WCU Staff Forum Meeting Minutes
November 10, 2005, 8:30 a.m.
UC Cardinal Room
Member present:Nancy Carden; Ronnie Amster; Marvin Bumgarner; Elizabeth Frazier; William Frady; Mike Stewart; Cory Causby; Bill Studenc; Terry Riouff; Julie Walters-Steele; Jeff Gunter
Members absent:Alicia Estes (excused); Dawne Coward (excused); Sue Grider; Homer Harris; Katie Spears (excused); Michelle Sutton; Jed Tate (excused)
Guest:Tom Johnson
The meeting was called to order by Terry Riouff.
Approval of agenda:The agenda for today’s meeting was approved unanimously.
Approval of minutes:The October 13, 2005 minutes were approved as presented.
Information items:The next Executive Committee meeting is scheduled forThursday,December 1, 2005, 2:00 p.m. in HFR 540.The next Staff Forum meeting is scheduled forThursday,December 8, 2005, 8:30-10:30 a.m., Cardinal Room, UC.
There will be a University-wide videoconferenceFriday, November 11, 2005beginning at 10:30 in the University Outreach Center.
Tom Johnson, Chief of Police at Western Carolina University, was introduced and gave a brief overview of his vision in serving as Director of University of Police. Tom would like for our University Traffic Office to become accredited and mentioned that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and NC State are already accredited. Accreditation increases the level of services and competencies of our employees. We are bringing a “parking consultant” to campus. An email will be going out later this week announcing a University-wide meeting with this consultant. We encourage everyone’s participation.
A week or so ago the Traffic Office began “wheel locking” in an attempt to control/prevent parking indiscretions. Issuing tickets has not worked in the past. When a vehicle is “wheel locked”, two fees will be incurred. Wheel locking is not exclusive to any particular population.
Mr. Johnson said we have seen a large increase in the area of alcohol abuse. Anyone arrested for being highly intoxicated has the option of going to the hospital or going to jail. The University is not and will not be liable for someone not waking up in their place of residence. Hopefully this drastic stance will limit this particular type of citation.
The Parking, Traffic and Safety Subcommittee is being resurrected and making an effort to be proactive. If you have issues of concern, please present these items to someone on this committee.
Office of Human Resources Report:
There was extensive discussion of Career banding. An email was sent out a week or so ago about the freeze on SPA positions and reclassification. HR staff time has been diverted toward the career banding implementation. IT Services and University Police staff are the first employees to be career banded. Dr. Bardo has designated monies to be set aside for this. Patrick McCoy, the liaison from the Office of State Personnel, has been on campus and a considerable amount of time has been spent with him learning the conversion process.
Administrative staff will be the next group of employees implemented into career banding. A town hall meeting is highly recommended to enlighten employees about this issue. Career banding will place employees within 1 of 10 categories, rather than the current 1 of 6,000 classifications.An item of particular importance is that SPA employees will still fall under the governance of the State Personnel Act. Some employees have been misled to the belief that being career banded removes them from the protection of the State Personnel Act. The goal of career banding is to make our campus more competitive.
Kathy said she is not sure at this point if “in-range” salary adjustments are still in place for this academic year. Kathy has not had time to discuss this with Chuck Wooten.
Whereas the holiday schedule for 2006 has not yet been approved, Kathy sought our thoughts on the University being closed next year (2006) at Christmas on Friday. This way the University will actually get to observe New Year’s Day on January 1. The vote was unanimous for the University to be closed that Friday. Individuals need to be informed well in advance so arrangements can be made if insufficient leave is a problem.
Chancellor’s Office Report:
Dianne stated that EPA non-faculty are currently undergoing performance evaluations. The Executive Council worked almost a year to develop this performance evaluation tool. This means that everyone on campus is now being evaluated. Dianne said there are a lot of things going on in the Chancellor’s office. The Chancellor was given the Golden Eagle Award last night. This award is given to individuals who have a huge impact in the area of economic development. Dr. Bardo was very humbled by the presentation of this award.
Mark Basnight and John Snow were on campus yesterday. In Mark’s speech last night, WCU was highly esteemed for all the efforts of late with particular compliments for the programs we are offering and the beautification efforts.
Western has had various individuals visiting our campus of late. It’s amazing how our little efforts reap huge benefits. We have a mandate from the UNC System to grow as a University and we are all responsible in this area ofRETENTION. The Chancellor is most appreciative of the hospitality we display to campus visitors.
The University received a rather sizeable gift this week, which will have a huge impact on one of our colleges. More information will be provided at a later time. The Director of University Planning ( Troy Barksdale) is retiring in December and his replacement (Raymond Barclay) will begin in January 2006. This position is undergoing a name change.
Campus Committee Reports:University Advisory Council – Cory said that the UAC website is undergoing a few changes in order to be compliant with SACS standards. Keith Stiles has agreed to bring the website up to date with the changes being completed within a week’s time. Parking rules/regulations will also be updated. Discussion is underway to place a speed-bump in front of the Print Shop to help slow down traffic coming from The Village. There is also a recommendation that a 3-way stop be placed at the intersection of the area behind the old Bookstore and the road going toward the Print Shop. Lastly, Cory said that the tuition waiver issue is being revisited. Some would like to see children and spouses of employees eligible for tuition waivers. Calendar Committee – No report.
SF Committee Reports:Human Resources : William said the committee is still checking into a budget for the Staff Forum. There is some concern that the 1st career banding and the salary study will cause a “double-dipping” effect. We can’t discriminate against the first two areas of career banding when the administrative staff might possibly have the same thing occur. Resource and Environment: Jeff reported that the pay rate for “on call” staff has been raised from $.94 per hour to $2.00 per hour.
Public Relations: No report.
Scholarship: No report.
Governance: No report; however, the Committee will be meeting very soon.
Issues Status Report:None.
New Business:
Discussion centered around the University-wide email that was sent from the Staff Forum to solicit morale-boosting ideas. These suggestions were discussed and are being channeled to the appropriate Staff Forum Committee or area coordinator.
The idea of having an employee spring luncheon was mentioned. We will continue with this discussion at a later date. We will need to be fairly resourceful to aid employees in the area of morale since we are limited in the ways we can help.
Meeting adjourned at 10:22 a.m.