Iowa State University
Professional & Scientific Council
Executive Committee Meeting
Regular Session
Thursday, July 18, 2002 2:00 p.m.
Regency Room, Memorial Union
Attendance:
Voting Members
X Heer, Rex
X Kane, Kevin
X Good, Cathy
X Mumm, Lynne
A Roberts, Kurt
X
X
A
X
A
X
X
X
X
A
Non-voting Members
Dixon, Kerry
Riedemann, Trevor
Jensen, James
Woodin, Dan
Peters, Beverly
Strand, Judy
Brink, Marcia
McManus, Barb
McCool, Kelly
Van Beek, Brenda
Visiting Non-members: None.
Call To Order: Kevin Kane, Vice-President, called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m.
A quorum was present. The agenda was approved.
Meeting Minutes: June 20, 2002, minutes were approved with one minor correction.
President’s Report
Rex reported:
 An update on the Professional Development Program, in general, and the Professional
Development Fund, specifically: In 1997, the P&S Council President, Provost Kozak, and
the ISU Foundation established an endowment, with interest going into a professional
development fund, to be matched by the provost. The Provost also provides an additional
minimum $5,000 annual allocation. All donors were members of P&S Council at that time,
and all pledged donations to the fund will be paid up within the next couple months. Current
endowment total is $7,446, which generates ~$300/year in earnings. Nothing has ever been
disbursed from this account, although the annual allocation from the Provost is utilized via
application review and award through the University P&S Professional Development
Committee. Rex visited with President Geoffroy about the possibility of growing the fund,
perhaps as part of the Investing in People initiative. Geoffroy would first like to see a
document describing the intent of the program—what it is and how it will be used. The
original memorandum of agreement is fairly flexible and allows for change, if need be. It
was decided to proceed by:
 Establishing an ad hoc committee to develop a Council motion regarding the utilization
of available funds, and
 Consult with George Covert, who was involved in the original fund development, to
write the document requested by Geoffroy.

Rex met with Ben Allen (interim provost). This was mostly a “get acquainted” meeting.
Allen is developing his priority list and asked for the top three concerns of P&S staff. Rex
noted that a major concern is that P&S staff feel vulnerable because they lack the protection
of either tenure or collective bargaining. As we have been asked for input into the priority
process, it was decided to invite Ben Allen to give a brief presentation to the P&S Council at
the August retreat, and the Council as a whole can come to a determination. Rex can then
respond with our top priorities immediately following the retreat.
Officer’s Reports
 Kevin Kane: will report under New Business
 Cathy Good: provided Treasurer’s report: General Fund FY03 allocation is $3,450. We
have encumbered expenses of $135 (for McFarland Park rental for the retreat) leaving a free
balance of $3,315. Current balance in the Campus Orgs account is $436.23, in the
Professional Development fund is $845.03.
 Kurt Roberts: Absent
 Lynne Mumm: Nothing to report
Standing Committee Reports:
Compensation & Benefits:
Trevor commended past chair Barry McCroskey for doing an admirable job chairing the
committee last year given the scrambled priorities. Trevor’s goal for this year is to present a
motion to Council at least every other month. He would like the committee, and Council, to be
more proactive to issues on campus.
Marcia Brink suggested a possible issue for the committee—that of introducing a work-at-home
policy. Kerry has a couple models that she will share with Trevor.
Rex contributed an update on the Family Leave Policy: Information received from Ben Allen is
that now is not a good time to forward the policy to the Board of Regents because 1) current
budget issues, and 2) the policy lacks details as to benefit vs. cost, and cost savings. Early
indications show an unfavorable reception at the Board of Regents. Also, collective bargaining,
which will start up in the fall, would likely jump on this as a benefit they should be entitled to.
They may try to take it to the Regents in February 2003.
Policies & Procedures:
Dan met with Marlise a couple more times on the P&S Handbook. It looks pretty good now,
with lots of links to the Office Procedure Guide and to service organizations, rather than
duplicating the information on the handbook web page.
Dan also contacted Max Wortman to inquire about the faculty conduct policy. It is official; the
Board of Regents approved the policy at the March 2002 meeting. We may consider whether we
could use the same policy (or at least those sections that are appropriate) for affected P&S
employees.
Representation and Awards:
Nothing to report.
Communication:
Several committee members met last week. Jeff Sorensen volunteered to update the email tree.
Stacy Joiner will continue to update the web site. They are looking to redesign the web site and
are open for suggestions. One suggestion is to bring in Todd Herriott to provide advice on ADA
compliance.
Recruitment and Retention:
Kelly reported that the call for proposals has gone out with a deadline of August 9. The
committee plans to meet to review proposals on August 14, and will announce awards on August
16.
Peer Advisory:
Judy reported receiving one email at the end of June related to a lay-off; the person was not
having any success getting interviews. Judy has not heard back from the person since.
This committee needs to establish a set of resources to pass along to future committee members.
Old Business:
None
New Business:
 P&S Council Retreat Agenda: Kevin reported that he will finalize arrangements with
Hickory Park on Monday. He will need help with breakfast, and will send out assignments in
the next few days. He is checking with Sharon Drake to see if she would be willing to do the
morning session on change management and strategic thinking. If anyone would like to
suggest topics to add to the afternoon session, send them to him right away as he is trying to
finalize the agenda.
 P&S Executive Committee Meeting Schedule: Beverly Peters has indicated that she will be
unable to attend any of the exec committee meetings as schedule; she has a standing
commitment on the third Thursday of each month. If she cannot attend exec committee, she
will likely withdraw as co-chair of Representation and Awards. Rescheduling space in the
Memorial Union could be problematic, at least for the fall semester. Kerry volunteered to
poll the exec members to see if there is a better time.
For The Good of the Order:
 Campus leaders breakfasts: In the past, we have had nine seats at the breakfast; the five
voting members go each time, and the non-voting members alternate attendance. Given we
have a large number of committee co-chairs, they may only be able to attend every third
breakfast. Rex has the dates of the breakfasts and will work up an attendance schedule to
share with exec.
 Next Council meeting will be the August 2 retreat at McFarland Park
 Next Executive Committee meeting will be August 15 in the Regency Room, Memorial
Union.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 3:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Cathy Good, Secretary/Treasurer, P&S Council