Minutes, Staff Representatives Meeting

Minutes, Staff Representatives Meeting

July 25, 2002

Opening Remarks: This was a closed meeting of the staff representatives
for the AU Staff Council to conduct an election for two vacant positions on
the Steering Committee and to discuss a proposed Resolution to present to
the Board of Trustees on August 9, 2002. Candace Bourne, Chair of the
Council, spoke to the representatives about the importance of serving on the
Steering Committee, as well as other university committees. She reminded
everyone that the Council (as per our by-laws) is charged to advise the
President regarding staff concerns and that we are here to promote a better
understanding, cooperation, and communication among all constituent groups
and that we will endorse the mission and goals of Auburn University.
Patricia Chiroux (Steering Committee) and Carolyn Smith (Steering Committee
& Historian) spoke to the representatives to offer their personal views as
to the importance of being involved in the governance of the Council and
urged members to consider requests to participate on campus-wide committees
in the future. Debra Carey (Past Chair) reminded members to not only be
involved in the governance of this group but to also be politically
involved, stating that the Legislature is where we receive our state funds
for salaries.

Steering Committee Elections: Yvonne Holifield, Dorothy McKissac, and
Jeanine Salvas were nominees running for election for the two vacant
positions on the Steering Committee. Each candidate spoke to the
representatives telling about themselves. By majority vote, Dorothy
McKissac and Jeanine Salvas were elected to serve on the Steering
Committee. Dorothy McKissac will begin her Steering Committee term
immediately and Jeanine Salvas will begin hers in the fall when Carolyn Smith
rotates off the Steering Committee.

Resolution: The Steering Committee has drafted this document in the spirit
of good faith and forward movement for the staff and AuburnUniversity. We
hope that this resolution will express our appreciation to those who have
helped improve staff benefits, such as the move to have a tiered insurance
premium plan so that the university would cover a higher percentage of
premiums for some of the lower paid employees at Auburn, as well as 50%
tuition waivers for spouses and dependents of employees. We also hope that this
document will express to the President and the Board our STRONG belief that
state constitutional reform is necessary and we are asking in this document
that they use their political influence to help make this happen.

The resolution was discussed, two friendly amendments were made to the
document, and by a vote of 21-8 the resolution was passed for adoption by
the Council. A motion was made that the Steering Committee would make the
corrections and decide how to move this document forward to the Preisdent
and Board of Trustees for review.

By-Laws: There was discussion on recommended by-laws changes brought to the
Steering Committee by the Rules Committee for review. Candace asked the
representatives to review these changes and make suggestions and comments
to the by-laws. One suggestion was to have a Secretary added to the
Council as a non-voting member. This individual would not be eligible to
run for Chair. The objective for not allowing this person to be a voting
member was that he/she could be an impartial person involved in the Steering Committee and Council meetings to record minutes (one Steering Committee meeting per month and
four Council meetings per year). NOTE: Candace asked for volunteers for an
"Interim Secretary" at this time until changes in the by-laws
could be submitted/approved and elections held in the spring to fill the
position. Changes to this document is a "work in progress" and we would
like to have suggestions and comments. We will have further discussion on
this during our Fall Staff Council meeting.

Committee Representation: Candace has been asked to provide Renee Middleton
with a list of names of individuals from the Council who wish to serve on
university and standing committees. This list is due on August 5th.
Candace asked members to fill out the Committee Questionnaire form prior to
leaving the meeting. She will contact those individuals who have expressed
an interest to serve and appoint them to appropriate committees. At this
time, she does not have a complete list of vacancies but will have that
information within the next few weeks.

New Business:
Longevity Increases: Waymon Abner (Past Chair) would like to see
"longevity pay increases" for years of service at Auburn. He has made a
motion to request that the Council keep this on their agenda as a
continuing request with the upper administration until we can see it
approved. He would like to see staff members recognized by getting pay
increases for 5, 10, 15, and 20 years of service with Auburn. He suggested
that the pay increases be in increments of $500, $1,000, $1,500, and
$2,000, respectively. A question was raised as to why he wanted to tie
this longevity increase to fixed amounts rather than a percentage of an
individual’s salary. A motion was made and all in favor for an Ad Hoc
Committee to be formed to look at how to go forward with such a request
(i.e., central pool of funds to cover the raises, fixed amounts vs.
percentage increases, if an individual receives an increase and changes
jobs, how this would affect that individual, etc.). John Varner also
suggested that an Ad Hoc Committee could look at a plan similar to one that
the library has used that might be helpful (i.e., any individual who has
worked 10 years at Auburn should be at mid-point of his/her pay scale.
Candace asked for volunteers to serve on this committee. Volunteers are:
Patricia Chiroux, Vic Walker (Chair-Elect), Yvonne Holifield, Robert Byrd,
Waymon Abner, and Debra Carey.

DROP Program for Retirement: A council member suggested to the Chair that
the staff be given more information about the DROP Program for retirement.
It was commented that many staff members are not aware of this program and
it would be beneficial to discuss this at our next meeting or ask a
representative from Payroll and Employee Benefits to come speak to the
staff at the next open meeting.

Meeting adjourned: 2:30 p.m.