Minutes for May 2008

Thursday, May 15, 2008, 2 P.M.
214 Main Building

Members Present: Joe Barroso, Denise Berry, Benjamin Bond, Steven Brahm, Greg Browning, Anthony Bumpass, Enadalia Cano, Stephanie Cardenas, Gus Castellanos, Susan Castellon, Johnnie Conley, James Cooper, Jacqueline Dana, Vickie Drake, Lara Eakins, Danielle Fournier, Lisa Gentry, Joseph Gregory, Chrissi Guerrero, Phillip Guerrero, Bretna Hackert, Martha Harrison, Phillip Hebert, Janice Hejl, Keith Hill, Ann Holliday, Troy Johnson, Charles King, Sarah Kitten, Dianne Kline, Janet Larsen, Rebecca Ledbetter, David Macha, Gary Martt, Robert Meyer, Rita Moreno, Joyce Moyer, Louise Nelson, Linda Overton, Eric Patkowski, Cynthia Posey, Tina Radke, Elaine Rafferty, Martha Ramey, Janet Reed, Jo Ann Richmond, Ben Rodriguez, Tracy Saenger, Christopher Scherer, Candace Shye, Mark Smyth, Allison Supancic, Peter Telck, Dixie Terry, Barbara Thompson, Mindy Thompson, Heather Vacek, Erin Waneck, Barbara Welch, Brandy Whitten, Ashley Williams, Blake Willms, Brittany Wilson, Denise Zuniga, Sunni Zuniga, Nathan Bunch-Student Rep.

Members Absent With Notification: Stacie Bables, Sharon Bernard, Craig Blaha, Nelson Fahlund, John Goutier, Michele Hallahan, Dreya Johannsen, Vicki Kullberg, Richard Lee, Sarah Lind, Cindy May, Monica Pena-Mercado, Pamela Owen, Meredith Taylor.

Members Absent: Tim Barber, Andrew Carls, Bob Hemby, Sara Jackson Watson, Emil Kresl, Shelton Lewis, Debra Madden, Jennifer McClain, Michael McFarlin, Felix Sanchez Jr., Evan Turner, Robert Walker, Helen Wormington, Vicki Nguyen-Student Rep.

Meeting began at 2:00 PM, with a quorum present.

Chair, Erin Waneck:

• Mentions the hail dtorm that happened and the damage that was done to the university.
• Welcomes all the new teps. and encourages them to speak regularly and often at the microphones stating their names and districts they represent.
• Confirmation of at-large-reps:
  • Denise "Dee Dee" Berry
  • Janell Ross
  • Jennifer McAndrewzz
• Motion to accept the nominees:
  • Motion 2nd by Chris Scherer
  • Motion Passed
• Nathan Bunch is the new Student Rep. He is the go to guy for Student/Staff relations
• Good-bye to the outgoing Reps: Timothy Barber, Sharon Bernard, Denise Berry(now an at-large rep), Greg Browning, Drew Carls, Gus Castellanos, Johnnie Conley, Nelson Fahlund, Lisa Gentry, Phillip Guerrero, Bretna Hackert, Sara Jackson Watson, Dreya Johannsen, Emil Kresl, Richard Lee, Shelton Lewis, Debra Madden, Cindy May, Michael McFarlin, Joyce Moyer, Elaine Rafferty, Martha Ramey, Felix Sanchez Jr., Allison Supancic, Dixie Terry, Barbara Thompson, Erin Waneck, Helen Wormington, Denise Zuniga, Vicki Nguyen-Student Rep.

CHAIR invites Vice Chair Danielle Fournier to give her update on the Ad Hoc Committee on Evaluations.

The Ad Hoc Committee consists of Philip Guerrero, Debra Madden, Linda Overton, Mindy Thompson, Danielle Fournier, Chair. It contains six issues from several years.

UTSC Evaluations/Standards Ad-hoc Committee Meeting Minutes

Friday, April 25, 2008
1 p.m., ETC 5.210

Present: Philip Guerrero, Debra Madden, Linda Overton, Mindy Thompson, Danielle Fournier, Chair

The meeting began at the scheduled time, with all committee members present. We began our discussions with the current university employee evaluation process. We reviewed the current HoP policy and the form currently in use by the majority of campus departments.

The consensus of the committee was that it would be ideal if the university would do away with the existing form and make a list of criteria that should be standard for employee evaluations regardless of the form. Questions:

• What is meaningful for an evaluation? Perhaps this is different for academic units and administrative units.
• What are examples of good evaluations?

We the committee should consult with HRS to get feedback on the feasibility of any changes. Philip had suggested in the past inviting Lisa Milne, HR Manager, to speak to the committee about evaluations. Debra expressed the importance of giving our recommendations to HSR whether HRS is enthusiastic about looking at the process or not. It was suggested that a pilot program could be established. Also now is a good time to review the evaluation process as the HoP is currently under revision and there will be implementation of a new annual appointment system.

We discussed EID driven mechanisms for reporting completion of annual evaluations, not unlike the reporting of our time. The employee could go into an evaluation site and certify that their annual evaluation was indeed done, and that they signed it, or make note in the system of any issues.

We discussed the possibility of having ePortfolios for all university staff, which could include an updated c.v. and evaluations.

For our next meeting we will do individual research into what kind of evaluations are currently being done:

• Debra will look at evaluations being done by our peer institutions
• Mindy will look at corporate evaluations
• Philip will get examples of evaluations being done currently within the university
• Linda will get evaluations being done by other State of Texas agencies
• Danielle will get other US state and federal agencies’ evaluations

To do for the next meeting: draft a letter from the Staff Council to university administration, recognizing that currently employees are being reprimanded for standards of which they are unaware and for which there is no official documentation. These standards are not being discussed with the employees prior to reprimands. UTSC asks that any departmental/area standards be communicated (preferably in writing) with the employees before they can be implemented or used as a tool for reprimand. (This was tasked to the committee at the UTSC general meeting on Jan. 24, 2008)

The committee members would like to meet again after commencement and prior to the beginning of the summer session.

CHAIR thanks Danielle for the update and introduces Benjamin Rodriguez, Recording Secretary (quorum now present) to ask for the approval of April’s minutes.

Benjamin Rodriguez

• Motion to approve the March minutes
• Motion 2nd.
• Passed.

CHAIR introduces Eric Patkowski, Chair of the By-Laws to read the Current changes.

CHAIR invites Gus Castellanos Chair of the Elections Committee.

Gus Castellanos

"I will be asking for nominations for officers to be elected at our next meeting. You have to have served on council for at least one year prior to be eligible. These officers make up the core of the Executive Committee which guides the direction of UTSC in the coming year. The offices are chair, vice chair and recording secretary."

Nominations for Recording Secretary:

Benjamin Rodriguez nominates Janice Hejl. Motion 2nd. Passed.

Dee Dee Berry nominates Benjamin Rodriguez. Motion 2nd. Passed

Nominations for Vice Chair:

Benjamin Rodriguez nominates Danielle Fournier, Danielle declines and asks not to be further nominated.

Danielle Fournier nominates Benjamin Rodriguez. Motion 2nd. Passed.

Nominations for Chair.

Benjamin Rodriguez nominates Mark Smyth. Motion 2nd. Passed

Dee Dee Berry Nominates Gary Martt. Motion 2nd. Passed

Ballots will be created for June’s meeting at the next executive meeting.

CHAIR acknowledges Janell Ross (At Large Rep.) entering the meeting and introduces her.

CHAIR introduces Ben Bond from the Issues Committee

Ben Bond

Issue 2007-23: Six-month eligibility check on current members to ensure their status has not changed and that they are still eligible representatives. Motion to send to Elections and Nominations Committee. 2nd. Passed.

Discussion: When Staff Council started it was director and above are not able to run. Today it still stands that no one code 1000 or above may run.

CHAIR introduces Vickie Drake to give her report on the SWIAC meeting and the Insurance Committee report.

Vickie Drake SWIAC report

• Wellness Coordinator Ronaldo Roman presented information about the Wellness Office’s successes and future plans. He covered the "Living Well; Make It a Priority" branding.
• Wellness Coordinator Ronaldo Roman presented information about the Wellness Office’s successes and future plans. He covered the "Living Well; Make It a Priority" branding.
• Legislative updates were minor: discussion of possible seeking of auto enrollment of employees in the 457 annuity plans. HB 957 from last Leg. session allows for new employees of ERS to be provides for auto enrollment in Texa$aver 401(k) plan for new state employees hired after 1/1/08 at the rate of one percent of salary, with an opt-out provision. Also seeking Legislative clarification of the eligibility of incapacitated child dependent rules which are currently too wide and open.
• On the plan design front, there will be no changes to the plan this upcoming FY, as the trending in costs have slowed and have grown by 8%, rather than 12-15%. This is in part due to the cost trending down, especially hospital care, and the increase to prescription co-pays. Although it is likely contingency funds will be used to cover the increase, it was not determined to be enough to warrant changes. But, it is likely there will be substantive changes in FY 09-10 or 10-11. (There are already talks of requiring all the state budgets be cut 10% from the start).
• There was also discussion of how to encourage wellness using plan design features (e.g. how to get employees to get annual exams, etc…). One idea was to promote specific tests through “co-pay holiday” if the employee got the specific exam, their co-pay could be reimbursed. Possibly also establish specific co-pay for colonoscopies, as the costs vary widely.
• There was a question from me about the future possibility of tiered drug plans, after the NY Times ran an article about them. University of Texas System is tracking and watching the spread of such plans and it's a possibility that it could be implemented in the future. This would impact those who require condition specific specialty drugs that are very expensive. Have to weigh the fairness of someone paying a $25 co-pay and receiving a $50 drug and someone paying a $25 co-pay and receiving a $5000 drug.
• Retiree medical is still safe, so no change to those former employees’ coverage.
• There was discussion from the retiree subcommittee to get more involved with retiree associations at the various institutions, and providing information about different topics such as enrollment, wellness, etc. University of Texas SystemUniversity of Texas System is going to be data sharing with TRS to get a clearer picture of members in TRS’s files that are not in University of Texas System’s, and able to use data to get a better idea of fiscal impact for GASB45. That data will be shared with the University of Texas System institutions.
• The discussion about shortening the enrollment period from lat time was dropped, and it was decided to leave enrollment times as July1-31, so no changes will be made.
• There are many University of Texas System employees who do not have a beneficiary form on file, so there will be requests for those soon.
• This was the last meeting for the current elected members’ terms. That means that a new nominee for staff will be needed for the university's election, and University of Texas System will need the elected member’s name by August 31. I (Vickie) recommend Danielle Fournier be chosen as the staff nominee for the upcoming election.
• There was no discussion of the legal services for staff

Vickie Drake on Insurance

The Insurance Subcommittee met on Monday for a brief meeting.I (Vickie) covered the SWIAC meeting for them. We also discussed the possibility of bringing to the Council a resolution sent to all staff members to request them to contact their Congressmen and women and request their backing for universal health care, with the stipulation that we will do what we can to "fire" those that don't by working against their next re-election bid.

The topic of condensing retirement, insurance, and miscellaneous benefits subcommittees into one benefits committee was talked aboutand we recommend that if/when it occurs the new committee should be a standing committee.

CHAIR introduces Mark Smyth, Assistant Recording Secretary and Chair of the Parking and Transportation Committee.

Mark Smyth on Parking and Transportation

Issue 2007- : When a couple carpools, sometimes the garage card is left in the other vehicle. You must pull a ticket and pay for the day. The cashiers at the garage should allow you to park for free since you already paid for the permit. Parking and Transportation had tried this once before and discovered rampant abuse. They still allow one free day per semester if you left your card at home, but after that you must pay.The university offers carpooling that includes a Share Pass for each carpool member. You can learn more at the PTS website.

Motion to close this issues due to the fact Parking and Transportation has already addressed this matter. Motion 2nd. Passed.

Because I’ve been taking attendance I found that there are several people who should be recognized for never missing a meeting: Benjamin Rodriguez, Ben Bond, Lara Eakins, Mark Smyth, Allison Supancic, Erin Waneck

Then we have several who only missed one meeting: Danielle Fournier, Gary Martt, Mindy Thompson, Ashley Williams

And as a special recognition Erin Waneck has not missed a meeting for the five years she sat on Council.

CHAIR wrote to Julien Carter about outstanding issues to see where they are currently.

• Separation online form-Julien is looking into this matter to make sure the issue is in fact solved
• Code 1000 issue-Julien is concerned about this mater and is working on revamping the way 1000s are appointed. He feels it’s being abused.
• Excellence Awards nomination letters be placed in the nominee’s personnel file. He sees no problem in doing this, although it won’t happen until next year.
• Sick Leave Pool-We requested a staff person to be on this board. Needs to be followed up.
• Outsourcing across campus-Asked Julien for statistics and got no response. We need to follow up on.
• Management Training-In the process of creating a certification program which should help in building a career ladder.
• Inquired about concerns about what can be passed on from your personnel file-If it’s been documented and placed in your file it can be. HRS does inform new place of hire why you were let go.
• Employee/Management Disputes-What can be discussed with managers and what is confidential.
• Staff can rebut any action against them-We asked that this be placed on the write-up form because many managers are unaware of this and tell their employees they cannot.

Joyce Moyer 462: Would like to see some type of check to make sure that managers that use reorganizing of a department to get rid of someone does not recreate that position within the year.

Currently grievances only go in the employee’s file and not the manager’s-We asked Julien to do this and got resistance to do so.

Computer access for all employees-This matter is being studied by Rhonda Weldon. She is surveying the entire campus and will hopefully have results this fall. We would like to see that everyone who does not have computer access to get paper ballots.

CHAIR recognizes Joyce Moyer.

Joyce Moyer

What has happened to the Ad Hoc Committee on Raises: This issue was briefly discussed in April’s meeting. The issue is so large and involved with legislation that we will continue to look at it but nothing can be done until the next legislative session.

The issue of the awning between the NOA parking garage and its building has never been addressed. This issue is in the Facilities Committee which has not met at all this year. May be able to move this to Compliance Committee since it does fall under building code.

Chair introduces Gary Martt, Chair of the Resource Committee.

Gary Martt

We have over 25 new members and orientation covers everyone. Three things to keep in mind:

• First, you need to attend meetings. If we don’t get a quorum we cannot conduct business. Please, if you cannot make it to a meeting you need to contact the Recording Secretary. If you have questions please reference the resource page on our Web site or your hand book.
• Second, attend your committee meetings. You get two hours a month to attend your committee meeting outside of coming to UTSC meetings.
• Third, very important that you communicate to and with your constituencies. They elected you and rely on you to inform them of our doings.

We are here for the staff. All staff can come to UTSC meetings, they are open to all university employees and their guests. They can, and are encouraged to, propose issues for the Council to address. We welcome ALL questions.

You will get your hand book at our next meeting and it will be electronic unless you need a hard copy. We decided to go this way since we update the materials continually.

Introduces the new reps: Stacie Bables, Anthony Bumpass, Enadalia Cano, Stephanie Cardenas, Susan Castellon, James Cooper, Jacqueline Dana, Joseph Gregory, Michele Hallahan, Phillip Hebert, Janice Hejl, Keith Hill, Ann Holliday, Charles King, Sarah Kitten, Janet Larsen, Sarah Lind, David Macha, Robert Meyer, Louise Nelson, Cynthia Posey, Tina Radke, Jo Ann Richmond, Tracy Saenger, Candace Shye, Peter Telck, Heather Vacek, Barbara Welch, Brandy Whitten, Sunni Zuniga, Nathan Bunch-Student Rep.

CHAIR Thanks Gary and all the new Reps

• Next month’s meeting will be held in the Avaya Auditorium-ACES building at 2:00pm June 26th. Meetings are normally every third Thursday of each month.
• Blake Willms reminds us to start thinking of what committee we would like to work on. We will be sending out request forms.
• All chairs of committees need to send the chair of UTSC a list of what your committee has done and are currently working on.

Chair motions to adjourn. Motion to Adjourn. 2nd. Passed.

Let the ice cream social begin!

Meeting Adjourned 2:54 p.m.

NOTE: Webcast is not available for this meeting.