WCU Staff Forum Meeting Minutes
February 9, 2006
Hinds University Center – Cardinal Room
Members Present: Dawne Coward, Terry Riouff, Alicia Estes, Mike Stewart, Elizabeth Frazier,
Marvin Bumgarner, Sue Grider, Michele Sutton, Jeff Gunter, Katie Spear
Members Absent: Ronnie Amster, Homer Harris, William Frady (excused), Nancy Carden
(excused), Bill Studenc (excused), Jed Tate (excused), Julie Walters-Steele, Cory Causby
(excused)
Ex-Officio Members Present: Kathy Wong
Approval of agenda: Due to the fact that a quorum was not present at today’s meeting, this will
be approved at the March meeting.
Approval of minutes: Due to the fact that a quorum was not present at today’s meeting, the
minutes from the January meeting, as well as those from February, will need to be approved at
the March meeting.
Guest Speaker: AJ Grube, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, was present at today’s
meeting to speak with us briefly about the WCU Strategic Plan. She distributed a draft of the plan
and asked everyone to please review it and email her our comments by the end of February. The
Strategic Planning Committee would like to have the plan in final form for presentation to the
Board of Trustees at their March meeting.
Information items:
The next Executive Committee Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 2, 2006, 2:00 p.m.,
HFR 453.
The next Staff Forum meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 9, 2006, 8:30-10:30 a.m.,
Cardinal Room, UC.
Office of Human Resources: Kathy Wong
All SPA pay increases were included in the January paychecks. Due to a lack of time and
personnel, the Office of Human Resources opted not do send personal letters to each employee
about the pay increases. It took a great deal of time to calculate the adjustments and get
everything entered into the system in a timely manner, and there was simply no time left to send
individual letters. Instead, a memo from the Chancellor was distributed to all SPA employees.
EPA increases are currently being calculated. Spreadsheets will be distributed within the next few
days, and increases will be included in March paychecks retroactive to July 1, 2005.
The Office of Human Resources will soon convert to online recruiting, applications, etc. The
software they will utilize is called PeopleAdmin.
With regard to service awards, Kathy said that for many years employees have been recognized
with a luncheon and gift. Even though this has been a great event, attendance has not always
been that great. Therefore, she is looking for ways to change the format of this event, and her
idea is something a bit more casual and a little more fun. One idea is a reception that would be
held for a couple hours where folks can come and go. Gifts, then, will be available for pick-up at
the reception. Kathy asked that Staff Forum members poll employees in their respective areas to
get their reaction to this type of event instead of a luncheon, and she asked that we share the
results of our polls at the March meeting.
Chancellor’s Office: Dianne Lynch
No report.
Campus Committee Reports: UAC - This committee will meet next Tuesday. Calendar - No
report.
Staff Forum Committee Reports:
Human Resources
No report.
Resource & Environment
The committee met and talked about:
1) Planning for Mountain Heritage Day a little earlier than we did last year;
2) Providing needed equipment for break rooms across campus;
3) Possibility of a town hall meeting;
4) Providing temporary parking permits for new employees until they get their first paycheck;
5) Poll concerning pride in our jobs and problems we encounter. A copy of the poll was distributed
to each Staff Forum member, and Terry Riouff will make sure that everyone not present at
today’s meeting receives a copy of this poll.
Public Relations
This committee is working on a Staff Forum quarterly update to be distributed campus-wide.
Scholarship
This committee will meet in the very near future.
Governance
No report.
Issues Status Report: No report
Old Business:
A resolution was approved by the Board of Trustees concerning SPA salary increases. Terry has
distributed a copy of this resolution to the list serve group across the UNC system and is
receiving responses. He will share those responses with the Forum as he receives them.
New Business:
There is some interesting in holding a town hall meeting for SPA employees only. This matter is
still under consideration at the current time.
A brief discussion was held concerning whether or not we wanted to participate in the Indoor Yard
Sale at the Ramsey Center to be held on March 25, 2006, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We need
to decide very soon whether or not we wish to participate.
Open Comments:
It was suggested that since Banner is such a hot topic right now, we should add a monthly
Banner update to our “Information Items” for a period of time – at least until we are all up and
running in Banner. Also, we could invite various folks from across campus who are heavily
involved with Banner to come to our meetings each month and provide updates about where
their respective areas are with Banner implementation.
Terry has a meeting scheduled with Anna McFadden, Coulter Faculty Center, to talk with her
about how their Faculty Support Center works, since we are considering Jed Tate’s idea for a
Staff Support Center.
An energy manager is coming on board at the Office of Facilities Management in March. This
person will be charged with energy conservation across our campus.
Meeting adjourned at 9:50 a.m.