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. Present were Annette Hatton and David Levenson for Gilbert Head from Academic Affairs; Doris Bombich, Jeannie Dawson, Hector Dudley, Jim Graham, Bob Slaughter for Marilyn Huff-Waller, and Donna Wyatt from Agriculture and Environmental Sciences; Robyn Ansley and Beth Richardson from Arts and Sciences; Arthur Bastidas, Janet Bjornlie, Henry Bridges, Wes Kolar, Frank Patman, and Esther Sherman from Business and Finance; Leisa Seabolt from Environmental Design; Susan Brooks for Shea Shumake from Family and Consumer Sciences; Sue Anthony from Forest Resources; Betty Blum from the Graduate School; Merrill Edens from the College of Journalism and Mass Communication; Stephanie Watson representing Legal Affairs, the Office of the President, and the Equal Opportunity Office; Jalna Alday from the College of Pharmacy; Ben Rice for Ruby Heaton and Margo Peter from Public Service and Outreach; Sally Kroehnke from Research; Laura Ciucevich for Martha Daniel from Social Work; Michael Albert and Margaret Stephan from Student Affairs; Elizabeth Pape from the Terry College of Business; Tony Hughey from the College of Veterinary Medicine; Brenda Keen, Secretary; and Mary Cash, Parliamentarian.

Absent were Darlene Bradley from Business and Finance; Peter Anderson from Development and Alumni Relations; Anita Miller from the College of Education; Kathy Burkes from the School of Law; Ian Gray from Research; and Allison Wright from Vet Med.

Brenda Keen read a change to the minutes deleting a sentence near the end saying representatives from the College of Agriculture would not be able to attend the March meeting. The minutes were approved as changed.

Clyde expressed appreciation to the Vinson Institute of Government for hosting UGA-SC in the Seney-Stovall Chapel.
 

Reports of Committees

On January 22, the Executive Committee met with President Adams, VP for Business and Finance Allan Barber, and Victor Wilson, staff liaison from the President's Office. Several issues were discussed, such as catastrophic leave, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), classification and pay, and mandatory training for and evaluation of supervisors.

The possibility of getting the catastrophic leave pool seems remote because House Bill 203, which allows retiring employees to get credit for unused sick leave, may get favorable consideration in the General Assembly this year. The administrators think it's not a good idea to push for both now; they prefer to wait and see what happens with HB203.

The recommendation that ADR be provided a central location and a budget received favorable attention. The Employee Support Program was also stressed and received favorable comment.

President Adams agreed an analysis of the classification and pay system needs to be done; the difficulty is money. He said there may be someone here on campus who could do it, or possibly it could be phased over a few years so it wouldn't be so costly for consultants' fees in one year. He will pursue ways it might be done. There was comment that some concern might have been caused by abuse of reclassification during years when there were low pay raises. An appeals procedure for reclassification is now in place.

Supervisors were supposed to get more training as part of the settlement of OFCCP (Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program) sanctions. Deborah Shackelford is getting data on how much training is being done voluntarily by supervisors. The president said he hesitated to mandate it, but agreed supervisors need training. The same kind of comment was made regarding evaluations of supervisors by employees; he was not overtly negative toward the idea, but neither was he overtly positive.

Clyde asked other committee members for comments on the meeting. Jeannie said she thought the administrators were very receptive. Clyde said it was very open and cordial and the ambiance was very positive. Brenda added President Adams said we should not take for granted the 6% annual raises we've received over the past few years. Clyde noted this is the last of the four years that Governor Miller promised.

Michael Albert questioned how catastrophic leave has any relationship to HB203, other than one deals with people who have excessive sick leave and the other deals with people who run out completely. Clyde replied they're both system-wide changes that would cost money that the legislature would have to consider. Michael said he understood that other colleges in the system have catastrophic leave in place and this was a university budget question, not a legislative issue. Clyde said that is incorrect; the leave policy is Regents' policy. Brenda reported the Regents sent a letter saying institutions with such a leave pool policy were not authorized to implement it and must stop. Michael was concerned that the Executive Committee had not adequately expressed Staff Council's support. Clyde responded the committee simply did not argue the point that it would not be a good year to pursue it; the resolution is still before the president.

Elizabeth Pape asked what the expenses would be, since it is a question of redistributing earned leave. Clyde replied he didn't know; there would have to be an actuarial study done. Margot Peter said it is a question of political capital: if you ask for too much in one year you knock it down. Michael agreed that this should not be a cost concern and said since it was a unanimous resolution we should request a response. Clyde asked if there were objections to his sending a letter to the president requesting one.

Mary Cash said she understood the University System of Georgia Staff Council was still going to discuss catastrophic leave at the next statewide conference. She said it does cost money unless people donate leave time. Several people pointed out donated leave was the basis of the pool. Mary said she thought it needed to be taken back to committee so details could be spelled out. Michael protested the Needs and Concerns Committee had a detailed proposal and the Executive Committee told them to take all the detail out; they put it forward and it passed unanimously. Mary replied it went forward, but in her understanding we were told at the meeting "don't think about it now." Margot noted the way to go is through statewide staff council and said she didn't understand the cost issue other than minor administration to keep track of it; some people may see it as contradictory since some people may want to keep their leave if HB203 passes.

Clyde noted the resolution asked for the implementation of a task force to study how it could be done, not that a catastrophic leave pool be established right away. He said Michael had a good point that the body sent the resolution forward and we should ask what's going to happen to it. Annette Hatton said if we passed it unanimously that should be a clear message to President Adams. Clyde said his personal feeling was we should express concern over a resolution that was put forward and a task force that gets administration and staff working together on an issue would be a positive thing. It was agreed Clyde would ask for a response to the resolution.

Clyde reported there is concern over street crossings by the Georgia Center, particularly the one across Lumpkin. Margot noted the one across Carlton is a problem because there is no flashing light to alert traffic to pedestrians. Clyde asked the Health and Safety Committee to pursue this issue. Esther Sherman pointed out north campus employees complaining about crossing Thomas Street and Mitchell Street have appealed to the University Architects for Facilities Planning, but it is the same situation as Lumpkin in that those are city streets. Her office contacted the city with suggestions for those streets and could do so for Lumpkin. David Levenson said Gilbert Head asked him to bring up Thomas Street because someone had been hit there; although there were only minor injuries, the situation is potentially serious. Esther said that was the main point in the architects' letter: don't wait for an accident to happen. Annette said the VPAA's request for a bridge across Thomas Street was rejected; this incident reinforces concern. Noting drivers may be concentrating less on pedestrians than on finding a parking space, she proposed UGA-SC bring it up again. Esther said her office does not accept or reject suggestions; they coordinate with the city. The current crosswalks are temporary measures; streets and sidewalks will be coordinated when the parking deck is completed. Sally Kroehnke said there is a plan to level the hill by Thomas Street.

Annette moved that Staff Council request a bridge or other effective means to prevent loss of life or damage to persons on East Campus/Thomas Street. After some discussion of wording, Clyde said he would send a letter to the city and University Architects, with copies to Physical Plant, Public Safety, and Alan Barber, expressing concerns over safety at Thomas Street, Lumpkin Street, and Carlton Street and mentioning bridges, relocation of crosswalks, and installation of flashers as possible safety measures. The motion passed unanimously.

Esther said many departments need to be told that use of fire extinguishers as doorstops must cease. Clyde noted this is a good forum to do that, but it is the responsibility of the Public Safety department to monitor the condition of fire extinguishers.

In April the announcement will be made concerning nominations for officers and Executive Committee for next year. Clyde appointed Jeannie Dawson to chair the Nominating Committee, which needs volunteers. In conjunction, President Adams' restructuring, to go into effect July 1, will necessitate a new census and new arrangement of Staff Council representation, so we need to be prepared. There will be no effect on the election of officers this year. UGA-SC Vice President Stephanie Watson will investigate how representation will change.

The Communications Committee had no report, but Elizabeth asked that areas with webpages that would like a link on the UGA-SC page to contact her. There will be a meeting next week to work on the newsletter.

Health and Safety had no report.

Needs and Concerns will meet at 2:00 on February 11. Tony Hughey announced the University Council will be voting on the ASL [American Sign Language] proposal that Staff Council passed at their next meeting. Tony also reported that representatives of the Employee Support Program Committee will meet with Bryndis Roberts on February 10 and should have a proposal for a vote at the March UGA-SC meeting.

Classification and Pay will follow up on Melanie Kirk's study which will show the legislature that university employees' wages still lag behind those of private sector and state employees.

The Bylaws Committee may present revisions at the March meeting. Revisions must be voted on at two meetings; new bylaws should be in place by May and in effect for the June elections. Mary Cash said the committee is creating a separate procedures manual to show how the bylaws should be carried out. There was discussion on the bylaws and procedures manual, what each would address, and how each would be supervised by the council. Clyde said the bylaws would have to refer to the procedures manual and noted anything presented by the committee is subject to motion and discussion and being voted on. Discussion will be governed by existing bylaws and Roberts Rules of Order. Michael Albert moved that the procedures manual be presented to the body in conjunction with the bylaws, be subject to the exact same ratification procedure as the bylaws, and be considered binding for Staff Council to follow. The motion was seconded; there was no discussion, and the motion passed unanimously.
 

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

A search committee has been formed to seek a new Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost. Prior to the article that came out in The Red and Black, Clyde called the President's Office and asked that staff be represented on the search committee. Staff Liaison Victor Wilson told him Pat Daugherty, the new Director of Student Affairs, would be representing staff on the committee. Clyde spoke to Pat and she is happy to be a staff representative. He invited her to this meeting but she could not come; she's invited to the next Executive Committee meeting which will be held February 18 at 2:30 in the Ecology Conference Room and plans to attend. Clyde remarked to Victor that Pat is not an elected staff representative; he made no argument against her appointment but pointed out the need for a feedback process.

Michael Albert moved the UGA-SC request that at least one elected staff representative be included on the selection committee for the position of Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost. Arthur Bastidas said we should ask that staff be represented on any such committee rather than doing it each time. Michael did not want to amend this motion, preferring that Arthur propose a separate resolution. Margot expressed concern about whether Ms. Daugherty could separate her role as advocate for Student Affairs. Annette said Ms. Daugherty is new to campus; Stephanie said she is new to that role, but not new to campus. Clyde pointed out the objection is not to Ms. Daugherty and she would probably be a good representative in the event this resolution fails. Michael said his motion would not negate her appointment. Clyde said she was listed in The Red and Black as representing the administration, which may have been a mistake. Michael said this is the first time under Dr. Adams' authority that a selection committee is being assembled; we need to look at the precedent this would set. There was no opposition; the motion passed unanimously.

Arthur moved we send a resolution to have an elected staff representative appointed to any search committee in the future for Vice President and above in the same way as University Council representatives. Clyde said he didn't know how many committees UC members are on. Michael said staff should be represented on any search committee. There was discussion on what level of inclusion to request. Elizabeth said searches for deans or department heads should have a representative from that area. Stephanie said she thought input was taking place in departments already. It was agreed that SRG members qualify as elected staff representatives. The motion was finalized as follows: Staff Council proposes elected staff representation (from Staff Representative Group or Staff Council) on search committees for dean level and above. The motion was seconded; there was no opposition; it passed unanimously.

Peggy Herrman agreed to meet with UGA-SC on April 1. Clyde said we would have a very brief business meeting then adjourn and have the mediated discussion session with her around 2:30.

The office is near completion. Clyde hopes to get people who will be using the computer over there, get the painting done and get some furniture.

Joe Christensen, Assistant Vice President for Legal Affairs, is the lead attorney for Staff Council and will be the primary contact with the Legal Affairs office.

An exhibit of art done by library staff is on display in the Main Library.

Clyde is on the inauguration committee, a position appointed by the VP for Development. A staff symposium will be held at Seney-Stovall Chapel at 2:00 on Thursday afternoon, March 5. Larry Weatherford is inviting Juanita Baranco from the Board of Regents, an African American woman who owns the largest car dealership in the state and is concerned with staff issues. Clyde will be the symposium moderator. Dr. Arthur Dunning, Sr. Vice Chancellor for Human and External Resources from the Board of Regents, and University System of Georgia Staff Council President Ramona Hasan will be panelists. President Adams will have closing remarks. It will begin with a video presentation by the Five-Year Commemoration Committee. The theme is "Visions of the Twenty-first Century Workplace: The Changing Role of Staff in Decision Making in Higher Education."
 

NEW BUSINESS

Elizabeth said a staff member asked if some of the handicapped parking spaces could be changed to include expectant mothers. Clyde said that would not be legally possible; the number of handicapped spaces is mandated by the ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] guidelines. Esther reported when she was pregnant she had a high risk of miscarriage and was able to get a temporary disability sticker from Parking Services.

Esther reminded representatives that architects from Ayers/Saint/Gross asked for feedback. Models will be available for viewing at the renovated Tanner Building in a few weeks.

Betty Blum asked if anyone knew of a new rule at Parking Services saying employees must pay for new parking stickers. Janet Bjornlie replied that's only if you don't return the old sticker. Betty said a coworker had to pay even though she brought scrapings of the old sticker. Janet said it must have been a mistake and asked Betty to tell the coworker to call her.

Margot reported an employee at the Georgia Center had been overcharged repeatedly for parking tickets through payroll deductions. The fines were reconciled to all pay stubs and the employee finally got a refund but then deductions continued. Parking Services Manager Jimmy Linston was not supportive; Payroll Director Bob McGee helped. The Payroll Department doesn't control parking deductions and there is a problem with reconciliation. Clyde asked if Director of Auxiliary Services George Stafford had been made aware of the situation; Margot replied she did not know. Clyde wondered if there were any other cases and Stephanie said that just happened to her. Clyde said if it is a consistent pattern it should be reported to Mr. Stafford.

Margot asked when VP for Human Resources Carlton James will publish procedures for tuition remission. Clyde said he would write and inquire.

Ben Rice reported staff at the Botanical Gardens have had problems with library book returns and asked if anyone else had similar problems. The library imposed fines or said employees would have to pay for books which had been returned; several employees said it was a recurring problem. Clyde said he would write to the circulation librarian, Claire Colombo.

Annette Hatton brought up parking problems caused by construction of the parking deck on north campus. Elizabeth received a memo about parking lots that are only half full but said she can't find them. Annette said lots fill up about 7:30 and going out at lunch is a real problem. Clyde said he didn't know what alternatives there are, and although it is a real problem, unless we can come up with some concrete suggestions as to what can be done in this period of time, it would be nothing more than complaining. Annette noted they accommodated employees by opening up the central zone to north campus stickers, but said by the time you park by Fine Arts or Psychology/Journalism you might as well park in Perimeter and asked about a refund. Esther said her personal solution is to park at a remote lot and take a bus--it's faster, she doesn't have to walk as far, and she uses buses to go to job sites.

Michael asked what's going on with courier decals. Robynn replied a letter was sent to department heads with an attached form to request decals. Michael said some offices are not considered "departments" and asked whether there is a way for them to get the letter. Janet said to contact her if his department head did not receive a letter. Esther said her office had problems with architects being ticketed and asked if there was a special sticker saying someone is working but using his/her own car. The courier decals should serve that purpose.

The meeting adjourned at 3:55. The next meeting will be Wednesday, March 4, 1998 at 2:00 in Room E/F of the Georgia Center for Continuing Education.
 

Submitted by Brenda Keen, Secretary