MINUTES

Exempt Staff Council Meeting

October 25, 2011

Time:1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Place:Andy Holt Tower conference room, 8th floor

Present:Shane Colter, Ron Tredway, John Erdmann, Erik Bledsoe, Ellie Amador, Debbie Brown, Margy Wirtz-Henry, Jane Pope, ,Sharon Marshall, Bobbie Suttles, Betsy Gullet, Mike Herbstritt, Melissa Ashburn, and Julie Monday

Guest Speakers Present: None

  1. Welcome andIntroductions – Shane Colter
  1. Old Business(no speaker)
  • AED information– Bobbie Suttles
  • There are two people trained on AED in the Communications building. There is also an AED machine located near a classroom in the Communications Building.
  • ESC disciplinary action documentation—Mike Herbstritt
  • Mike Herbstritt reported that there is a policy review committee, including legal, currently reviewing several policies.
  • UT Vehicle information insert (per Brian Browning)—Shane Colter
  • Shane Colter shared the final proposed draft for the auto tip cards (to be placed in UT vehicles). Mr. Colter also stated there is a 12-page manual to accompany the cards. He will distribute the manual via the ESC listserv for review. Please send any suggestions/comments to Brian Browning.
  • Required training classes per pay for performance? (per IPS/UWA ERC notes)
  • Ron Tredway stated that as we move towards pay for performance there may be some required training. The HR 128 policy states that the university highly encourages that employees complete 32 hours of training each year. It is not mandatory. Melissa Ashburn asked if there is an updated performance review form in place. Dr. Tredway reported that the performance review process is under review but there are no immediate major changes.
  • Event updates
  • 9/29 ERAB mtg agenda (rescheduled from 9/20) —Tom Cervone
  • Tom Cervone recently distributed the ERAB minutes via the ESC listserv. If you have any questions or need another copy, contact Tom Cervone. Shane Colter briefly reviewed the ERAB minutes.
  • 9/30 HR Fall Festival – Julie Monday reported that HR received positive feedback. The weather was excellent and there was a great turnout. There were roughly 2,500 people at this year’s event and over 30 UT-vendors!
  • Nashville Fall Festival – John Erdmann Reported the Fall Festival held in Nashville was a success and employees enjoyed the event. It was held the Thursday before the Knoxville Festival.
  • 10/5 Employee Engagement Survey kick-off
  • Statewide Fall 2011 survey launches Nov 1; results April 2012

Shane Colter reported that the data from the spring survey of exempt staff and faculty will be merged with

the fall data from the upcoming Employee Engagement Survey. Results will be reported in Spring 2012. Jane Pope asked about the paper survey. Mike Herbstritt stated that units that contain employees who will take the paper survey have informed Human Resources who those employees are. Those employees will not receive an e-mail. HR will contact those employees to setup a time and location for them to take the survey. They will complete the survey and put it in a box that will be picked up by HR.

  1. ESC Business
  • Monthly meeting schedule including Dec meeting.
  • Shane Colter reviewed the meeting conflicts. There were two ESC representatives with recurring conflicts, and Mr. Colter is working with those representatives to seek out alternate reps or other ideas. We will determine if we need to meet in December at the November meeting.
  • Reminders: updated bios, constituent email distribution lists per IRIS
  • Shane Colter shared that Arla Jackson has posted the updated bios to the ESC website.
  1. ESC Committee: review membership, then breakout meetings to ID chairs, then provide updates
  • Advocacy/Education—coordinate speakers, events (e.g., Fall Festival, Chanc/Pres brownbag)
  • possible issues: exempt merit & equity pay “poaching”, dean search representation
  • possible speakers: Dan Trentham, HR Call Center (Nov?); Dave Irvin, new Assoc. VC for Facilities (early ’12?); Maxine Thompson Davis, Bias Incident Reporting (Dec ‘10)
  • Report from committee: Tom Cervone was nominated as chair. Dan Trentham will be confirmed for November, and Dave Irvin will be contacted for January. We may consider having a speaker in 2012 to talk about the new applicant tracking system, Taleo. Career paths (ladders) might also be a future speaker/agenda item. Martie Gleason, HR, would be the contact for that topic. There was also some discussion on training for disciplinary action hearings and the role of the representative.
  • Bylaws— reconsider ESC representative breakdown? (e.g., Arts & Sciences)
  • non-Knoxville reps, participation (e.g., Ag Extension); review/update bylaws
  • Report from committee: Jane Pope and Melissa Ashburn will co-chair this committee. Members will receive an e-mail containing the bylaws for review. In January this committee will start discussing next steps.
  • Communication/Website—communication channels, esp. with constituents
  • add UTK links to ESC website? circulate new position listings/descriptions?
  • Report from committee: This group discussed the possibility of adding links to the ESC website. A chair will be decided at a future meeting since many members were unable to attend the October meeting.
  • Nominating/Orientation—disciplinary action training info, Ag Extension-East vacancy
  • Possible Project: thank-you letters to ESC members for participating on the council (encourage participation)
  • Report form committee: John Erdmann and Debbie Brown will co-chair this committee. There was some discussion regarding orientation and information for new members.
  1. New Business
  • General event updates or relevant news?
  • VOL Spirit Affinity exercise – by 10/31
  • Pass that information on to employees.
  • Partnership PPO promise enrollment/conversion deadline—by 11/1
  • OIRA Director search update (Oct 24 and Nov 3,4,8)– Shane Colter
  • Candidates will be coming to campus soon.
  • Coats for the Cold (Nov 1-18) – Shane Colter for Karla Edwards
  • Shane Colter briefly reviewed the upcoming Coats for the Cold drive:
  • Coats for the Cold is sponsored Knox Area Rescue Ministries and the College of Social Work Student Organizations have taken this on as a community project.
  • Each participating department will choose a drop off location, collect coats, and then notify Karla Edwards when they are ready for pick up - you can wait until the end, or we’ll have someone come by if you run out of room.
  • Social Work will be collecting coats until November 18. The coats will be cleaned by Prestige Cleaners and will be given away at the Knox Area Rescue Ministry Thrift Store (733 Hall of Fame Drive) to anyone in need on December 3.
  • There is a great need for children’s coats and large size coats. Also needed are trendy teen coats.
  • Contact Info Karla Edwards 4-3176 or
  • Flexible Benefit Plan enrollment – thru Nov 30
  • Positive Recognition – Mike Herbstritt shared that the nomination forms have been distributed for send roses, volunteer spirit, and extraordinary customer service awards. Extra brochures were distributed at the meeting. Positive Recognition information can be found online at
  1. Future Business
  • ESC Peer/Supervisory Evaluation recommendation & Perf Mgt – Ron Tredway
  • UT IRIS org structure – Ron Tredway