Minutes for April 2007

April 19, 2007 at 2 P.M.
Avaya Auditorium-ACES building

Members Present: Timothy Barber, Joe Barroso, Denise Berry, Linda Breining, Layne Brewster-Smith, Drew Carls, Gus Castellanos, Tommy Downey, Vickie Drake, Lara Eakins, Danielle Fournier, Lisa Gentry, Chrissi Guerrero, Philip Guerrero, Bretna Hackert, Bob Hemby, Tom Horn, Sara Jackson Watson, Troy Johnson, Debra Madden, Gary Martt, Michael McFarlin, Alan McKendree, Rita Moreno, Joyce Moyer, Linda Overton, Pamela Owen, Eric Patkowski, Janet Reed, Ben Rodriguez, Carl Roell, Mark Smyth, Allison Supancic, Barbara Thompson, Mindy Thompson, Evan Turner, Salwa Uzri, Kim Wallace, Erin Waneck, James Watson, Kim Williams, Leigh Ashley Williams

Members Absent With Notification: Sharon Bernard, Vanessa Cobb, Ptrice Fox, Claudia Gerardo, Kim Montroy, Monica Peña-Mercado, Chris Scherer, Debbie Warden

Members Absent: Steve Brahm, Greg Browning, Lisa Camero, Johnnie Conley, Nelson Fahlund, Christine Gauger, Mark Gonzalez, John Goutier, Dreya Johannsen, Richard Lee, Shelton Lewis, Kelly Liao, Cindy May, Terry Moore, Heather Pafk, Elaine Rafferty, Martha Ramey, Felix Sanchez, Nadine Schulte, Sandra Sleeper, Olen Smith, Dixie Terry, Blake Willms

MEETING COMMENCED AT 2:04 PM

CHAIR:

• Called a moment of silence for the students, faculty, and staff of Virginia Tech University after the recent shootings.
• Erin read a response from the VTU Staff Senate President in response to a condolence note sent from UT.
• Erin also announced that the May meeting would move from Avaya to MAI 212 and the time changed to 1-3:30, followed by the ice cream social.
• The Texas Round Up Initiative is also being supported by UT, with employees allowed 2 hours of work time (with supervisory approval) to attend the expo.
• In July, would like Dan Stewart from UT System to give presentation on wellness.
• Poker Walk team: ideas for group, if interest?
• Report of March Employee Advisory Council:
  • Study issue of Ombudsperson-highly supported by staff overall. Collecting information to present to board of regents.
• Environmental Safety Office would like to present to council, with idea to create a committee on environmental issues.
• Complaints beyond UT: institutional hotline exists. Compliance office located in FAC 405, can walk in, call, email. Also civil rights division in Texas Workforce Commission.

VICE-CHAIR:

• Sent a message to Gwen Grisgsby in governmental relations, about more explicit guidelines for what employees can and cannot do during campaign season. Have not heard back from her.

SECRETARY:

• Asked for approval of March minutes. Motioned and passed.

BY-LAWS

• Chair is an ex-officio member of all committees, because the chair needs to be involved in all UTSC business.
• Chair is foremost the speaker of the council, thus works for the council as a whole.
• Made section four less wordy.
• Ask for approval of by-laws changes for section four, motioned, and approved.
• Will be presenting section seven changes in the future.

CHAIR:

• Presented representative from dean of students, Meggie Sutter, to present the Barbara Jordan statue maquettes.
• Discussed travel expenses with Lee Loden, who was happy to hear our concerns, as she will be discussing same issue with accounting department.

ISSUES CHAIR:

• Erin presented issue, as Blake was out ill:
  • Proposal 2006-28, Comp Time Tracking
  • Objective: To change the comp time tracking procedure so that when a person who is maxed out earns more comp time, those extra hours will replace the oldest hours hours earned instead of being ignored. Since these hours must be used within one year of being earned, this restarts the clock on 4 hours. Example: I am maxed out but have to work 4 extra hours. Those 4 new hours replace the oldest 4 hours I currently have. Now I still have the same amount of comp time (the maximum), but it will be longer before some of it expires.
  • Reason: Currently, once a person is maxed out on compt time, any additional work that would otherwise be recorded as comp time gets ignored. Example: I am maxed out but have to work 4 extra hours. Those 4 new hours are ignored because I am already maxed out and may not earn more hours. In the next week I lose 2 hours of comp time which have just expired after one year. Now I have two fewer hours of comp time, even though I have earned more than the maximum during the past year.
  • Expected Actions: Letter to Human Resources to change how comp time is tracked
• Motion carried, and will write a letter to HR to look into the matter of tracking comp. time and reporting back to the council.

ELECTIONS AND NOMINATIONS:

• Linda explained that the nominations process had finished, and that if there was a run-off election in a district, the ballot would be sent by email on Monday. If no run-off was needed, the elected representative would receive a welcome email.
• Tom Horn made the observation that anyone who did electronic timesheets and had email got an electronic notification, however many of these staff were not able to access a computer to vote. It should be noted that if an employee’s preference is to receive notifications in hard copy, those should get paper ballots.

FACULTY COUNCIL REPORT:

• Bretna Hackert discussed the March meeting of the council, which was a joint A&M and UT meeting.
• President Powers biggest concerns are changing the Top 10% rule and funding for the University.
• 1616 Guadalupe has also been acquired by the University, and will become offices.
• Troy Johnson attended the April meeting, where the Virginia Tech shooting tragedy was a large topic of discussion.
• The +/- grading system was also discussed.
• President Powers discussed the grievance/tenure process, and noted that changes were made so it is better, but not perfect.
• Updating the UT Libraries function and working on the honor code for students was also brought up.
• Finally, the topic of salary compression was a concern.
  • Tom Horn asked what salary compression was and how merits work in faculty pay raises.

VICE-CHAIR:

• Danielle outlined Texas State Employees Union, Lobby Day, where the big topic was pay raises for staff members. Taking into account inflation, to make what staff did in 1986 would require an increase of $5800 a year.
• Currently, the pay raises are on the “wish list” of appropriations, and is not part of the bills that are up for debate.

RESOURCES:

• Gary Martt gave a presentation of the technical advantages and pitfalls for being in the Avaya Auditorium. He showed that there are cameras around the room capturing people in the audience, as well as up front.
• Gary also summarized the surveys from council members, with many people suggesting that skills in public speaking and training were desired.

PARKING & TRANSPORTATION:

• Salwa Uzri gave a reporting to the council for approval on all the parking and transportation issues that the committee resolved. Time ran out before all the issues were presented, so they will continue at the May meeting.

MEETING ADJOURNED AT 3:26 PM.

Watch the web recording of this meeting at e-rtsp://146.6.74.12/ut_staff_council_19Apr2007.mp4 (you will need a plug-in, which can be downloaded from http://webcast_plugin.theacesbuilding.com)