Iowa State University
Professional & Scientific Council
Executive Committee Meeting
Regular Session
Monday, October 21, 2002 2:00 p.m.
Room 234, Memorial Union
Attendance:
Voting Members
/Non-voting Members
X / Heer, Rex / A / Dixon, KerryX / Kane, Kevin / X / Riedemann, Trevor
A / Good, Cathy / X / Jensen, James
X / Mumm, Lynne / A / Woodin, Dan
A / Roberts, Kurt / A / Peters, Beverly
X / Strand, Judy
X / Brink, Marcia
X / McManus, Barb
X / McCool, Kelly
X / Van Beek, Brenda
Call To Order: Kevin Kane, Vice-President, called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m. A quorum was present. The agenda was approved with the addition of “PostDoc/P&S issue” under New Business.
Meeting Minutes: September 16, 2002, minutes were approved with minor corrections. Corrected minutes have been distributed to committee members.
President’s Report
Rex Heer reported:
· He forwarded the Ombuds office resolution to the President and Provost. Both are supportive of the resolution. We should wait to see how the Faculty Senate version works before moving ahead.
· Per Dan Woodin’s request, Rex asked President Geoffroy about the bottleneck in the Office of University Counsel. The Office of University Counsel has had an open position, which has delayed approval of the P&S handbook.
· President Geoffroy is open to a proposal for an open house at the Knoll. We need to consider whether it should be for P&S staff only or for all staff. The cost of the event would need to come from our budget.
· There will be a holiday dessert reception at the Knoll for P&S Council and Faculty Senate on December 12, 7:00 – 8:30 pm. Invitations will be sent closer to the date.
· President Geoffroy commented that the Representations and Awards Committee’s priorities to encourage participation in awards process and to implement no-cost and low-cost recognition opportunities are good for morale. Discussion ensued on the Committee’s plans to develop a resource list of departmental/center contacts for nominations for potential applicants and to perhaps offer a workshop.
· Rex received a copy of the October 10 update to Deans, Associate Deans, Directors, and Chairs, which provided an overview of the Support for Family Leave for ISU Faculty and P&S Employees policy. The memo strongly suggests that the addressees accommodate employees that are anticipating the arrival of a child in terms of paid/unpaid leave, written plan, etc.
· The Annual Salary report is available on the Board of Regents web site; Rex distributed copies at the meeting. At the October Board of Regents meeting and the campus leaders breakfast, President Geoffroy expressed his belief that it is inappropriate to compare Iowa State to other universities in our athletic conference.
· Rex received a handout at the President’s Council meeting that delineated salary increases by pay grade, gender, and minority status. Overall, increases for female employees averaged 3.0%, men averaged 2.9%, and minorities averaged 3.1%. Since the Office of Institutional Research prepared the handout, Rex will ask Leigh Elsberry if we can get copies.
Treasurer’s Report
Account balances were provided after the meeting:
· General Fund $2,462.81
· Campus Organizations account $436.23
· Professional Development fund $845.03
Officer’s Reports
· Kevin Kane reported that Linda Charles, University Relations, advised Rex that we should not be talking about issues that aren’t on the agenda, per open meeting laws. We can amend the agenda at the beginning of a meeting, if necessary.
· Kerry Dixon: no report
· Kurt Roberts: no report
· Lynne Mumm shared the responses for the October 15, 2002 campus leaders breakfast. A suggested topic for the November breakfast was: “What does Administration see as P&S staff’s role at ISU?”
Standing Committee Reports:
Compensation & Benefits:
Trevor Riedemann reported that committee members have volunteered to spearhead the previously identified C&B priorities. The committee is reviewing the Report on P&S Salaries published by Human Resources; the initial review revealed that there is not much consistency in the benchmark positions used. There are still some problem areas in health insurance coverage for Extension staff; Jim Jensen is working to identify the issues.
Policies & Procedures:
No report
Representation and Awards:
Judy Strand summarized the R&A goals for the year: (1) update and keep current information on university committees (Jody Sanders taking lead), (2) update the list of committees on the web including descriptions, and (3) provide a link to the application.
The Professional Development committee still needs one representative from external affairs.
The committee plans to send out information and offer assistance for university awards. The deadline for most awards is February 28. Alumni awards are due December 1, and the Regents award application deadline is April 1. The Provost has accepted Rex’s nomination of Dan Woodin to chair the Professional Development committee. Jim Jensen suggested that the functions of the committees would make a good open forum topic.
Communication:
Marcia Brink reported on the new e-newsletter. President Geoffroy will speak at the November open forum. Tom Hill has been rescheduled for January. Rec Services has asked to give a forum. Stacy Joiner is updating the web. Kevin asked that the schedule of meetings be copied to the Council web site rather than linked to the members-only page. A proposal for changes to the email tree was addressed under new business.
Recruitment and Retention:
Kelly McCool reported that one grant recipient had to decline its award. The $1500 was reallocated to two of the three partially funded projects. Both are still partial awards. One project requested permission to reallocate funds.
Peer Advisory:
Brenda Van Beek reported no new contacts. There was no activity on the mentoring program. One person contacted Marcia about the mentoring program after the e-newsletter was distributed.
Old Business:
The issue of putting draft council minutes online was discussed. Approved minutes will be available on the general web site. Draft minutes will remain on the members-only page.
New Business:
· Jeff Sorensen distributed and explained a proposal for changes to the email tree. The Executive Committee endorsed the proposed process. It will be presented to full Council at the November meeting.
· Marcia initiated discussion on the possibility of instituting a work-at-home policy. The topic was forwarded to the Policies and Procedures Committee to look at what other institutions do. P&P may form an ad hoc committee to study the issue.
· Trevor presented information on the P&S/post doc issue as follow up to the discussion in the October Council meeting. Human Resources advised that the Assistant Scientist III position is the P&S equivalent to a post doc position, i.e., position description requires a Ph.D. No Assistant Scientist IIIs were recruited in the last year; instead, ISU has been recruiting (and hiring) employees with a Master’s plus experience or a Ph.D. We will ask Ellen to comment.
For The Good of the Order:
· Next Council meeting will be November 6 in the Cardinal Room, Memorial Union
· Next Executive Committee meeting will be November 18 in the Regency Room, Memorial Union.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 3:57 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynne Mumm for
Cathy Good, Secretary/Treasurer, P&S Council