Staff Senate Minutes

Staff Senate Minutes

February 2, 2005

10:00 a.m. Seminar Room

Present: Amy Baca, Julia Biglin, Melissa Busby, JoAnn Fischer, Mary Hittle, Cindy Holladay, Elaine Howard, Leonor Mendoza, Julia Morales, Anita Rios, Adele Springer, Sylvia Villegas

I. Open Meeting

A. President Hittle called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. with the Pledge of

Allegiance.

B. Secretary/Treasurer Springer took attendance of those senators present.

II. Approval of Agenda

Senator Busby made a motion to approve the agenda and Senator Fisher seconded the motion. Motion carried.

III. Approval of the Minutes

Senator Busby asked that her comment during the open forum section from the last meeting be corrected to employees in the Business Office not CDC. Senator Howard made a motion to approve the amended minutes and Senator Fischer seconded the motion. Motion carried.

IV. President’s Report

A. Staff General Assembly--The date has tentatively been set for April 13^th or

14^th. This date will be finalized with Dr. Counts’ schedule. At this meeting,

he can give us an update from the legislative session.

B. AQIP Forum in Chicago--11 members from WNMU attended the strategy

forum. Those 11 were: Dr. John Counts, Faye Vowell, Chris Casey, Chris Farren, Kathie Gilbert, Richard Johnson, Pat Cano, Irene Meares, Julie Miller, Jon Saari, and Adele Springer. The group reviewed the Systems Portfolio and the feedback from the report. The group members also worked with other teams just beginning their accreditation process.

C. Spring Enrollment Update--Total headcount is 2,801, with a total of 27,725

credit hours generated. This total is an increase of almost 400 credit hours.

Thank you to all staff members who are taking classes. This semester there

are fifty staff members, who are taking classes for the first time.

D. Tuition Waiver Example--President Hittle did a spreadsheet on the tuition

waiver to inform staff about the possibility of having to pay with the increase

in the tuition waiver benefit. Several staff members were not informed that the total amount of the waiver was $1807.50, and if you exceeded that amount you would have to pay at the Business Office.

The waiver benefit in the future will be 18 credit hours for staff members and

12 for dependents.

E. Book Donation Fund--This fund is being set up through the Foundation. At

the present time, policies and procedures are being written on how the funds will be allocated. President Hittle is also in the process of developing fund raising ideas. She also asked those taking classes this semester to e-mail her with amounts for their books.

Senator Fischer thanked President Hittle for all the work she has done of the

book fund and also Senator Mendoza for informing her of the book loans that

are done through the Foundation Office.

F. Union Update--The President’s office is currently working on the list of staff,

who can be part of the union. President Hittle is currently working on bringing the union representatives to campus for an open forum, with input from Carmen Maynes. President Hittle has developed a list of questions that the representatives could address during this forum. If you have any additional questions, please e-mail the questions to her.

G. Open Forum for Data Analysis and Researcher--These forums will be set up

for next Monday and Thursday. Please attend if possible.

V. Treasurer’s Report

The current Staff Senate account balance is $237.00. The Staff Recognition fund

balance was not obtained. The balance of the last meeting was $687.02.

VI. Old Business

Committee Reports

1. Staff Handbook--The committee will meet on February 21^st at 9:00 in

AV2.

2. Reward and Recognition--The committee met on January 16^th to select the

Employee of the Month. Sandra Gutierrez from the Child Development

Center was chosen as the February Employee of the Month. The next

committee meeting will be February 18^th. If you have any feedback on the Sick Leave Bank Policy, please e-mail Vice-President Biglin.

3. New Employee Orientation--The committee received the list from Human

Resources of all new employees. The committee will send out notices to

the new employees on the date for the orientation.

4. Election Committee--No Report.

VII. New Business

Human Resources Update--Charlene Ashburn discussed the re-organization

within the Payroll and Human Resources departments. Charlene Ashburn’s

duties are: hiring, advertising, salary, and reclassifications. Kelly Riddle’s

duties are: payroll and benefits. Shelly Webster’s duties are benefits. If you

have any questions, please call them. Charlene also wanted to thank Kelly

Riddle for doing the W-2 forms.

VIII. Open Forum--None

IX. Next Meeting--The next meeting will be on March 14, 2005 at 2:00 PM at Juan Chacon Building (JCB).

X. Adjournment--Senator Fischer made a motion to adjourn with Senator Villegas

seconding. Motion carried.