A quorum being present, President Clyde Anglin called the meeting of the University of Georgia Staff Council (UGA-SC) to order at 2:05 p.m. Since this was the last meeting of the 1997-1998 session, some new representatives were in attendance along with outgoing members. Outgoing members were responsible for voting in today's election. New representatives are indicated by an asterisk (*).
Present were Annette Hatton, Gilbert Head, and Sarah Martyka Fraker* from Academic Affairs; Doris Bombich, Frances Cochran, Jeannie Dawson, Jim Graham, Marilyn Huff-Waller, Donna Wyatt, Donna Kent* and Freya Browning* from Agriculture and Environmental Sciences; Robyn Ansley and Beth Richardson from Arts and Sciences; Arthur Bastidas, Janet Bjornlie, Darlene Bradley, Henry Bridges, Wes Kolar, Frank Patman and Esther Sherman from Business and Finance; Leisa Seabolt from Environmental Design; Shea Landers from Family and Consumer Sciences; Merrill Edens from the College of Journalism and Mass Communication; Stephanie Watson and Teresa Shirley* representing Legal Affairs, the Office of the President, and the Equal Opportunity Office; Jalna Alday and Liz Stich* from the College of Pharmacy; Ruby Heaton and Margot Peter from Public Service and Outreach; Ian Gray and Sally Kroehnke from Research; Jeanell Muckle for Martha Daniel from Social Work, Michael Albert and Margaret Stephan from Student Affairs; Elizabeth Pape from the Terry College of Business; Tony Hughey and Allison Wright from the College of Veterinary Medicine; Brenda Keen, Secretary; Linda Slaney, Immediate Past President; and Mary Cash, Parliamentarian. Victor Wilson from the Office of the President also attended a portion of the meeting.
Absent were Peter Anderson from Development and Alumni Relations; Anita Miller from the College of Education; Sue Anthony from Forest Resources; Betty Blum from the Graduate School; and Kathy Burkes from the School of Law. Since 33 voting members were present, 17 would constitute a majority.
Representative information forms were passed out. Brenda asked that they be returned to her for updating UGA-SC membership records. Minutes of the May 6, 1998 meeting were adopted as distributed.
Clyde said he would give the Executive Committee report along with the President's report. Elizabeth Pape, chair of the Communications Committee, prepared a written report for distribu- tion to members and read it at the meeting. The committee's major accomplishment was publication of the commemorative issue of The Staff Voice. The committee also took over the maintenance of the Council's webpage (http://www.uga.edu/ugasc) and, through information and encouragement, increased subscription to the UGASTAFF listserv.
Sally Kroehnke, chair of the Health and Safety Committee, also prepared a written report for distribution and read it at the meeting. Three primary issues that the committee worked on over the past year were use of the coolant HCFC-123, on-site delivery of UPS packages, and pedestrian safety. Sally's report included copies of correspondence she received in response to her letters.
Clyde noted improvement of the East Campus/Cedar Street intersection will include disabled access to the large classroom in the Statistics Building. It will be a lift because a ramp is too costly; but it will be better than it is now.
Tony Hughey reported the Needs and Concerns Committee put forth four resolutions over the previous year: one on Catastrophic Leave, which has been taken up by the University System of Georgia Staff Council; one supporting an Exit Procedure, which has been sent to Dr. Adams and the University Council; one supporting the acceptance of American Sign Language for second language requirements at UGA, which has been adopted; and an Extension of Benefits proposal which was voted down by Staff Council.
Arthur Bastidas said the Classification and Pay Committee had no formal report; however, he did have updates on issues the committee has tracked over the past year. Supervisor evaluations have been approved by the Board of Regents but have not been implemented at UGA. The pay survey undertaken by the Human Resources Department found that base salaries of UGA staff are 15-40% below market rates. Results of the study were sent to Dr. Adams; in the legislature, the information seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
Clyde asked whether benefits were compared and Art replied the study covered only salaries. Margot added the University Council's Faculty Benefits Committee has requested a salary compression review because new faculty are coming in at higher salaries. Although Dr. Knapp indicated a review should be done every five years, the last one was in 1990. Margot said Staff Council should also ask that a review be done.
In regards to supervisor evaluations, Clyde said the Executive Committee met with candidates for the Provost position and Dr. Hall said Ohio State has such evaluations in place. Clyde said this is an opportunity to pursue when the administration gets "new blood." He also noted such practice is not uncommon and, although it's not directly analogous, faculty are routinely evaluated by students.
Art said he talked with Jack Podeszwa [of Human Resources] about how supervisor evaluation could be implemented. It would have to be separate from the employee evaluation, and should be anonymous. Art told Mr. Podeszwa that staff would like mandatory supervisor evaluation, and Mr. Podeszwa made a note of that. Mr. Podeszwa said he was pleased that the low level management training class was full, and it will be expanded in the fall.
Clyde reported he had been asked by Dr. Barber to represent Staff Council on the search committee for [Assoc. VP of Human Resources] Carlton James' replacement; since there is no procedure in place to pick a representative, Clyde accepted. A new person should be in place in December.
Linda Slaney reported the Bylaws Committee will send a report to be included with minutes when they are sent out. There is nothing new since April. The committee is looking at how reorganiza- tion will affect the bylaws and is working on having a revision for the Council to look at in August. Clyde reported that Lois Morrison of the Employee Support Program Committee is commun- icating with Scott Shamp about presenting the proposal to University Council.
Deborah Shackelford brought additional copies of the report the OFCCP Committee presented in May. The committee's major accomplishment was compiling the supervisory training data obtained from Staff Training and Development. The compilation was sent to President Adams.
Linda reported the President's Minority Advisory Committee was charged by the President to formulate the University's diversity policy. They would like to have a strong statement in case affirmative action becomes obsolete. They are proposing to hold focus discussion groups on different topics open to campus-wide participation. Notices will be sent out when questions are formulated, and everyone is encourage to participate in the process.
The Tuition Remission Task Force still has no official implementation policy. The Board of Regents asked for revisions to the system, so UGA declined to make its policy official until there is a decision by the Regents as to whether there will be changes. Linda spoke to Carlton James, chair of the Task Force, and he said he gave the Regents the list generated by the Task Force when remission was first implemented. One possible change may be that employees would no longer be required to be enrolled in a degree-seeking program. Although employees can audit a class, that does not show up on any official records; there needs to be a reporting mechanism, such as the Training and Development transcripts, so an employee's academic improvement can be a point for raises and promotions.
Linda attended the University System of Georgia Staff Council May meeting in Macon. The slate of officers put forward was Cheryl Harris of Gainesville College for chair; Bill Filtz of Valdosta State University for chair-elect; and Linda Slaney for secretary. The slate was accepted unanimously. The next meeting will be at the statewide conference at Valdosta State in October; everyone is encouraged to attend. There will be a social the night before the conference. Each Staff Council is being asked to give a presentation on how their organization came into being or any particulars on getting a staff council started. >p>
Jeannie Dawson, chair of the Nominating Committee, opened the floor for nominations for President. There were no additional nominations. A motion was made that Stephanie Watson be accepted by acclamation; there was no opposition.
Margot Peter was the committee's nominee for Vice President. Ruby Heaton nominated Jim Graham; Beth Richardson nominated Annette Hatton; Wes Kolar nominated Art Bastidas. Clyde noted the successful candidate must win by a majority vote. After the first round of voting, Jeannie announced there would be a runoff between Margot Peter, Jim Graham, and Annette Hatton. Annette withdrew her name. Jim was elected Vice President in the runoff vote.
There being no additional nominations, Brenda Keen was reelected Secretary and Janet Bjornlie was reelected Treasurer. Jeannie thanked Art, Leisa, Sue, and Betty for their help on the Nom- inations Committee. Merrill Edens announced that new officers will be photographed at the August meeting.
Brad Martin, chair of the University Council's Faculty Affairs Committee, contacted Clyde regarding the resolution on establishing an exit procedure. Clyde recommended that an ad hoc committee be formed to look into establishing consistent policies. The committee should include two repre- sentatives from both faculty and staff, along with someone from Human Resources. Because faculty are out for summer and Staff Council won't meet again until August, the committee can't be formed until fall. Thus far two people, Michael Albert and LaBau Bryan, have expressed interest in serving on the committee. Margot Peter said she was also interested. Ruby noted Margot is involved in exit interviews at the Georgia Center and has a lot of insight about the process. It was decided that Staff Council would wait until the August meeting to choose representatives.
Clyde said Beth Roberts, editor of Columns, told him Stephanie has been the Staff Council representative to the Columns Forum Committee for three years and that term is over. Clyde recommended that a representative be chosen in August and urged anyone interested to contact Stephanie.
Clyde noted this was his last meeting as President, about which he had mixed emotions. He said it had been a fine and rewarding experience. He thanked the Executive Committee for their work though the year. He especially thanked and recognized Linda Slaney for her long years of service to Staff Council. He recognized Brenda Keen's work in keeping records of the meetings. He expressed appreciation to all members of UGA-SC and acknowledged the occasional frustration the group has encountered. He said if a group gets together with Peggy Herrman it would be an opportunity to get to know each other better in what could be a less confrontational atmosphere than what Robert's Rules permits.
Clyde said he could not repeat often enough what a valuable experience this has been for him and how important he thinks Staff Council is in the life of the University. He noted the work of the Council has brought about staff representation on search committees for high level administrative positions, which was unthinkable not too long ago. On behalf of the Executive Committee and Staff Council, Linda presented Clyde with a plaque in recognition of his dedication and appreciation for his service as President.
There being no old or new business, Clyde passed out certificates to Staff Council officers and representatives. He noted that many representatives will return next year and expressed apprecia- tion that there will be continuity. The meeting adjourned at 3:55.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, August 5, 1998 at 2:00 in Room E/F of the Georgia Center for Continuing Education.
Submitted by Brenda Keen, Secretary