Reports of standing committees were called for.
The Communications Committee will meet in January.
The Staff Needs and Concerns Committee had no report.
Nothing new was reported from the Health and Safety Committee.
The report of the OFCCP special committee will be given under old business.
Presentations were given by Jim Graham from the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, and Deborah Shackelford from the Office of Vice President for Academic Affairs(see attachments).
President's Report:
Linda Slaney stated that part of the reason the Staff Council by-laws are lacking in information and direction for SRG's is because of the diversity of the SRG's from the College of Agriculture which is all over the state to smaller units which, while you may be within a stones throw on each other, don't have the time to get together. It is up to the SRGs to figure out a schedule or a system that works for your group. That's why the by-laws don't mandate that you meet once a month but that you set your own schedule so you can share the information and get responses from your people to become involved.
Linda is looking for imots to present in January. She will call people if she does not have any volunteers by Friday.
In response to Jim Graham's comments on going to different sites for the meetings, having everyone that is on staff council in each area participate, was similar to the response we got on our trip to the Marine Extension Unit at Skidaway Island in Savannah with the Vice President for Services unit. We had a wonderful time, met some wonderful people, and it's a gorgeous location right on the water. We did not go out on the boat but suggestions were made to make this an annual event. The group down there were feeling isolated. There are thirty staff members, of which we came in direct contact with six. They were so happy to see us and so happy to make contact. And then there was the experience in sitting in on remote distance. We were in a room in Savannah and we were talking directly with the people here in Georgia. You are encouraged to seek out opportunities to meet with other staff, even if it's a lunch once a month for social as well as business reasons. We have accomplished much more since we have been talking to one another rather than having a representative go and present ideas. The staff council has done much with interaction with one another.
The resignation of the President last week is sad because he is a president that had staff in mind for most issues. We are happy for his upward progress and this presents an opportunity for us to get some new blood in and maybe have a new direction. On Monday, I received a letter from the Chancellor requesting that we nominate two staff members to serve on the presidential search and review committee of which one will be selected to serve. The executive committee met just before this meeting, since the turnaround time is very short, and the decision of the executive committee was to put forward the names of the current president of staff council and the current representative to the state-wide staff council who also serves as the chair of the state-wide staff council. Linda Slaney is the one choice and Linda Dudley is the other one. Both persons have a history and both have ideas as where they would like to see the staff advance on this campus. These are the nominees and we will await the Chancellor's decision as to who will serve on that committee.
Dexter Fisher had submitted his name for consideration to represent the staff on this committee. The Staff Council is part of the by-laws and part of the governance recognized by the Board of Regents. Once the decision is made by the Chancellor we will take input from the staff at large. Members of other oganizations can also submit their comments. The letter from the Chancellor requested the Staff Council President make nominations. I decided to take this request to the executive committee for nominations. An immediate response was requested. The search committee will consist of six faculty members from the institution, one representative from the administrative and staff, one student, one representative of the foundation, one representative of the alumni association, and three representatives from the state at large.
July, 1995 was when the provision for inclusion of staff in a search for a president was made. The biggest bonus was that the Chancellor requested representation from the staff council. Staff has risen a level and is being considered along with the administration.
Just when you think everything is going well, it was reported that the Employee Support Program (ESP) would be part of the Alternate Dispute Resolution program and part of the grievance procedure. But, it seems to have hit a snag, once it got to Legal Affairs. So, Lois Morrison and I are meeting with Bryndis Roberts and Art Leed on the December 10, at 10:00 to discuss exactly where and how best to fit the Employee Support Program into the existing and future process of the University. We hit a snag when we sent the names forward to the President for the trainees. We are having trouble appointing the trainees and establishing the training program. We are meeting to see what can be ironed out.
Just before the week of Thanksgiving a message was sent out about the teleconference at the Georgia Center which is tomorrow. This is going to be a long distance participation conference. There will be participants in Room A of the Georgia Center. John Cleveland, co-director for the Center for Continuous Improvement at Grand Rapids Community College will be the presenter of the topic "Dancing on the Edge of Chaos." I have been asked to serve on a reactionary panel along with faculty and administration, after the meeting. This is another interesting process to a step up in technology and we are being asked to interact with other campuses throughout the United States. This will begin at 2:30 to 4:30 in Room A.
Old Business
The discussion of the vote of the OFCCP survey was tabled at the last meeting. You were urged to take it, look at it and forward any questions to Deborah Shackelford. Deborah stated that the committee would like a vote from the staff council to distribute the survey in any manner that would be convenient to each unit. Theses surveys are to be distributed to Department Heads and Unit Directors. We are not expecting that everyone to complete it, but this in itself might tell us something. We would distribute this survey sometime after the holidays. There is still some cosmetic work to be done if it is going to be sent out.
A question was asked about staff having an opportunity to respond to a survey such as this. This could possibly be done as a follow-up and would be important and useful information to share with staff.
A motion was made to have staff council distribute a survey to Department Heads and Unit Directors to be completed and returned to staff council at which time a report will then be made to staff council. The motion was seconded.
Discussion was held on the motion.
A vote was taken with 20 members approving, two opposing, and three abstaining. The motion carried.
There was no new business.
Announcements:
January 8, 1997, will be the date of the next meeting at 2:00 at the Georgia Center. The executive committee will be meeting with the President later in January so please bring questions to the January meeting that you want asked.
Stephanie Watson announced that Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday activities are being planned for January 17-26, 1997. For several years we have been incorporating the service aspect of the holiday. This year we are having a community service project in collaboration with the Clarke County School District and we are asking people to go to either the elementary, middle or high schools to meet with a group of students, have lunch with students, talk about your position at the University or talk about your accomplishments. Contact Stephanie Watson for forms. A memo went out in early October and the deadline of December the is being extended. One hundred volunteers are being sought. If you are selected you will be sent a packet of information about the school you will be going to and what will be expected of you. This volunteer effort will be over January 22, 23, and 24. Annual leave must be taken if you participate, unless you can work it out through your lunch break. Presentation on the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences by Jim Graham.
Jim Graham represents the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. This college employees 1200, second only in staff number to the Vice President for Business and Finances. Constituency and college location is not just UGA property. This constituency is located in all 159 counties in the state of Georgia because in those counties there is representation from the college. The mission of the college is education, research and instruction and representation is all across the state, from east to west to north to south. The staff council is very diverse in terms of location and is comprised of 10 members. Members are broken down further by grouping as to group locations. Four members are on campus and six members are off campus.
Group one represents the Office of the Dean, business offices and associate directors are on campus. Mrs. Jane Bridges who is a Personnel Assistant II, in the Ag business office. Mrs. Bridges will be resigning and that position will be replaced as soon as possible.
Group two represents the Food Sciences and Technology Department. The representative is Hector Dudley who is employed as a mechanical technician III. He is also a member of our University Staff Council.
Group three, again on UGA main campus, Plant Science Division, is represented by Gloria Belvan who is a Research Technician III in the Horticulture Department. An alternate is representing Gloria today, Mrs. Jeannie Dawson.
Group four, Hoke Smith Building, Cooperative Extension Services, Ms. Jeannie Dawson is the Program Coordinator and works the soil test laboratory on College Station Road.
Group number five is located off campus at our 4-H Centers, Ms. Doris Bombich is the Vice Chair of our CAES group and she also serves on the UGA Staff Council. She is employed as a Secretary at the Rock Eagle 4-H Camp in Eatonton, Georgia.
Group six is located at the Rural Development Center in Tifton, Georgia. It is the flagship of our cooperative extension services in that area. Bob Watson is the Computer Services Specialist and represents us from that group.
Group seven, Cooperative Extension Service district and county offices, Diane Fox, is employed with Duley County Extension Service as secretary of that organization in Vienna, Georgia.
Group eight is the Georgia Experiment Station in Griffin, Georgia. Donna Wyatt, a Research Technician III, is employed at that organization and is also on our UGA Staff Council.
Group nine, Coastal Plains Experiment Station, Jim Graham. I've been representing this group, this is my second year and I'm employed in Tifton, Georgia, as Director of Plant Operations and Engineers.
Group ten, last but not least, our branch station. Branch stations, if you will, are more or less like spokes of a wheel. We've got our flagship experiment stations at Griffin, and our Coastal Plains Experiment Station at Tifton, and also here at the Georgia station. Our branch stations are those research units that are outside the main area not configured with students. We are located in as faraway places as Blairsville, Georgia, Calhoun, Georgia, Eatonton, Midville, Plains, and Albaporgis. Our representative for our branch stations is Ms. Lynn Clapp, Central Georgia Branch station at Eatonton, Georgia. Linda is an Administrative Secretary at that location. She is also our CAES Staff Council Secretary and a UGA Council member.
Ten groups, ten geographical locations, and ten representatives. Our CAES staff council convenes every other month and because of the diversity of locations and the diversity of employment, I initiated rotating meeting locations to allow our member an opportunity to visit with our colleagues in other locations, and also to visit with our classified staff. We've been meeting a Connor Hall, but this year we did something a little bit different. We met in Rock Eagle, and I invited the folks to come down to deep south Georgia, Coastal Plains Experiment Station in Tifton, Georgia.
Coastal Plains is an Agricultural Research Center. We have six academic departments there, as we do over here in our sister station over in Griffin, Georgia. We have the disciplines of Agricultural Engineer, Agronomy or Crop and Soil, Entomology, Plant Pathology, Horticulture, and Animal Science. We have a big operating farm down there, but it's a farm for a reason. All of us look like we like to eat. I'm not going to minimize agriculture, I'm going to promote agriculture. I said to my colleagues at lunch, "Where in another country in this world can you walk in and sit down to a feast like we've had today?" We just got through with Thanksgiving and we're heading into Christmas, how much do we take for granted? The reason for this abundance of food is the man out in the field and the research and that's what we're about in our experiment stations and that's what we're about in the College of Agriculture.
We are diverse in what we do, and this has been a cohesive thing for us to come from different organizations just to see what we do and what we're about. It has been a positive thing in terms with meeting with our staff and having them share with us some concerns that they have, which in turn we've shared with our Dean who has been very supportive of us.
The Georgia Experiment Station has an active local staff council group which has been ongoing for a number of years and is fully supported by Dr. Jerry Arkin who is the station director of that organization.
Coastal Plains Experiment Station, again the embryo stage of forming a similar, but not exactly carbon-copy of what we have at our experiment station at Griffin.
These are positive things. The administration is realizing that we're people, we have needs, we have input. We can have positive input into the program and they've bought into it.
All of our campus locations have been productive in terms as I've indicated of appreciation by our fellow members in our staff council group of what we do and what we're about. Our uniqueness of a college has contributed to the cohesiveness of our group. Our group is well represented in the UGA staff council here and also we would be remiss without mentioning our Executive Council Representative, Mrs. Francis Cochran, who has certainly been an asset to this group.
Our college is in the throws of a legislative mandated redirection. Industry calls it downsizing, but Governor Zell tells us we've got to trim some fat and he means it. Our budget is being redirected, not only monetary resources but also personnel. We are also merging with other units. The experiment station side of the house and the cooperative extension side of the house are both going to come under one umbrella. And that marriage, we hope, is going to be permanent. There are going to be some rocks in the road and we hope to get these ironed out very shortly. However, this represents opportunities to us as a staff council group and that is going to be in terms of inclusiveness in places where the representatives have their own representation and we're going to work together with them to address problems that other areas have. All areas will have representation.
I think that out staff council are going to rise to the opportunities, and rise to the occasion, if you will, of this new restructuring campaign that we're about. Our Dean has certainly been supportive of our efforts in terms of being a liaison for our other classified personnel group at these various location.
As you can see, we're all over the state of Georgia, not just here on the Georgia main campus. This university has changed but people haven't changed. We need to be vocal in that which we think we need to be heard. Let's keep that in mind and keep up in mind as a group in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and we're certainly to be included with the other colleges here and recognized on the same playing field as everybody else.
Presentation by Deborah Shackelford for the Office of Vice President of Academic Affairs.
I am the Chair and Vice President of the Academic Affairs Representative Group. We are also a very diverse group although we are located in Athens. We have 12 representatives including the Georgia Museum of Art, The Georgia Review, Honors Program, Institutional Research and Planning - which is unit I represent, three representatives from the Main Library, a representative from the Office of Instructional Development, two from UCNS, a representative from the University Press, and a representative from the Office of Vice President of Academic Affairs which includes people in the Vice President's Office, Academic Assistance, Gerentology, the Institute of Higher Education and several others.
We elect two representatives each year as members of Staff Council. This year two representatives and I were fortunate enough to attend the State-Wide conference which we enjoyed very much. We hold our meetings once a month, once week after the Staff Council meetings and our minutes are posted on the Web page which was developed by one of our representatives from UCNS.
Since our members are scatted from the Academic Building out to Research Road, we alternate our meeting location each month so we can get to know other parts of campus from other departments and meet people across campus. That has worked out very well.
Often we serve refreshments at these meetings which encourages people to come, relax and share more informal discussion. We often try to meet with Vice President Prokasy at least once each year. He has been responsive to several of our inquiries via e-mail. He is very supportive of our group. When we met with him last year, some areas within Academic Affairs staff representative group were having difficulty scheduling staff meetings to discuss staff council matters and other staff issues. We met with Dr. Prokasy and asked him how to handle the situations where Department Heads insisted on being present at the meetings or allowed only meetings when they themselves wanted to discuss issues with the staff. Dr. Prokasy sent a memo to all the directors included within VPAA and I would like to paraphrase some of the statements from the memo dated October 11, 1995: "There is no institutional policy precluding staff from meeting in the absence of a unit head. Because the Staff Council is now part of the institutional governance structure we do have a responsibility to provide the opportunity for area staff to become involved. Any meeting time devoted to these items doesn't require the presence of a supervisor. If you do not have internal operating procedures which make provision for Staff Council and AASRG agenda items to be addressed by staff in your area, I urge you to work with your staff to develop them."
I think we have had a much more active group since this memo came out and I look forward to working more with him this year.