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Officers & Executive Committee |
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Minutes - January 19, 2006In attendance: Yolanda Aldaco, Jennifer Betancourt, Linda Breining, Lisa Camero, Johnnie Conley, Marlis Dagg, Neil Fahlund, Danielle Fournier, Christine Gauger, Phil Gavenda, Claudia Gerardo, Marco Gonzalez, Philip Guerrero, Bretna Hackert, Phillip Hebert, Tom Horn, Greg Howard, James Janknegt, Amy Jones, Elizabeth Korves, Lynn Lecropane, Candace Legge, Keke Kelly Liao, Noah Lowenstein, Debra Madden, Gary Martt, Alan McKendree, Terry Moore, Rita Moreno, Joyce Moyer, Laura Najera, Pamela Owen, Eric Patkowski, Billie Pierce, Albert Puga, Janet Reed, Kathy Romberg, Christopher Scherer, Craig Schroer, Sandra Sleeper, Kim Snyder, Barbara Thompson, Alayna Wadleigh, Kim Wallace, Erin Waneck, Deborah Warden, Sara Jackson Watson, Ashley Williams, Kimberly Williams, Cynthia Wilson, Andrea Zabcik Absent with notification: Alison Louise Brown, Vickie Drake, Patrice Fox, Christy Habecker, Dreya Johannsen, Kimberly Montroy, Nadine Schulte, JR Watson Absent: Layne Brewster-Smith, Melba Catchings, Vanessa Cobb, Clifford Haby, Vicki Heydron, Troy Johnson, Collin Logan, Robert Micks, Donna O'Kelly, Carl Roell, Edie Shugart, Olen Smith Guests: Monica Reed (HRS), Debra Kress (HRS), Rich Burns (HRS), Sarah Y Shafer (HRS), Julien Carter (HRS), Linda Casarez (HRS) Meeting called to order at 2:03 PM upon verification of a quorum. Announcements:
Recorder: Phillip HebertThe recorder asked that the minutes for the December meeting of the UTSC be accepted upon addition of the attendance information. There was no objection. Issues Committee: Amy Jones2005-21: Request for Statistical Information Regarding Merit Increases, Submitted by Erin Waneck (692). Amy summarized the issue to say that those with the authority to award merit increases get larger increases than those without the decision making ability. The recommendation of the Issues Committee is to validate and send to the Compensation and Classification Committee. Alan McKendree (371) stated he wasn't aware that people were able to give themselves merit increases. Amy replied that they may not be giving themselves a raise, but there is sort of an old boys' club situation happening. Laura Najera (322) queried if this goes along with an issue from the last meeting. Amy stated it is not the same issue, but an issue that was brought up in response to the issue from the last meeting. Erin Waneck, who proposed the issue, said that some of her constituents have raised this issue and she is presenting this for them. It is different because it is asking for the information to speak for itself. Sandra Sleeper (550) stated that since it is basically requesting statistical information that most likely is coming from the budget or HRS office, could UTSC just ask the chair to write a letter to the Budget office requesting the information. The chair accepted this as an amendment to the recommendation. It was seconded and passed. The chair then asked for acceptance of the issue as amended, it was passed. Guest Speaker - Julien Carter, Associate Vice President for Human ResourcesErin introduced Julien Carter. He stated that he was here to make sure that he stays in contact with issues that impact the university workforce. He'd like to attend these meetings to hear issues and concerns and meet with the officers, and upon invitation to the executive committee so that Human Resource Services can be a full partner. He believes a common goal is a place where we all feel that it speaks to our needs and inspirations. He talked about nominations for Staff Excellence and Outstanding Supervisor Awards. The deadline for nominations is 5:00pm on January 31, 2006. There were about 300 nominations before the meeting. Linda Casarez stated HRS hoped to have about 700 nominations. He asked that we remind our constituents about the nomination period and direct them to the website. A list of staff that will receive Staff Service Award will be available by Feb 1, 2006. The event for recognition of all awards will be at the Erwin Center on May 2, 2006 at 2:00 PM. Committee Reports:Nominations and Elections Committee - Sandra SleeperSandra gave a heads up regarding the upcoming nominations and elections period. March 1, 2006 is the official date to determine eligibility to nominate, vote, and/or run for UTSC. All the dates will appear on an attached chart with the January minutes. Noah Lowenstein (632) queried which districts would be involved this year. Sandra stated that districts with even numbers would be up for election. Multidistrict representatives are determined by the .1, .2, .3, etc. number following their district. Terry Moore (641) pointed representatives to the UTSC website where there is a list of representatives with their district number and when their term is up. If you are not sure whether you have completed your two terms and eligible to re-run, let Sandra know and she will give you that information. Bylaws and Procedures Committee - Tom HornBylaws and Procedures presented two matters. The first he began by stating there are specific situations when the council will decide to act in a manner that is contrary to our bylaws. It requires a vote of council, considered an emergency measure, and is a one-time thing that doesn't set precedence. He called it a limited situation specific directive. The issue bears directly on the issue of elections. A potential representative must have worked for a year to be elected to UTSC, and must have worked for 6 months to nominate and vote. The Committee is suggesting that HRS adjust programming so that everyone working here for 6 months is allowed to nominate and vote. The chair asked for a motion to handle this matter now in order to get this process working before the elections. Tom reminded that the second part is to direct the Bylaws & Procedures Committee to make this their 1st priority. Terry Moore (641) made the motion. It was seconded and passed. Tom handed out an edited version of the proposed change to the Bylaws and presented it to the UTSC for a new 1st reading. Tom stated that procedure prohibits discussion of a proposed change at the 1st reading except to be discussed informally and briefly at the discretion of the presiding officer. He will attempt to explain why the committee did what they did. If there are any questions or suggestions, please ask the committee. Amy Jones (160) asked for the best way to contact the Bylaws Committee. Tom stated that they are all listed on the UTSC website with their email addresses. Email is probably the best way to communicate with them. No specific critiques for editing were taken. The proposed change was read. He stated that the eligibility of everyone below the level of director is not a policy change; it is in the Bylaws. He mentioned that they struck some sentences and deleted the list of titles due to suggestions. The Chair opened the floor for questions. Bretna Hackert (540) asked if the date would be added after it is approved. Miscellaneous Benefits - Philip GuerreroPhilip Guerrero gave the following report on 2005-01: SEB for Distance and Extension courses. One of the prime tenets of The University of Texas at Austin is educating the people of the state of Texas. While this is a worthwhile endeavor, The University should not overlook its own: staff at UT who should also have access to The University. In the fall semester of 2000 The University made a positive step in creating the Staff Educational Benefit (SEB). At the time it allowed staff to take one course per semester without having to pay tuition. While this was a welcome addition to benefits available to staff, it is not a benefit available to all. It is a selective staff benefit. In order to take advantage of the SEB a staff member must be regularly admissible to UT. This means, for example, that someone with no previous college credit would apply as a freshman. Someone with college credit but no degree applies as a transfer student, and someone with a degree can apply as a non-degree seeking student, if not a graduate degree. Statistics from Human Resources indicate there are more than 2800 classified staff that have a high school diploma, GED, or less than a high school diploma. The likelihood of those individuals being prepared to attempt an SAT - an application requirement - to try for admission is probably not great. A portion of this group - those lacking a high school diploma - could take advantage of Distance Education's GED program, earn a GED or UT High School diploma and perhaps advance beyond that in their educational careers. Those staff members with associate's degrees or perhaps some college credit but no degree may or may not be admissible to UT. If not, they could enroll in University Extension or Distance Education college credit courses. These courses count toward a UT GPA, preparing individuals to perhaps eventually gain admission to UT and finish a degree program. Writer Ross Douthat wrote in the The Atlantic Monthly that a child growing up in a family earning over $90,000 has a 1 in 2 chance of getting a college degree by the age of 24. A child in a family earning $35,000 - $61,000 has a 1 in 10 chance, and a child in a family earning under $35,000 has a 1 in 17 chance. In the working world, education begets advancement. Advancement sometimes begets fortune. It would be naïve to think that a degree alone would allow some UT staff members to suddenly vault up the ranks of the administration, but they should certainly be allowed the opportunity to advance themselves professionally or personally. The University should at least offer that chance. Another factor that should be taken into account is time. University Extension courses are in the evening and Distance Education courses are usually taken by correspondence or online. Allowing these courses to be paid by the SEB would enable not only those not admissible to UT to take the courses but also those who are admissible but can't take regular courses during the day because of work conflicts or simply because their supervisor does not allow them to. The University of Michigan, considered a peer institution, allows staff to take courses without having to be admitted. All staff have access to that university's educational offerings. The same cannot be said for staff here. It is understood that The University of Texas has a population of students larger than it should. The recent report of the Commission of 125 acknowledges that. Allowing staff to use the SEB for Extension and Distance Education courses would not impact that situation. The Miscellaneous Benefits Committee of the University of Texas Staff Council asks that new UT president William Powers as well as Human Resources be notified of this report and recommends that Extension and Distance Education courses be included in the SEB to make it a true benefit for all staff at The University of Texas. Erin asked for a motion to approve the recommendation of the committee. The motion was made, seconded, and passed. New Business:Joyce Moyer (462) - Joyce notified the UTSC that she is submitting an issue to study outsourcing in Central Receiving as a result of an email she received from a constituent. The constituent wrote to her that he wanted UTSC "to ask about outsourcing for Central Receiving. We read about how much money UT has saved by outsourcing. What we got was less work for less money." The constituent noted that the new company seemed to have a problem with turnovers. Upon asking what employees did that were replaced, he stated that some found new jobs and others have not. She stated that she could have just given this to the Issues committee but wanted UTSC reps to know that if it happened in their department, then they should add to the issue. A further question was if they passed their 6 months probation, then why weren't they grandfathered into the contract. Joyce also wondered why custodial services doesn't have a full compliment of representatives on UTSC. She wondered why we couldn't look into ways to get them representatives. Sandra Sleeper stated that this concern (custodial services representation) had been expressed and has been on the agenda for at least 2 chairs. She stated that UTSC has been in constant communication with Donna Budge, the District Contact, trying to get on the custodial services agenda and work with her on getting solutions in filling the now two vacancies. A PowerPoint had been produced regarding what is staff council and trying to get people to join. She is also trying to find out where the employees gather before their shift starts to be able to meet with them and explain what staff council is all about. Sandra brought up that HR is working on how to pay an employee whose shift starts at 5:30 while our meeting starts at 2. Phil Gavenda stated he had been here 5 years and this issue has always been a concern. He announced that the Communications Committee is meeting today and the translation should be close to complete. Tom Horn (681) - Tom thanked those working behind the scenes for all of their hard work. Tom spoke of the meeting between the Executive Committee and Julien Carter and his view that it could be the dawn of a new era and his wish for the UTSC to make a difference. Lisa Camero (111) - Lisa suggested that nametags be used at meetings so that it would be easier to communicate without having to always ask a person’s name. She also suggested that we use nametags at the President's reception with the UTSC. Erin Waneck volunteered to get nametags. Sandra Sleeper (550) - Sandra suggested that we have a mixer (not meeting) event with possibly members of Faculty Council or Student Government to reach out to other members of the UT Community. Amy Jones suggested that the Graduate Student Council would most likely enjoy being involved because they are considered staff and have a lot of the same issues regarding insurance and such. Debra Madden (382) - Debra queried whether she could make an amendment to the Bylaws at any meeting. Tom Horn stated that you can suggest a change to the Bylaws from the floor and then that suggestion would go to the Bylaws committee. The Council would have to accept the suggestion and direct the Bylaws and Procedures Committee to take up the issue. Debra proposed that in Section III of the Bylaws, under Membership, that the line "below the level of director" be struck. She stated she believed that the UTSC should benefit all staff members. Chris Scherer asked for clarification of the rationale behind striking the phrase. Alan McKendree stated he discussed this with a former representative and said that it has been raised before in issue 2004-4. The former representative noted to Alan that the rationale behind not including the 1000A staff was intimidation. However, he noted there were a whole group of employees with no representatives who have less job security than we do. The only cure he sees is to form a 1000A council. Chris Scherer noted that if a director was nominated to UTSC, who else out of that district is going to be on the council who will be under the influence of that director. Debra Madden stated her direct supervisor is an Assistant Dean and was on the UTSC and represented staff. She thought it was strange to think that 1000A employees would be against staff needs. Terry Moore expressed his belief that the point is those who, for example, decided to outsource the jobs were 1000A employees and the ones who lost their jobs are not. He further stated that the UTSC is meant to represent those who do not have the authority to make decisions and that 1000A employees trade job security for much higher pay and benefits. Andrea Zabcik (182) communicated that if any of the code 1000A were to be elected, that a lot of the employees in her district would not be comfortable approaching them with issues. Lynn Lecropane (672) expressed that her thought on the structure of code 1000 gives them access that staff does not have. The chair called for a vote and the motion failed. Adjournment:The meeting was adjourned at 3:04pm. Phillip Hebert |
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