Minutes for August 2007

Thursday, August 9, 2007, 2 P.M.
Avaya Auditorium-ACES building

Members Present: Timothy Barber, Joe Barroso, Sharon Bernard, Denise Berry, Benjamin Bond, Steven Brahm, Greg Browning, Drew Carls, Gus Castellanos, Tommy Downey, Vickie Drake, Lara Eakins, Nelson Fahlund, Danielle Fournier, Lisa Gentry, John Goutier, Chrissi Guerrero, Phillip Guerrero, Bretna Hackert, Martha Harrison, Janice Hejl, Bob Hemby, Sara Jackson Watson, Dreya Johannsen, Troy Johnson, Vicki Kullberg, Rebecca Ledbetter, Shelton Lewis, Debra Madden, Jennifer McClain, Michael McFarlin, Domingo Morales, Rita Moreno, Joyce Moyer, Eric Patkowski, Martha Ramey, Ben Rodriguez, Felix Sanchez Jr., Christopher Scherer, Mark Smyth, Allison Supancic, Meredith Taylor, Henna Tayyeb, Dixie Terry, Barbara Thompson, Mindy Thompson, Evan Turner, Robert Walker, Erin Waneck, Leigh Ashley Williams, Blake Willms, Denise Zuniga, Vicki Nguyen-Student Rep.

Members Absent With Notification: Johnnie Conley, Pamela Owen, Janet Reed

Members Absent: Antonio Alfau, Emily Barrett, Sarah Hickey, Richard Lee, Cindy May, Linda Overton, Monica Pena-Mercado, Elaine Rafferty

MEETING COMMENCED AT 2:00 PM quorum present. 

CHAIR:

• Introduces President Powers

PRESIDENT POWERS:

• He finds meeting with the staff very helpful. He meets with the Faculty once a month and hopes to meet with the staff on a regular interval.
• Wants to follow up on the comments brought up on the Grievance Process from the last meeting.

Q&A:

• Q: Our raises are not enough to keep up with the increase in benefits and parking. What do you plan to do to fix this?
• A: It is an issue. The problem is the State Budget has not kept up either. The entire system is under budgeted. The difference has to be made up from the different units and Colleges. This means the non college units are hit the hardest because there is no extra “flex” of incoming money. Not to mention the fact that there has been a rise in cost for energy.
   
• Q: Christopher Scherer dist. 511; Could sick hours accrued by the time of retirement be used, like ERS does, towards our premium payments.
• A: This is a budget issue and it would have to be put on the agenda. We try to get the best in the system and make sure it is good for us as a whole. I’ll have to look into it.
   
• Q: Michelle Hallahan; What is the sustainability of the Task Force Advisability?
• A: It is important to take sustainability into consideration from the beginning. First start a group to look into what can be done on campus to save. One such thing we have done is the retro fitting of the turbines. This earned us an EPA award. Next there are the cultural issues, like attitude towards recycling. We need to encourage everyone to recycle in order for it to be most effective. One thing that is not sustainable is “free parking” in fact it was budget issues that started staff and faculty paying for parking.
   
• Danielle Fournier (District 210.1 Rep):  Who is the staff representative on the Task Force?
• President Powers:  Dr. LaToya Hill
   
• Q: Donna Rieber; Parking is disappearing, is there any plan to compensate for this?
• A: There is a Parking issues, “we are out of space.” There is hope that the old Bell building at 1616 Guadalupe may become some sort of parking structure. We need to wean ourselves from thinking that we can park on campus. In the future there will me more peripheral parking and Shuttles to bring people in to campus.
   
• Q: Martha Harrison; I work in the LBJ School where there are concerns about job security.  Recently, many employees have lost their jobs through layoffs, some who are very close to retirement. Many other positions have been eliminated through attrition.  Can you address this issue?
• A: We need to know are we using are people and the resources the best we can. We must be as efficient as we can. Sometime this means moving resources from one department to another. If it becomes apparent we need to let someone go and can’t hire them on thru new jobs, then we have to have their severance packages to be fair and least disruptive as possible. We are not in need to do this campus wide but some departments are doing it to balance their budgets and it is necessary. One of the other options is, 0% salary increase= no layoffs. Remember being efficient is important, and it needs to be encouraged campus wide to benefit everyone. To get to the point if you are less then a year from retirement we need to look at these people and think about a 60 day “flex” for retirement. Also, we take a look at the less needed jobs and make adjustments.
   
• Q: Emil Kresl (District 122 Rep):  I dive past empty “F” spaces all the time. Can’t we make these more available to the Staff?
• A: What’s fair and appropriate hierarchy distinction is not that simple. Competition is what wins. There is no professor who would choose to teach here if he had to walk far to class. The pressure of getting the Best, you got to give favoritism.
   
• Q: Armando Blanco; When we block out the windows in the tower for special events, it takes time and resources. Is there any way we can get shades to achieve this task? We are currently using tape and paper to do this each time.
• A: We might make improvements. This is proof that we need to be more efficient. This brings up an example of something we might think about implementing, a rewards program for saving UT money. Staff need to feel like they can give ideas and not have them stolen or beaten down without looking into them. Often questioning authority can get you fired. There is no need for ideas to get lost in Bureaucracy and the president does not want to be at an organization where someone fears this.
   
• Q: Sharon Bernard; But, if you do go to your supervisor it can affect your raise.
• A: It should affect your raise, “good for you for trying.” We need to have a way to get out good ideas with less resistance. Even if it turns out an idea can not be used, we need to encourage this in staff.
   
• Q: Jackie Dana; Salaries and competition, internally and externally lag behind in every aspect.
• A: We do competitive comparison and put it into our idea of pay raises this year. The problem is the state only gave us less then 2% for everyone. There is only so much money.
   
• Q: Debra Madden (District 382 Rep):  What can the staff do to ensure the mission of UT?
  President Powers:  You are doing that every day that you are here, using your wisdom to improve the campus environment, sharing your ideas and suggestions.
• Q Debra Madden wanted to know how staff could donate to the university through payroll deductions because staff want to be part of the strategic plan and support the next capital campaign.
• A: President Powers expressed reluctance to ask staff to be major contributors to the capital campaign because we are faced with staff trying to balance their pay with the rise in the cost of living.  He felt uncomfortable asking staff for contributions and the pressure coming from the top down.  He doesn’t anticipate any goal for staff to give.  He understands that the staff “in their hearts, wisdom and minds, are committed to the success of the university and we don’t always tap into that.” Getting the word out about the capital campaign is enough.
   
• Q: Debbie Rothschild addressed President Powers and explained that she is an Advisor in the College of Liberal Arts that was recently replaced after 11 ½ years, by a less qualified person.  This was very upsetting to her so she went to HR and filed a grievance.  The problem is that when you file a grievance, you are filing it with the very department that supported this move to begin with.  And as the grievance goes to the Provost, she felt sure that Provost Leslie will support the dean in this decision, as one would expect he would.  That is why she supports  UT Staff Council for trying to get an ombudsman for staff, because if you care about employee’s rights and how they’re doing and fairness, then you need an impartial and unbiased person to take care of staff problems.
• A: President Power’s acknowledged the statement and understood what Debbie was communicating and agreed that she was raising an important point.
   
• Q: Danielle Fournier; There is no Staff Council Rep. on your Policy Planning Advisory Committee (PPACT). How can we guarantee we are being represented properly?
• A: Every member on this committee was selected because of the type of budget they are in charge. There were very specific needs and therefore certain people where selected. This is a committee about what we have and where to use it for the best outcome and to maintain budget discipline. Not for general needs or wants.
   
• Q: Vickie Drake;  You say you want us to continue being a premiere institution, but how/what do you plan to do to protect/boost staff moral?
• A: The Faculty pay was so lopsided compared to the rest of the pay on campus, and they are what make students choose a university outside of sports.

CHAIR:

• Thanked President Powers for making time to speak with the Staff Council and staff visitors today.  President Powers thanked the Staff Council for the invitation to address them and answer questions.  President Powers reiterated that he is open to regularly meeting with Staff Council in this type of forum, as he believes that the interaction will strengthen the communication and efforts between staff and UT administration.

MEETING ADJOURNED AT 3:36 PM.

Watch the web recording of this meeting at:

e-rtsp://146.6.74.12/UT_Staff_Council_9Aug2007.mp4
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