive committee for all their support.
I have been working on the ASC website, making it more user friendly and would appreciate any feedback. The goal is to have the new website up and running by October 1st

Secretary:
Presently we need three more ASC representatives. The three areas that need representatives are: Technology, Athletics and Institutional Support, but the staff member can be reassigned to any area. So if you know or would like to nominate someone please contact a member of the Executive Council

Committee Reports:
Folders were handed out to chairs of this years’ committees.

Awards: Fall Reception is Tuesday, September 21st from 2:00 – 4:00 in
Room 202B BTSU. The reception includes remarks from President
Ribeau, introduction of the 2004 ASC Scholarship Recipients, the
presentation of the Ferrari Award and something new; a movie
honoring the past recipients of the Ferrari Award.

New Business:
Director of Institutional Research, Bill Knight, discussed the up-coming staff questionnaire. This survey is done every three years, this will be the third time. The purpose of the questionnaire is to hear back about people’s thoughts about the quality of their work life. What it is like to be an employee, what their concerns are. Although there are some demographic items on the survey, the survey will still be anonymous. Employees should be getting the survey the 1st or 2nd week of October and the Institutional Research Office would like to have the surveys returned within two weeks. This survey will be sent once, there is no follow-up. The results of the survey will be on the Institutional Research website.

Bill Knight is asking everyone to please fill out the questionnaire and return it to his office. If you cannot or do not want to fill out some parts it’s alright, partially filled out surveys will be accepted. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Bill Knight in 301 Mc Fall at extension 27816

Old Business:
Rebecca Ferguson and Pat Kelly from Human Resources were here to discuss the spousal rule. Handouts were distributed, including a memo from the insurance committee and answers to questions sent to them earlier from the Chair. The spousal rule has been in effect for new employees for the last two years, and will be in effect for all employees starting in 2006.
When considering whether the spouse is coming in on our insurance or not, the questions to ask are:
1. if the spouse has a full-time position
2. if the spouse’s employer offers health care
3. if the spouse’s employer covers 50% (minimum) of the total cost of contribution.
Therefore, the spouse’s insurance is primary, so the first ‘hit’ goes to the spouse’s employer. There are approximately 1000 spouses: ½ will not be affected, ¼ already in program so ¼ will be affected, which should give the University an anticipated savings of approximately $500,000.00.

Human Resources is going up first with BG@100 starting July, 2005. Eventually the P in our ID will go away and the P will change to a 0.

Funding was authorized to hire a consultant to come to work with a small group to get planning on the health benefits project. Then work will start with health, wellness and insurance committees to build a 5 year strategic plan.

Ferguson stated that the domestic partner issue is a problem. She said that there is a huge problem with recruitment because it is a deterrent to some applicants.

Questions arose concerning Merit. Ferguson brought in the Finance and Administrations merit document, saying that it isn’t perfect, but it is her favorite one. They use it for Merit and Super Merit, so everyone should know what they have to do to get either one.

Another question dealt with why we don’t have an overall Administrative Staff merit document: The answer dealt with the fact that what works in Student Affairs may not work in Athletics or Facilities. And again Finance and Administration is one of the only divisions she know of that actually came up with a divisional document.

Mid-year evaluations was another topic of concern. Ferguson referred to the 12/99 memo which stated that supervisors don’t have to use a standardized form. The mid-year evaluation was implemented to open up communication between supervisor and supervisee, this way there were no surprises at the end of the year evaluation.

The Mercer was supposed to be looked at this year, but with all the new programs ie BG@100 they are putting this off until next year.

The University is looking at ways to make the BGSU community healthier by offering a 50% discount at the Rec Center. There are a number of incentive programs leading to points that will allow the employee a discount. Ideas for this type of program at Firelands are being investigated.

Dependent fee waivers went down from 2002 to the present year.

Good of the Order:
CSC will have a tent at the 9/11 football game
There will be a Tech Fair on October 21st
The Mac Dining Center has Rotisserie Chicken
WBGU has expanded
Library is assisting in Voter Registration
BGSU is up 8% in International Students
The hiring committee for the Registrar’s position is currently interviewing

Next Meeting:
October 7, 2004 (1:30 – 3:00) 207 BTSU
Jeff Nelson from the Bookstore
Blackboard Presentation

Adjournment:
Rich Peper made a motion to adjourn. Dave Crooks seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 2:55 p.m.

Submitted by: Penny Nemitz ASC Secretary