Minutes for July 2008

Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Avaya Auditorium, ACES 2.302

Members Present: Stacie Bables, Jose Barroso, Benjamin Bond, Steven Brahm, Patrick Buckner, Anthony Bumpass, Nellie, Cano, Stephanie Cardenas, James Cooper, Jacqueline Dana, Lara Eakins, Danielle Fournier, John Goutier, Joseph Gregory, Melva Harbin, Martha Harrison, Phillip Hebert, Janice Hejl, Bobby Hemby, Keith Hill, Troy Johnson, Charles King, Sarah Kitten, Dianne Kline, Vicki Kullberg, Janet Larsen, Sarah Lind, David Macha, Gary Martt, Rita Moreno, Louise, Nelson, Linda Overton, Pamela Owen, Eric Patkowski, Cynthia Posey, Tina Radke, Martha Ramey, Janet Reed, Jo Ann Richmond, Benjamin Rodriguez, Janell Ross, Tracy Saenger, Mark Smyth, Peter Telck, Heather Vacek, Barbara Welch, Brandy Whitten, Ashley Williams, Sunni Zuniga

Members Absent with Notification: Craig Blaha, Chrissi Guerrero, Lori Hamilton, Jennifer McAndrew, Candace Shye, Meredith Taylor, Mindy Thompson, Blake Willms

Members Absent: Denise Berry, Nathan Bunch, Susan Castellon (?), Alma Craig, Victoria Drake, Rebecca Ledbetter, Richard Lee, Shelton Lewis, Jennifer McClain, Robert Meyer, Jimmy Moore, Christopher Scherer, Evan Turner, Robert Walker, Brittany Wilson

Call to Order

With a quorum present, Chair Mark Smyth called the meeting to order at 2:00pm.

Announcements

With a quorum present, Chair Mark Smyth called the meeting to order at 2:00pm.

Officer Reports

Council Chair

Chair Mark Smyth announced the 2008-2009 Staff Council officers and asked them to stand and be recognized by the Council.

Mr. Smyth welcomed past Council Chair and ex-officio member Erin Waneck, who presented the 2007-2008 Annual Staff Council Report, outlining the Council’s work and accomplishments over the past year:

First Executive Committee Annual Retreat during which the group identified a core set of needs/concerns for the upcoming 2007 year:

• Traditionally underrepresented districts campus-wide; to address this concern, the Council approved a bylaws change to establish three (3) at-large positions to represent those constituents in districts that are not represented on the Council. Those representatives began their terms in May 2008.
• Creation of 997 District – this initiative was implemented as a method through which to enhance communication with all staff on campus. The initiative has been very successful and advantageous in advertising “Brown Bag” and special events, including President Powers’ address to the Staff Council.
• Annual Retreat – Executive Committee members convened to identify core initiatives for the year. The group voted to focus its primary efforts on obtaining a staff Ombudsman position.
• Staff ombudsman – Executive Committee submitted a letter to President Powers, requesting the establishment of a staff Ombudsman position. Research of UT’s peer institutions indicate that the majority of universities have established a staff Ombudsman position with exception of universities have staff unions.
• Dispute Resolution Survey – Staff Council partnered with Human Resource Services to develop the survey, which Human Resources Services distributed to a random sampling of staff. Purpose of the survey was to assess the dispute resolution process and how it is working. Final reports from HR Services and UTSC were compiled and submitted to President Powers for review. On May 23, 2008, UTSC officers met with Deputy to the President Charles Roeckle to receive feedback on the dispute resolution survey and to indicate an interest in developing and distributing to staff a work satisfaction survey, similar to the one that the Faculty Council developed and distributed to faculty campus-wide. UTSC representative Denise Berry volunteered to begin developing this survey for staff.
• President Powers attended two Staff Council meetings on August 9, 2007 and in February 2008 to address staff questions/concerns in an open forum. Both meetings were well advertised and “standing-room only” attendance.
• UTSC brochure & logo – Communications Committee Chair Ashley Williams was instrumental in designing the UTSC logo and producing this brochure, which will help raise staff awareness of Staff Council and hopefully increase association of the logo with Staff Council presence on campus.
• Employee Discount Program – Human Resource Services was very instrumental in developing this program; HRS handled all contractual aspects of the initiative, built the web site, produced a brochure that was sent to area vendors, inviting them to participate. Ms. Waneck also advertised the program through speaking opportunities at various campus events. Program details can be found at http://www.utexas.edu/hr/edp.
• Imbalance of UTSC committees – adopted a bylaws change to allow some of the more under-utilized UTSC committees to join other similar committees and address related issues. This allowed those committees’ memberships to be increased and better partner with the committee chairs to balance and execute the work necessary to resolve issues.
• Brown Bag events – UTSC presented two “Brown Bag” events, which allowed the organization to advertise its presence and receive information from various staff regarding their concerns/issues.
• Meet-n-Greet – UTSC held its first event of this type last year at Scholtz’s Bier Garten. This is a great way to network with constituents and perhaps encourage them to express concerns in a more relaxed setting. Encourage this year’s organization to continue with these events.
• Moov-In Parking – Ms. Waneck met with Residence Life Associate Director Doug Garrard to address parking concerns expressed by former UTSC member Peggy Mueller. Options discussed included offering staff a 4-day/40-hour work week in order that parking was reduced on campus on the Moov-In day. Mr. Garrard also extended an invitation to have Staff Council members volunteer to help with the event, so this may be something that the organization can take on as an annual initiative to increase its presence on campus.
• Grindstone – this is a student group that contacted Staff Council with a concern that Orange Santa existed on campus. The group began researching staff salaries and living wages, and wanted to know more about this issue. A small group of UTSC members met with the group to discuss this and other staff concerns. The group is very energized, and will return in the Fall. They have offered to help with research of any important issues on which the Staff Council is working, including the staff ombudsman initiative
• Partnership w/Student Government Association – Staff Council and Student Government Association are working together to increase outreach. Staff Council has a student representative, Nathan Bunch, who will join members for monthly meetings from time to time. Ms. Waneck encouraged Staff Council to continue outreach to Faculty Council and strengthen that connection as both organizations share commonalities in the issues each organization faces, particularly employee benefits.
• Computer access for all employees – Ms. Waneck and Ms. Fournier met with Vice President of Diversity & Community Engagement Dr. Gregory Vincent to discuss this issue. Associate Vice President for Human Resources Julien Carter contacted Rhonda Weldon, Communications Director in the Office of Employee and Campus Services. Ms. Weldon’s group decided to coordinate a committee to study this issue for the broader campus community and plans to distribute a survey to query the campus community regarding interdepartmental communications, but nothing more is known at this time. Ms. Cindy Posey added that she is on the committee working with Rhonda Weldon’s group, and they have contacted Dr. Keri Stephens in the Department of Communication Studies to assist with this survey. Dr. Stephens is working with a group of graduate students and the committee to conduct research before distributing the survey, which will be implemented in Fall 2008 with results to follow in early Spring 2009.

Ms. Waneck outlined some outstanding issues from the last year:

• Sick Leave Pool – criteria used to determine eligibility and how employees can use it. In a letter dated 4/25/08 to Associate VP of Human Resource Services Julien Carter, Ms. Waneck requested information regarding:
  1. Number of applications for Sick Leave Pool that were received in the last calendar year
  2. Breakdown of number of requests approved and denied
  3. What types of illnesses are defined as “catastrophic illness”
  4. Who approves requests to use the Sick Leave Pool
  It is understood that there is a Board that reviews Sick Leave Pool requests, so Ms. Waneck inquired if a staff member could serve on the Board. Association VP Julien Carter responded positively to having a Staff Council representative serve on the Board that reviews sick leave approval requests. Names of volunteers have not yet been solicited nor has a date been set for when the addition of a Staff Council representative will be added to the Board.
• Outsourcing of staff – Staff Council Compensation & Classification worked on research to determine the number of employees outsourced. Ms. Waneck sent a letter to Julien Carter to inquire of the number of staff that have been outsourced, what resources does Human Resources use to help reposition staff after layoffs, and whether Human Resources tracks department actions to determine if they are re-hiring the same positions later after departmental reorganizations. No response as of this date.

Issues may be submitted to the Staff Council for consideration by any staff member. Staff may submit his/her issue from the floor during a general assembly meeting. The issue is voted on by the Staff Council membership and referred to an appropriate committee for research/review and an action to be taken. Issues do not need to be vetted through the Issues Committee each time an issue arises.

Ms. Waneck will forward to the Recorder/Secretary the 2007-2008 Annual Report so all UTSC members can review at their leisure. Mr. Smyth thanked Ms. Waneck for sharing her report with the Council.

Mr. Smyth welcomed the challenging year ahead and outlined his goals for the Council:

1. Encourage representatives to support committee chairs and help share the workload by volunteering to help research issues.
2. Establish organizational processes that are not person-specific in order to ensure smoother transitions can occur annually at the leadership levels and within committees.
3. Reiterates that Staff Council is an advisory body rather than a legislative one. He encourages members to contribute to the organization and committee work but do not become overwhelmed with aspects that are not within the purview of the organization.
4. “Rise to the Challenge” – this year’s motto to support the Council. He encourages members to do what they can to support the organization through committee work and district representation.

Mr. Smyth announced this year’s committees and asked members to stand and be recognized:
Benefits Committee
Bylaws & Procedures Committee
Committee on Committees
Committee on Evaluations & Standards (ad hoc)
Communications Committee
Compensation & Classification Committee
Infrastructure & Parking Services Committee
Issues Committee
Nominations & Elections Committee
Resources Committee
Workplace Environment Committee

Vice Chair

Ben Rodriguez began his report by asking those committees who have not had an opportunity to meet and select officers to do so immediately following today’s general assembly meeting. He then asked all committee chairs who have been elected to make a brief introduction of themselves and the issues on which their committees are working:

Benefits Committee (Met on Tuesday 7/15/08)
Danielle Fournier, Chair
Peter Telck, Vice Chair
Martha Harrison, Recorder/Secretary
Current issues: Working on outstanding issues pertaining to insurance, retirement and miscellaneous benefits

Bylaws & Procedures (Met on Friday 7/11/08)
Eric Patkowski, Chair
Joe Gregory, Vice Chair
Current issues: General maintenance of bylaws; Phillip Hebert volunteered to bylaws from inception to current date and create an historical log of all bylaws changes; converting on-line bylaws from HTML to .pdf format for easier reading and management.

Committee on Committees
Has not met as of this date
Committee on Evaluations & Standards (Ad Hoc) – (Met on Wednesday 6/25/08)
Danielle Fournier, Chair
Current issues: Reviewing evaluations from various organizations; plan to meet again in the next 2-3 weeks.

Infrastructure & Parking
Has not met as of this date

Issues Committee (Met on Tuesday 7/15/08)
Benjamin Bond, Chair
Cindy Posey, Vice Chair
Current issues: Managing issues on-line to maintain an accurate archive, making issues more easily searchable and tracked to determine an issue’s status at any given time (i.e. committee, up for vote etc); also looking to make some adjustments to the Issues Proposal form in hard copy and on-line.

Communications Committee (Met on Monday 7/14/08)
Ashley Williams, Chair
Tracy Saenger, Vice Chair
Janet Larsen, Recorder/Secretary
Current issues: Review and/or update design of Annual Report to give it a more professional appearance; work with Human Resource Services to update format of the UTSC website; translate UTSC brochure from English to Spanish to enable more staff to access the information contained in that document.

Resources Committee (Met virtually via email prior to today’s meeting)
Gary Martt spoke on behalf of the committee, which hopes to meet immediately following today’s meeting to formalize officers.
Current issues: Virtual handbook for UTSC representatives was produced within the month of July.

Workplace Environment
Has not met as of this date

Mr. Rodriguez asked that committees, that have not yet formalized officers, convene briefly following today’s meeting, if possible, and notify him or Janice Hejl with officer selections. He encouraged members to share the word about UTSC presence on campus and to encourage staff to bring issues forward for consideration.

Council Recorder/Secretary

Approval of Minutes
Recorder/Secretary Janice Hejl sent the June meeting minutes via email, prior to today's meeting. She asked for additional edits to the minutes. There being no further changes, Ms. Hejl asked for a motion to approve the June minutes:

Motion 1: Danielle Fournier - that the June meeting minutes be approved.
Second: Phillip Hebert
There were no objections; the motion passes.

Council members Steven Brahm and Phillip Hebert volunteered to serve as Assistants to the Recorder/Secretary. Mr. Brahm and Mr. Hebert’s names will be presented to the Executive Committee for approval and confirmation. An official announcement will be made at the August meeting.

There are currently fourteen (14) district representative vacancies within Staff Council, including four (4) resignations submitted by representatives within the last two weeks due to time/work commitments with their jobs. Please spread the word about Staff Council and submit to any officer the name(s) of individuals interested in serving on Staff Council.

Committee Reports

There were no additional committee reports given other than the announcement of committee officers, outlined in the Vice Chair report.

New Business

District 540.1 Representative Gary Martt submitted the following issue, on behalf of one of his constituents:

Issue Proposal: Improved Shuttle Bus Service on Campus: Objective is to provide continual shuttle service on the East Campus and Forty Acres routes without halting service on days between final exams and class registrations each semester. This service would cover thirty-five (35) business days a year on which service is not currently offered. We hope that Staff Council would support a recommendation that the University negotiate improved service with Capital Metro or seek alternative solutions toward this improvement. Though there is little need to transport students between their residences and university campus during these periods, the University must continue to operate efficiently. At the August 9, 2007 Staff Council meeting, President Powers indicated that most campus parking would become primarily peripheral, and this issue supports that initiative. Accompanying this issue for consideration will be the minutes from the August 2007 Staff Council meeting and the current shuttle service schedule (full explanation of this issue can be viewed on the live web cast).

Mark Smyth (District 451): When I inquired about this same issue, Parking & Transportation Services advised that the shuttle service is paid for by student fees, so for staff and faculty that may want to use the shuttle service, there may be fees involved. So there will be a challenge
there as we consider this.

Ashley Williams (District 220.1): This same issue came up about three years ago when I was on the Parking & Transportation committee. We did research and spoke to the Assistant Director of Parking & Transportation Services, and we were told the shuttle service is paid for by student fees so we can’t do anything about it, but it may be worth looking at again. I am one who rides the shuttle and work off the main campus, so it would be nice to be able to go to a point near campus and ride the shuttle into the main campus.

Mark Smyth (District 451): I know that shuttle service is used by many staff, and it is the students who actually set the shuttle schedule, so we may be able to work with Student Government and students to find a viable solution.

Gary Martt (District 540.1): I would consider that as a way that this Council can explore alternative solutions to this issue. I appreciate that the shuttle service is paid for by student fees. There is a huge amount of funding that goes into Capitol Metro, and they thrive on this University’s buying power. I think the point is that services provided by staff throughout the year serve the needs of the students. So, part of those student fees is going to pay for the staff that is supporting student efforts. Whether or not students are here, staff is here working on their behalf, I don’t think it’s asking too much to ask them to support our efforts, or to explore alternative options to resolve this issue.

Brandy Whitten (District 712): I’d like to approach this issue from the standpoint that, with increasing gas prices, decreasing surface parking on campus, increasingly lengthy wait lists for parking garages, staff are being encouraged to find alternative methods of transportation to work, and more people are riding the bus and shuttle services. This is also one way to address the necessity to conserve fuel and energy.

Motion 2: Joseph Gregory – that Council accept this issue and send it to the Issues Committee.
Second: Unanimous
There were no objections; the motion passes.

Ashley Williams (District 220.1): I have one additional item from the Communications Committee. I would like to give ‘kudos’ to representative Sarah Kitten who has volunteered to translate the UTSC brochure from English to Spanish. We’ll hopefully have that version at some point so we can outreach to many more staff.

Erin Waneck: A reminder that issues can be submitted to the Issues Committee in a variety of ways – by submitting an Issues Proposal form that is found on the UTSC web site, and also by presenting the issue in person from the floor at any general assembly meeting. Also, you do not have to be a Staff Council member in order to submit an issue; anyone on campus can submit an issue, so hopefully that will encourage people to bring issues forward for submission and consideration.

District 672 Representative Tracy Saenger submitted the following issue, on behalf of one of her constituents:

Issue Proposal: Wellness Program for Employees: It would be in the best interest of the
University and its employees to implement a wellness program, which should include but no be limited to, the following:

1. Staff incentives to participate in wellness program (i.e. free health screenings & fitness assessment, reduced insurance premiums for those who participate consistently over time)
2. Free Rec Sports membership for any employee interested in using those facilities
3. “Biggest Loser” style weight loss competitions between departments with annual prizes
4. Dietary & weight management counseling seminars, lifestyle coaching for departments
5. Agreement w/off-campus gym with locations across Austin to offer reduced membership fees for UT employees

Cindy Posey (District 522): Human Resource Services and the Employee Assistance Program have a position for a Wellness Coordinator, and for which we have continually requested that the position be funded, but it has not happened yet. Everything that she outlined in that proposal is exactly what we’re trying to do in the EAP. So, it’s being worked on but, perhaps with some push from Staff Council, we could get that funding. I’ve been told that UT System has hired a Wellness Coordinator, and that person is supposed to be coordinating all of the campuses within the UT System.

Brandy Whitten (District 712): I have had suggestions from employees in and out of my district to install showers for staff and faculty in buildings on campus. For those employees who bike or walk to work, or for those who ride the bus/shuttle and then walk a few blocks, they can get quite sweaty getting to and from work in the heat of each day. This suggestion is also related to addressing the transportation issue. I would like to look into installing showers in strategic locations in existing buildings, and strongly suggest that they be included in designing new buildings on campus for staff and faculty.

Cindy Posey (District 522): I have brought this issue to the EAP and was really pushing to get showers installed in the “lactation/quiet rooms”, which is an initiative that Connie Deutsch is working on. In existing buildings, I am pushing to have the hand-held showers installed in every bathroom, because this would require only that they be connected to the sinks, and every bathroom already has a drain.

Tracy Saenger (District 672): As part of their strategic initiatives for students, Division of Student Affairs has what they call a “wellness wheel”, and they are really starting to focus on identifying needs of the “holistic” student, including physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual well-being.

Peter Telck (District 692): I think staff should get free or discounted Rec Sports memberships, and which would immediately address the issue of showers for faculty/staff since those facilities are already in those buildings; staff could go to Rec Sports or Gregory Gym and the showers in either of those locations.

Also, the Rec Sports membership and the “wellness package” issues are already being reviewed in the Benefits Committee. So, if Council wants to go ahead and submit the Wellness Program issue to the Benefits Committee, that’s fine because we’re already working on a lot of other related issues.

Motion 3: Ben Rodriguez – that the Wellness Program issue be submitted to the Benefits Committee
Second: Unanimous
There were no objections; the motion passes.

Cindy Posey (District 522): I would like to suggest that we pass the microphone around to people who want to speak to or present an issue, or have a couple of people stand in the back with microphones, instead of having to walk up and down the stairs each time. I think that would encourage more people to speak up.

Mark Smyth (District 451): What we can do is ask for two volunteers, before the start of each meeting, who can walk around with the microphones to allow more people to speak from the floor.

Questions For The Council

Jose Barroso (District 231): Could we look into having the UT System Wellness Coordinator come and address Staff Council on some of these issues?

Mark Smyth (District 451): We will definitely look into that.

Vicki Kullberg (District 371): Do we have the meeting dates for the coming year?

Mark Smyth (District 451): I am trying to reserve this auditorium for each month since it has the audio and video technology to record the meetings; the August meeting is scheduled on the third Thursday; the September and October meetings are scheduled on the third Wednesdays, and the December meeting is scheduled on the third Thursday of the month. I’ve submitted a request for the rest of 2009, and I’m still awaiting approval on those.

Gary Martt (District 540.1): Meeting dates confirmed through December 2008 are published in the UTSC virtual handbook on-line, and I’ll be happy to send out that URL address again.

Jackie Dana (District 262): I’m going to have difficulty attending meetings that are scheduled on Wednesdays only because I’ve already asked for and arranged to be away from the office on Thursdays. I think, for many people, it would be better to move the meeting to another available room on Thursdays, even though it may not be as technologically equipped, rather than to move the meetings to a different day of the week. I think you’ll start losing attendance to this meeting if you change the day because it may conflict with other commitments that staff already have, especially when people have arranged to be away from their offices on the third Thursday each month.

Patrick Buckner (District 470.1): An acquaintance who works for the State of Texas, and tells me that they have a benefit that allows them to retain legal counsel for $14 per month. I’d like to ask if the Benefits Committee could look into that for staff on this campus?

Danielle Fournier (District 210.1): We are looking into that issue at this time.

Joseph Gregory (District 470.2): We really need to commit to address the vacancies that we currently have on the Council so that the organization can focus on the endeavors that are going to come before us this year. We all need to talk to people in our district, let them know what Staff Council is about, what’s involved and encourage them to get involved.

Peter Telck (District 692): Is Staff Council represented at the new employee orientation sessions? Can we look into that? That way, every new employee can hear about Staff Council and know that we have a presence on campus.

Erin Waneck: I meant to include this in my Annual Report, that I began attending HR Forums, Town Hall meetings, Faculty Council meetings, Academic Counselors meetings, to present Staff Council and distribute our brochure so people know about us. Maybe we can bring the box of brochures to the next meeting so everyone can take some to hand out in their respective districts, and hopefully we can give some brochures to Julien Carter to give some out during new employee orientation. But we need to get the word out about Staff Council to as many people as possible. Maybe Cindy Posey can help us out with letting us know when the orientations are scheduled.

Cindy Posey (District 522): Every organization on campus would like to have five minutes to present at new employee orientation, so it will be difficult to get that done. But, I think making the brochure available at the orientation sessions is a great idea; that way, people can take it with them and read about the organization.

Adjournment

Motion 4: Mark Smyth – that the Council adjourn its meeting.
Second:Linda Overton
There were no objections; the motion passes.

The Staff Council general assembly meeting adjourned at approximately 3:20pm.

Watch the web recording of this meeting.

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