Minutes - May 19, 2005

These minutes were approved at the UT Staff Council meeting on June 16, 2005

Call to Order

Chair Glen Worley called to order the regular meeting of the UT Staff Council at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 19, 2005 in the Ayaya Auditorium, ACE 2.302

UTSC 68 representatives were present.

Announcements:

The next regular meeting of the UTSC is June 16, Main 212, from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.

Welcome guests:

Rich Burns, Interim Associate Vice President, Human Resource Services

Rich addressed the UTSC expressing Human Resources support for UTSC. HR focus for the coming year will be on employee development especially for administrative staff.

Welcome New Members:

Recognition of outgoing members - Rich Burns & Chair

Chair's Report: 

Compensation guidelines for employees who assist at university events - Response from HRS to our recommendations on our issue No. 2004-5 concerning the definition of employee "volunteerism" and compensation with regard to University-sponsored events. 

Staff Council Annual Report for 2004-2005 was presented as follows:

Annual Report of the University Staff Council For the period June 2004 through May 2005

The University Staff Council ended its fourth year of representing classified staff with elections that saw at least one candidate for every open representative position. During the last year Staff Council representatives addressed various concerns of their constituents such as mowing of wildflowers, late night childcare, Sick Leave Pool, and longevity pay for part-time staff, just to name a few. Staff Council committees researched these along with other issues and worked with University departments to resolve concerns affecting staff. Reports by these committees continued a reputation for thoroughness that has not gone unnoticed by the University community. Staff Council representatives provided a conduit to the classified staff for useful information in the areas of benefits, parking and transportation concerns, on-campus childcare, guidelines for use of computers at work, and other areas of interest to staff. The Staff Council Executive Committee participated in the Legislative Budget Board’s Management and Performance Review of UT Austin. The Staff Council Chair and Vice Chair represented the UT Staff in the annual 'UT Remembers' ceremony.

Major Accomplishments over the last twelve months

• New grievance policy adopted – A new grievance policy went into effect on September 1, 2004. Revision of the old grievance policy was the very first issue accepted by the Staff Council after it formed, and the implementation of the new policy is the result of much work from the Staff Council Grievance Committee and support from Human Resources Services. Other UT System components now are interested in using the new grievance policy as a model for revising their grievance policies.
• Participation on University wide committees and task forces –Staff Council members continued to play an important part in campus affairs by serving on committees such as the Parking and Transportation Policy Committee, University Police Oversight Committee, UT System Employee Advisory Council, Committee on Campus Community, search committee for the Vice Provost for Inclusion and Cross-Cultural Effectiveness. The Faculty Council also approved the inclusion of staff members on several campus wide committees for 2005-2006 where there had been no previous staff representation. Christy Habecker, UTSC member, was elected as UT Austin representative to UT System Wide Insurance Advisory Committee.
• Clarification of time reporting policies – Based on recommendations submitted by the Staff Council Human Resources Services made several changes and additions to the electronic time sheet to reflect Exempt or Non-Exempt status according to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). A link to an explanation of FLSA status was also placed on the electronic time sheet as well as a link to the FLSA Compliance Training Module. Also, a certification statement was placed on the electronic time sheet to remind both employees and supervisors to observe all law and policies regarding the reporting of hours worked.
• Compensation guidelines for employees who assist at university events –HRS responded to our recommendations on our issue No. 2004-5 concerning the definition of employee “volunteerism” and compensation with regard to University-sponsored events by issuing new guidelines in this area.

Since its inception the Staff Council has reviewed 95 issues submitted to the Council. Seventeen issues were submitted during this session of the Staff Council that began in June 2004. At the time of this report there are fourteen issues under consideration by the UTSC and its committees. The committees’ diligent efforts are responsible for the continuing success and effectiveness of the Staff Council.

The Staff Council also wishes to acknowledge the support it has been given by Human Resources Services in providing materials, room reservations, and technical support for the Staff Council Web site and elections. In particular, the Staff Council wishes to thank Kyle Cavanaugh, Linda Casarez, Sarah Shafer, and Yan Zuo for their support of the Staff Council over the past year.

Glen Worley
Chair, UT Staff Council

Vice Chair's report:

Committee assignments for 2005-2006 - Phil Gavenda

Recorder/Secretary - Erin Waneck

Approval of minutes from the April 19 meeting

Nominations and Elections - Noah Lowenstein

Nominations of Staff Council officers for 2005-2006 were as follows:

Chair: Sandra Sleeper
Chair: Erin Waneck

Vice Chair: Phil Gavenda
Vice Chair: Erin Waneck

Recorder: Tom Horn

The question was raised whether additional nominations could be accepted at the June meeting. Shane Williams stated that since our by-laws did not prohibit it, then additional nominations could be accepted.

Committee Reports:

Information Exchange Committee (Info-X) - Shane Williams, Chair

Report on communication methods for Staff Council members. The summary of the committee’s reports can be accessed at: http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~shanew/utsc.html

Discussion resulted concerning Roberts Rules of Order. The spirit of Robert’s Rules call for face to face discussion, debate, and voting, which was felt to extend not only to UTSC but to committee work as well.

One representative felt that Robert’s Rules are there to serve us, and we should encourage everyone to have a voice, and Robert’s Rules can be suspended to allow discussion.

Under Roberts’s Rules, distance voting would not be allowed unless prescribed in your bylaws. Committees acting in a relaxed environment should still follow the spirit of Robert’s Rules.

The Info-X report and its recommendations were accepted on voice vote and referred to committees.

Compensation and Classification Committee- Sandra Sleeper, Chair

Report on Issue 2004-4: Code 1000 positions and job security

The Compensation & Classification Committee makes the following recommendations:

1. In reference to subjecting Code 1000 positions to the same disciplinary/grievance process as Classified positions, the committee feels that this part of the issue has been addressed in the University's new Grievance Policy Number 7.C.1 (http://www.utexas.edu/policies/hoppm/07.C.01.html). This new policy is now available to Classified and Administrative and Professional employees, including Probationary, Temporary, Hourly or Per Diem employees who work on an as needed basis.
    
2. In reference to offering clear disclosure of terms of employment prior to appointment, the committee would like HRS to provide offer letter templates which could be download from their current Employee Records Forms site (http://www.utexas.edu/hr/records/forms.html). All departments could use these letters across campus when an offer of employment is extended to an employee. The original signed offer could be forwarded to Employee Records along with other required employment forms such as I9, Security Sensitive Form, etc. There is already a system in place to monitor compliance of I9 and Selective Service form submission. This system could be enhanced to include the submission of offer letters. Also, we would like the HRS New Employee Checklist (http://www.utexas.edu/hr/orientation/new_employee.html) updated to include the submission of an offer letter to the new hire.
    
3. The committee recommends that a comprehensive study be performed by HRS regarding UT Austin Administrative & Professional/Code 1000 staff retention targeting those who hold non-academic, non-coaching, and positions below the title of director.

Discussion ensued. It was acknowledged that recommendation number 1 required no action. Recommendation number 2 passed, and recommendation 3 was sent back to committee for clarification.

Issue Committee - Didi Smith, Chair

2004-31 Recycling on campus

Recommendation: Refer to Facilities Committee

Proposes that UTSC should take a role getting involved with the Recycling Task Force student group to promote recycling of glass, aluminum and plastic.

Recommendation: refer to Facilities

Result: Accepted, and referred to committee

2004-32 University use of Collection Agencies

Recommendation: Refer to Parking & Transportation Committee

Proposes that UTSC request UT change their policy of turning in staff to collection agencies for unpaid parking tickets.

Recommendation: refer to Parking and Transportation committee

Result: Referred to Parking and Transportation for further study.

2004-33 Evaluation of Implementation and Execution of UT Austin Grievance Policy

Human Resources Services would be asked to supply the Grievance Committee with information regarding data on Grievances since the new policy had been implemented by HRS.

The Chair acknowledged that when the new grievance policy was implemented, HRS had agreed to review the policy and identify any problems with the policy.

Recommendation: Refer to Grievance Committee

Result: HRS would be asked to supply the committee with this information by January 2006.

New Business:

Unfinished Business: Motion was made to present Kyle Cavanaugh with a token of appreciation for his work with the Staff Council. The question of how we would pay for it was asked. The Chair indicated that he had requested a petty money account to cover such expenses from Rich Burns. Another representative was concerned about who would order it and make sure it was given to Kyle.

The motion to give Kyle a token of our appreciation was accepted, and the Chair stated he would make sure to follow through on ordering a plaque of some kind for Kyle.

Adjournment:

Meeting adjourned at 3:30