STAFF SENATE MINUTES
MARCH 3, 2004

Members Present: Dean Foster, Barbara James, Tina Rippa, Margaret Soucy, Shawn Sias, Teresa Holguin, Cynthia Bettison, JoAnn Fischer, Julia Biglin, Leonor Mendoza, Julia Morales.

Members Absent: Anita Rios, Jon Saari, TJ Robinson

Proxy: Virginia Manzano

I. President Barbara James called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m.
A. The meeting began with the pledge of allegiance.
B. Roll call was taken.

II Approval of Agenda – Senator Bettison moved to approve the agenda and Senator Soucy seconded the motion.

III. Approval of February 4, 2004 Staff Senate Minutes-Senator Rippa moved to delete “no report” from the Salary & Classifcation portion of the minutes. Senator Morales moved to accept the minutes as corrected with Senator Bettison seconding the motion. Motion carried unanimously.

IV. President’s Report: President Barbara James reported the following:

A. Proxy Form: President James gave each Senator a proxy form reminding them that in case of absence from a Staff Senate Meeting, a proxy form should be filled out and given to Staff Senate President prior to meeting.

B. Sick Leave: Dr. Counts has approved the Staff Employee Sick Leave Recognition Plan.

C. Salary Mid-Point Increase: The 6% increase to the adjusted mid-point in the permanent salary range table has been approved and will be in effect as of July 1, 2004.

D. Staff Senate Presidential Election: Two nominations were submitted at the March 1, 2004 Staff General Assembly; Dr. Cynthia Bettison, Director of WNMU Museum and Mary Camarena- Hittle, Systems Analyst IT Department.

E. Zia Award: WNMU will be presented the Zia Award in Albuquerque. Speaking for the staff, President James thanked Dr. Counts for the days off, March 25th and 26th, in recognition of the staff’s support role in helping WNMU become the first four year university to win this award.

V. Treasurer’s Report – The balance in Staff Senate Account is $173.42 and the balance in the Recognition Account as of January 31, 2004 is $853.48.

VI. Old Business:
A. Committee Reports
1. Staff Handbook- The committee asked that the action request be tabled. There are steps in the procedures to amend the staff handbook that need more clarification. Senator Bettison moved that the action requested on Staff Handbook be tabled. Senator Holguin seconded. Motion carried.

B. Rewards & Recognition-Senator Biglin reported that committee met Feb. 16 using ITV for Deming and T or C campuses. Gallup will join the discussion for the next meeting. The Employee of the Moth was selected at the meeting.

C. Salary & Classification-Senators Rippa and Soucy reported the committee met during the last week of February to address the issues and concerns determined by the survey of all staff.
1. Classification issues: the Salary & Classification (S&C) committee suggests the Handbook Committee put together something showing the process of reclassification of positions. Chris Casey stated that Charlene Ashburn in Human Resources has a current process for reclassification and she be contacted to forward that to Handbook Committee.
2. The S&C committee is recommending the “Worksheet to Calculate Target Salary and Salary Adjustment for Staff be put on the Web page for better understanding by the staff as a whole.
3. Sodexho Employees: 12 Sodexho employees are being offered WNMU employment at the end of the 03-04 fiscal year in July. During discussion, it was mentioned there would be a cut in pay for most of these employees, therefore the Staff Senate is recommending that the years of service while a Sodexho employee be added to the longevity portion of the WNMU salary formula. The motion was made by Senator Sias and seconded by Senator Holguin. Motion carried. President James stated she will work with VPBA Chris Casey to work out the details of annual leave and sick leave transferring over to WNMU.
4. New Employee Orientation-Senator Foster reported that on March 24 an Orientation will be held for employees hired during the past two months. Senator Foster also stated that when the transfer from Sodexho to WNMU occurs, those employees will be invited to the orientation.
5. Election Committee-the committee will meet in the next few days to discuss the process for elections and to establish the process for off campus balloting, which may need to be reviewed by Handbook Committee. Gary Cook has agreed to collect ballots at Watts Hall for the Staff Senate Presidential Election.
6. AQIP-Senator Holguin reported no meetings have taken place, but reported that the last of the Friday Forums used to evaluate WNMU systems portfolio will be hosted by Dr. Kathy Gilbert was taking place on March 12., from 2-4 p.m. in GRC Rooms ABC.

VII. New Business
A. Employee of the Month-March 2004. The selected employee of the month was not present at Staff Senate and will be visited by the committee and President James within a week to receive the award.
B. Student Memorial Building-Steve May, from the community, asked for Staff Senate support for naming the Student Memorial Building for Tom McDonald, a former student government leader. Senator Morales stated her concerns recounting that other names have been put forth, such as; Martin Luther King and Caesar Chavez. The discussion continued with a mention that buildings are usually named based on monies donated and the naming decision is done by the WNMU Board of Regents or Foundation. Senator Soucy moved and VP Rippa seconded to table any action on this request.
C. Sodexho Sick Leave-VPBA Chris Casey stated that the 12 Sodexho employees will be able to roll over 40 hours of sick leave, if accumulated, when they choose to transfer to WNMU employment. Annual Leave will be paid off at time of transfer from Sodexho to WNMU. VP Casey went on to say that any employee choosing to transfer to WNMU will be considered a new WNMU employee but will not have to go through the probationary period. At this point Senator Bettison moved and Senator Holguin seconded a motion in support of the transfer of the 40 hours of sick leave roll over when a Sodexho employee chooses to transfer to WNMU employment.

VIII. Open Fourm-Senator Bettison was pleased that Sodexho employees have been offered the opportunity to join the WNMU staff.

IX. Next Meeting – April 7, 2004

X. Senator Bettison moved to adjourn at 10:30 a.m. with Senator Soucy doing the second on the motion.