Present: Julia Biglin, Melissa Busby, JoAnn Fischer, Mary Hittle, Elaine Howard, Leonor Mendoza, Julia Morales, Anita Rios, Adele Springer

1. Open Meeting
1. President Hittle called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance.
2. Secretary/Treasurer Springer took attendance of those senators present.
2. Approval of Agenda

Vice President Julia Biglin made a motion to approve the agenda and Senator Busby seconded the motion. Motion carried.

3. Approval of the Minutes

Senator Fischer asked that the November 3, 2004, meeting minutes be clarified to state that the Staff Handbook Committee will be responsible for inserting policy changes into the Staff Handbook. These policy changes are approved by the policy committee. Parliamentarian Morales made a motion to approve the amended minutes and Senator Rios seconded the motion. Motion carried.

4. President’s Report
1. President Hittle and Vice President Biglin met with the Human Resource

Office in regards to issues that were addressed in the last Staff Senate Meeting. The following steps are to be followed if you have any problems with paycheck, deductions, etc. First contact Shelly Webster, then Charlene Ashburn if Shelly is not available. The office may be contacted by phone calls, e-mails and in-person. President Hittle asked if these steps are not followed, please bring it to Staff Senate attention. Senator Fischer stated that we need to bring these steps to the attention of all staff. Also, employees need to be told if these steps are not following to bring it to a Staff Senator attention.

The Human Resource office is also developing trainings in the following areas: hiring procedures for part-time employees, process for reclassification, grievance procedure—what is the HR Office responsibility? and accident reports—what is the HR Office responsibility?

Senator Howard inquired if the meeting addressed a time frame for notification of employees when paychecks are wrong and when the checks will be corrected in a timely manner. Senator Busby asked if there were any written policies that deal with this issue. Senator Howard would like for all employees be given copies of these policies if there are policies.

2. Thank you to Dean Foster for working on the Staff Senate calendar.

Thank you to Patt Leonard. Patt will be staff over viewer for the calendar.

3. Currently, the administration is looking at increasing the tuition waiver from 12 to 18 credits per year for employees. The Element K course is a possible course for those in the training course. Senator Rios asked about is students not living at home could take advantage of the tuition waiver.
4. CHE Budget Recommendation to Legislature—The following are increases that will be recommended: 4% for salary and comp, 4% for tuition, 5% for insurance, 5% for utilities, 2.5 for BR & R . Governor Richardson is looking into changes to the Lottery Scholarship.
5. Treasurer’s Report

The current Staff Senate account balance is $300 and the Staff Recognition balance is $678.02.

6. Old Business
1. Committee Reports
1. Staff Handbook—Fischer—The next meeting of the committee will be December 20^th. The changes to the handbook were submitted to Carmen Manes for review by the Board of Regents.
2. Rewards and Recognition—Biglin—The committee met and selected the Employee of the Month.

Vice-President Biglin presented for Staff Senate approval the Retirement Recognition Plan. Senator Fischer made a motion to approve the Retirement Recognition Plan with Parliamentarian Morales seconding. Motion carried.

Vice-President Biglin presented for Staff Senate approval the Resignation Recognition Plan. Senator Busby asked how the committee is notified when a staff member resigns. She would like a procedure for notification of the Reward and Recognition committee when an employee resigns in the plan before it is approved by the Staff Senate. The Resignation Plan was tabled until the next meeting.

The committee would like feedback on a proposal for a Sick Leave Bank. This proposal was developed due to the fact that some employees, when they retire from the university, would like to donate their accumulated hours instead of losing them. Some feedback on the proposal was: who would be in charge of hours donated and the distribution of those hours? If you have any feedback on this policy, please contact Vice President Biglin or a committee member.

Employee of the Month—The Employee of the Month for December 2004 is Margaret Soucy from the Miller Library staff.

3. Election Committee—Rios—No report.
4. AQIP Committee—President Hittle will get a report from Dr. Gilbert on the AQIP teams.
5. Salary and Compensation—Due to Senator Holme’s resignation from the Staff Senate, his position of co-chair of the committee is open. Senator Howard was asked to fill this open position.
7. Open Forum
1. Thank You to Dr. Counts. Our holiday vacation period will be from December 22^nd to January 5^th.
2. An election for the Technical and Administrative classifications will take place next semester.
3. Next Meeting—The next meeting will be held on January 12, 2005.
4. Convocation Results—Dr. Gilbert will discuss the results from the convocation at 10:00, 12:00 and 2:00 in the GRC Auditorium. President Hittle will ask Dean Foster and Steve Liebhart to do a personal announcement to all staff.
5. The CDC was awarded a $50,000 grant for a family counseling center.
6. Thank You to Mary Hittle and Julia Biglin for meeting with the Human Resource Office.
8. Adjournment—Senator Busby made a motion for adjournment with Senator Howard seconding. Motion carried.