Minutes for September 21, 2006

ACES Building / Avaya Auditorium 2-3:30pm
Prepared by: Mark Anthony Gonzalez

Members Present: Timothy Barber, Sharon Bernard, Linda Breining, Layne Brewster-Smith, Vanessa Cobb, Johnnie Conley, Vickie Drake, Lara Eakins, Nelson Fahlund, Danielle Fournier (Vice-Chair), Patrice Fox, Christine Gauger, Mark Gonzalez, Philip Guerrero, Bretna M Hackert, Tom Horn, Dreya Johannsen, Mari Johnson, Amy Jones, Richard Lee, Shelton Lewis, Debra Madden, Gary Martt, Cynthia May, Michael McFarlin, Alan McKendree, Terry Moore, Rita Moreno, Joyce Moyer, Linda Overton, Pamela Owen, Heather Pafk, Eric Patkowski, Billie Pierce, Elaine Rafferty, Ben Rodriguez, Carl Roell, Felix Sanchez, Chris Scherer, Nadine Schulte, Olen Smith, Allison Supancic, Barbara Thompson, Salwa Uzri, Kim Wallace, Erin Waneck (Chair), Debbie Warden, James Watson, Ashley Williams, Kimberly Williams, Blake Willms

Members Absent With Notification: Jennifer Betancourt, Gregory Browning, Tommy Downey, Claudia Gerardo, Sara Jackson Watson, James Janknegt, Keke Kelly Liao

Members Absent: Lisa Camero, James Cogburn, Troy Johnson, Candace Legge, Kimberly Montroy, Monica Pena-Mercado, Martha Ramey, Sandra Sleeper

Guests: Julien Carter, Jan Chandler, Debra Kress, Monica Reed, Melinda Robillard, Sarah Shafer, Irma Vrena

Meeting commenced at 2:02pm with quorum.

Announcements:

Many UTSC members did not receive an agenda or other emails from UTSC. If your appointment has not been approved for the new fiscal year you did not appear as a current staff member in the email list. This should clear up in the next few days/weeks.

Next UTSC Meeting is Thursday, October 19th, 2006 from 2pm - 3:30pm, held at Main 212

Chair's report:

Reminders:
President Powers Inauguration: September 29th 2006 at the Bass Concert Hall from 3pm to 5pm. All members of UTSC should have received an invitation. Susan Clagett's Office is planning the event; Sarah Shafer should have all Staff Council members contact information.

State Service Credit: The University of Texas has been asked by the Comptroller's Office to standardize how State service time is calculated; instead of counting it by month they in fact count it by the day. Even though you may have been considered a "long term" employee, you could potentially loose a couple of months or more of State service credit, depending on when your hire date was. Expect an email from UT verifying what days you have worked. Any further questions can be referred to HR.

Vice-Chair's report:

Vice-Chair reminds all Committees to please have their initial meetings before the next UTSC meeting. All other Committee Chairs who have already met please be prepared to give updates on what the committee have already done what they are working on, as well as any outstanding issues. Nominations and Elections Committee is still without a Chair; anyone interested please contact Danielle Fournier via phone or email. Noah Lowenstein, who chaired the Nominations and Elections Committee in previous years, has volunteered to help whoever is elected this year.

Recorder/Secretary:

Secretary announces to anyone who has not received the minutes, they will be posted on the website at www.utexas.edu/staff/council. No questions or comments were made from the floor. Minutes are approved as is.

Committee Reports: Standing Committees (Bylaws, Committee on Committees, Communications, Issues, Nominations and Elections):

Bylaws and Procedures Committee:

The Bylaws and Procedures Committee Chair presented bylaw revisions and first readings.

Tom Horn makes a point to note when he has the floor as Chair of the Bylaws Committee he is speaking on behalf of the committee. When speaking from the floor, he is speaking on behalf of himself. Tom has two items to present. Under Robert's Rules 1st reading, UTSC is prohibited from considering the revisions, but does permit an informal discussion about said revisions, then by the next general session, at the Chair's discretion, you would have the option of either have a 2nd reading or waive that option and either approve the revisions as drafted or comments and concerns can be addressed at that point. The first of the proposed revisions is “membership of the executive committee” and a formal list of standing committees.

The UTSC standing committees are as follows: Bylaws and Procedures, Committee on Committees, Communications, Issues, Mentoring, Nominations and Elections.

Amy Jones: Issues Committee

Issue 2006-9 Evaluations: ability of staff to add a letter with comments to employee file. The Reason for Proposal: If employee receives what he believes is an unfair evaluation, said employee has absolutely no recourse to refute, rebut, or explain to a better degree a more balanced perspective from the employee's vantage point. These evaluations stand as 100% valid negating all rights. Furthermore, in some instances, there have been cases of retribution, mostly in the form of a lowered evaluation for the employee by the attending supervisor resulting from the employee's original attempt of having a facilitated discussion through Employee Relations. Issue is sent to Comp & Class for more research and evaluation.

Issue 2006-10: Grievance Process: Change in the way documentation for grievances is handled. If an employee files a grievance for an issue with their supervisor, a copy of that grievance is placed in the employee file but none in the supervisor's file; which in turn just discourages the employee from the use of this process and some instances even penalize them for bringing these problems to attention. In some cases where multiple employees has had complaints about a single supervisor, no log or documentation is maintained in the supervisor's file, which could be attributed to high turn-over rate and loss of potentially good UT staff. Mr. Carter suggested to keep all documentation out of both supervisor and employee records. The recommendation of the committee is to validate this issue and have it sent to the grievance committee. Alan agrees that the documentation should be symmetrical while not discouraging the use of the grievance process. Issue sent to the Grievance Committee.

Issue 2006-11: Staff needing an Ombudsman: Faculty and UT Students have an Ombudsman. UT staff, however, does not. In addition, the Faculty's Grievance Committee is made up of their peers who are empowered to hear and dispose of individual grievances. The UT Staff Grievance Policy has absolutely no feedback or data collected to even determine its usefulness to staff despite the request of a survey to better gauge its effectiveness. There are absolutely no safeguards to protect the UT staff's rights. Chair announces that there is a draft of a survey currently in the works. Issue is sent to the Miscellaneous Benefits Committee for further investigation.

Issue 2006-13: Employee Relations Procedures Published: There seems to be a need for a more structured and definition on the workings of a facilitated discussion when an employee decides to visit with a member from Employee Relations; namely with issues concerning confidentiality, procedure, and protocol. Recommendation is to refer this issue to the Communications Committee. Terry Moore, 641, wants to make the distinction between the Employee Relations Representative and the Dispute Resolution Officer. While the Dispute Resolution Officer may fact-check, the Employee Relations Representative is not supposed to be either investigators or fact-checkers. Additionally, there are two Employee Relations reps for that office right now. Philip Guerrero, 302, questions the relevance of sending said issue to the Communications Committee since it deals with a process. Issue is amended, accepted, and sent to the Grievance Committee.

Faculty Council Update:

Troy Johnson, 421, gives Faculty Council update: Discussion included curriculum reform, the undergraduate experience, the idea of a one college for all freshman will not happen, the commission 125. Stanley Roux is the Faculty Council Ombudsman, spending roughly 6-8 hours a month on faculty issues. His main job is to mediate between the faculty and the administration. Staff members may want to view the faculty council website where minutes can be found http://www.utexas.edu/faculty/council/. UTPD presents the cop program. The issue between athletics and academics was discussed. The 123 celebrations are coming September 29th, there are five new Deans.

The Chair has asked President Powers to address the UTSC in the spring. Bretna Hackert suggests that we prepare the questions in advance. The Chair plans to meet with the Faculty Council Chair and look for ways to work together.

Communications Committee has met to discuss the brochure. Communications Chair asks anyone with experience in developing a brochure and willing to help to contact him.

Danielle Fournier suggests it would be nice for President Powers to write a letter of support for UTSC that can be used in the brochure.

Chris Shear, 511, requests an updated picture of the staff members for the UTSC website. The Chair will look into the picture.

Joyce Moyer, 462, introduces two guests from Janitorial Services and the Chair acknowledges her guest from the Registrar's office.

Vicki Drake reminds everyone to vote in the elections for System Wide Insurance Advisory Committee.

Gary Martt discusses and demonstrates the mass email system. The Mentoring Committee's survey results included time management issues; develop better procedures for submitting issues, developing a mentoring system, training on IT resources, and identified the need to conduct another survey to better determine what other issues need attention.

Gary Martt demonstrates list-serves. Here is an updated version of that slideshow:
https://webspace.utexas.edu/gem/www/Mailing%20Lists.ppt?uniq=9npfhz [no longer available online]. He discusses the effectiveness of email because of many demands of our time.

The Chair thanks and acknowledges the hard work the Mentoring Committee has been doing.

Meeting is adjourned at 3:06pm.