FY 2017 Professional Staff Senate Retreat
August 9th ▪ 9:00-2:00 p.m.
211 and 211A Wishcamper
Attendees:
Two members of Classified Staff Senate in attendance (Cathy Clements and Chris Barr)
Danielle Vayenas
Helen Gorgas-Goulding
Erica Leighton
John Reed
Ashley Collins
Karin Pires
Judith Ferrante
Cindy Hirsch
Janis Albright
Heather Dilios
Karen Walsh
Senator Expectations
●Meetings are 2nd Wednesday of each month. Meetings will be in LB 147 (In IT area in computer lab area) and 101e Bailey (In Student Financial Services Suite).
○Last year there were some senators that did not attend very often. President will be more direct with individuals who seem to be falling off in attendance.
○It is recognized that attendance is not the only way to be an active senator. We appreciate any support a senator can offer.
●Senators are required to participate on committees. Executive committee reviewed the list of committees and determined some committees that could be tabled for the year. Additionally, Senators will only be asked to participate in one committee.
○Perhaps we could offer some time at the Senate meetings for committees to work a bit.
Review of Committees
●Suspending Committees:
○Election Committee - not necessary to be a committee
○Transportation and Parking - has only met once; Karin already has to attend and will inform the Senate about goings on as needed
○Climate Neutrality - not meeting
○Bylaws and Governance - documents don’t match; the changes aren’t the issue so much as the approval of the changes are
■Heather will explore the process before we commit to taking this on
■Cindy is interested in reviewing the Bylaws and Governance to let us know what might need to be addressed
■Senators should take the time to review these documents just for familiarity
●Committees fulfilled via Senator existing duties:
○Faculty Senate - Ashley and Karin already attend as a part of their duties; Ashley and Karin will work with Tom to see what the best way is to communicate what the Senate is doing
○Board of Visitors - President of Senate already attends; doesn’t require a full committee
●How do we cover Classified and Student Senate?
○Classified - this need might be met by the Classified Senate meeting along with us. Should the Senate meeting separately, Heather will confer with the Classified President as needed.
○Student Senate - meets weekly. Huge time commitment. Erica will be liaison for Student Senate by conferring with Jason Saucier.
●Staffed Committees and Priorities – Committees should plan to meet in the next month
○Professional Development, Ashley is Executive Committee Member
■Sponsor Motivational Interviewing Workshop 9/16/2016 - 9 am to 12 pm in Masterton 113
●Stephen Andrew is coming to do an intro to MI as it relates to higher education.
■Sponsor First Friday Professional Development Series (Oct., Nov., Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr.)
●Coaching for Improvement – Correcting Problem Behaviors
●Coaching for Success – Supervision from the Start
●Self-Advocacy in Professional Development
●Effective Communication
○Also give some info around Social Media policy and where information can be found about university events
●Using Your Resources: UMS Financials
○PRIORITY
●Using Your Resources: Marketplace & Concur
○PRIORITY
○Professional Recognition Committee, Lorrie is Executive Committee Member
■Bring back the URock Program
●You want to recognize someone, you complete a nomination form and send a rock.
■Scholarship program
●Applications due by 11/15/16
●Submit an application for professional development
■Support New Employee Welcome program
●Letters quarterly with a follow up phone call
■If the President’s Office takes over the budget responsibility for the longevity and recognition awards, we should revisit the formal recognition awards
○Communications Committee, Heather is Executive Committee Member
■Danielle has agreed to Chair
■Market events
■Manage website
○Longevity and Employee Recognition, Karen is Executive Committee Member
■Met with Domna on 8/2 regarding funding
■Will likely need to staff; goal for President’s Office to pay
■Proposed budget $8800.00
■Will not be staffed as a committee, but will be addressed as a larger Senate to divide responsibilities and develop tasks
Guest Speakers
●August, Glenn Cummings, President USM
●September, Mariana Cruz, Asst. Dean of Students for Diversity & Inclusion
●October, David MacKenzie, Interim Dean of Students
●November, Libby Bischof, Director of Center for Collaboration and Development
●December, Natalie Jones (not yet confirmed), Director HR (Back ups might be Dean Conway or Sodexo)
●January, Buster Neel, Interim CBO (NYI)
●February, Nancy Griffin, VP Enrollment Management (NYI)
●March, Jeannine Uzzi, Provost (NYI)
●April, Dean Conway (NYI)???
●May, Wayne Maines - System EH&S (NYI)???
●June, No speaker – new Senate welcome and officer transition
Danielle will speak to the Marketing/Communications piece during one of our meetings.
Vacant Senate Seats
●Other professional staff members can be a part of committees even if they are not on the senate.
●Margaret and Dan have vacated their seats for this year.
●Plan is for senators to reach out to other Professional Staff (prioritize individuals from LAC to expand the reach of the senate) to fill the vacant seats
Lunch with Glenn
●Referred to “good news” from June Town Hall meeting - no bail out from system office (though still asking for it; put $1.8 million in reserves - first time in four years; balanced our budget in his first year), increase in enrollment, uptick in alumni donations (1st in nine years)
●Mindset shift - from a position of reaction to trouble to a position of proactiveness - we are getting better and it is going to continue
○No longer passive or victims
●What he learned this year - the future really is ours
●Rethink Portland campus...the students want to be in Portland. 82% of students who completed the survey last year said that they would come if there were residence halls in Portland
○Instructed the Architect to review:
■housing,
■the graduate center,
■Bedford Street (11k cars per day come through this street; potential for terrorist activity due to openness)
○Plan
■No traffic in the center of campus - create green space
■Demolish Woodbury and rebuild a student center and residence hall for 400-450 upperclassmen (60 or more credits) and graduate housing - likely to be popular with city council due to reduction of housing pressure on the peninsula
■Student Center would need a dining hall
●Interested in changing our bus system to Metro instead of Custom Coach. More stops with Metro in Westbook and Gorham. All students receive a Metro card. This would help us to reduce our carbon footprint by encouraging USM students to use public transportation
●This would allow us to really practice what we preach in terms of marketing Portland as a destination campus
●No capital campaign necessary for the residence hall. We could use a revenue bond to pay for this. We could also use USM Foundation for seed money.
●Also looking at a bond package with the Legislature. Bond package would cover a good portion of the deferred maintenance we need.
●Would like to move on the residence hall really quickly. The Bedford Street changes will take a little more time.
●International High School is still moving forward but Homeland Security has not yet given us final approval.
●RFP for leasing space around the campuses...hoping to partner with larger leasing options and put RAs in those spaces
Welcome Weekend, Erica Leighton
●Expectation is 100% Senate participation in welcome week activities
●Using the app is really helpful. The full calendar of events is available on the app.
●Email is coming from Sarah and Dan to sign up/volunteer for shifts
●Anyone who wants to be involved and hasn’t yet been invited, can email Samantha Elliot
Other Business
●Classified Senate to explore whether system employees can be a part of the Classified Senate without a formal change in their by-laws.
●Senators interested in collaborating in with Faculty Senate due to increased sense of community at USM now.
●Senator proposed that we combine Classified and Professional Staff Senates. This was previously explored a few years ago, and Classified Senate elected not to do so. They did not feel they would have a voice at the table. Classified Senate will need to explore whether this is possible and whether they would like to do so. It is possible to collaborate more fully without formally changing by-laws. We can potentially meet together and work together more closely. Classified Senate will take this idea back to their members to see what they think.
●The Center for Collaboration and Development is a place for staff as well as faculty.
●Building community is about engaging in the community in all spaces, even if it doesn’t seem like a person’s role.
Adjourn
The next meeting of the Professional Staff Senate will be held September 14th, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. in 147 Luther Bonney Hall and 101e Bailey Hall. The guest speaker will be Assistant Dean of Students for Diversity and Inclusion, Mariana Cruz. Senate meetings are open to all Professional Staff @ USM.