Civil Service Employees Council
MINUTES
Thursday, February 5, 2015 in the Capitol Room
Present – Alison Shook, Gail Ault, Steve Whan, Butch Smith, Tammy Klinedinst, Christine
Staley, Debbie Collins, Neal Thurman, Robert O’Bear, Heather McMeekan, Karen Trusley,
Wendi Mattson, Stacy Dorethy, Connie Lincoln, Charlene Hammond,
Non-voting members: Pamela Bowman, Julie DeWees, Peter Skrypkun
Guests – President Thomas
Absent –Alisha Barnett
Non-voting members: Ø
The meeting started at 1:18 pm.
I.
II.
A motion was made to accept two new members to council (Debbie Collins & Robert
O’Bear): Stacy
a. Seconded by Chris
b. All approved, motion carries
Director of Human Resources (Pam Bowman) – no report
III.
Minutes from November:
a. Connie clarified that she was using her situation as an example, because other
employees on campus are having the same problem.
b. Motion to approve: Steve
c. Seconded by: Gail
i. All approved.
IV.
Minutes from January:
a. Motion to approve: Butch
b. Seconded by: Heather
ii. All approved.
V.
Treasurer’s Report (Stacy Dorethy) – Stacy shares the following reports:
a. Motion to approve Treasurer’s Report: Alison
b. Seconded by: Chris
c. All approved, motion carries.
Stacy also discussed an email from Holly Fecht regarding our accounts. The following is
a brief summary:
Right now, I essentially look at the balance at the end of each fiscal year and see if there will be
$9k or $10k in there by July 1 when interest posts. Anything above that I transfer immediately.
Policy on Reserves and Reinvestment of Endowment Income
Minimum Reserves: Endowment income is distributed semi-annually and credited to income or
earnings accounts designated to support academic needs, including but not limited to,
professorships, scholarships, fellowships, and operational support. At any given time, the
Foundation requires a minimum reserve of the lesser of 2 years of interest or $10,000. The
reserve may be accessed in years of low return to ensure spending from the fund will remain
consistent with prior years.
Automatic Reinvestment of Excess Earnings: Reinvesting is moving unused, available funds
from derived cash in the earnings account to the endowment to increase the future annual income
of the endowment.
It was also mentioned that Holly offered to send a solicitation letter and pay for it to everyone
who gave to that special letter that was sent last year. This was agreed upon and Stacy will be
following up with Holly.
VI.
Vice President for Administrative Services Report (Julie DeWees) –
a. Performing Arts Center is moving ahead and is out for bids. They are hopeful to
break ground on it this summer. They project it will take two and a half to three
years to complete.
b. The Science building is 5th on the list.
c. A few policies are starting to go through the system:
i. Background check policy extended for all employees.
ii. Smoke free campus
1. No smoking anywhere on campus, including in cars
2. This also includes e-cigarettes
d. There are currently two searches going on around campus:
i. Assistant Comptroller
ii. Internal Auditor (5 year appointment)
VII.
President Thomas
a. Lieutenant Governor is on campus today
b. There was a 1% rescission to the budget
c. We are looking at another reduction in the state budget for next year
d. He is continuing open town hall meetings across campus
e. Enrollment is down
f. Retention rate is improving
g. He is considering starting up a President’s Round Table for students
h. He has been told directly Governor is supportive of higher education
i. February 18th – juniors and seniors in high school within the ten county area have
been invited to WIU and his place as a possible recruitment tool
j. The university is continuously trying to improve technology
k. Don’t forget to vote for WIU via Stanley security
VIII.
President’s Report (Wendi Mattson) –
a. January 20th was the President’s Advisory Meeting
b. Editor-in-chief of the Courier got his job back
c. Talent grant/tuition waivers are getting cut again
d. Graduate students are up by 66
e. EOA preventing sexual harassment training should be more user friendly, online
and will be coming to your email soon
IX.
Civil Service Employee of the Month (Alisha Barnett) –
a. Merrie Jean Perry from the COEHS Dean’s Office was named the February Civil
Service Employee of the Month. Her presentation will be Tuesday, February 10th
at 1:15 in Horrabin Hall 117.
X.
Employee Advisory Committee Representative (Peter Skrypkun) –
a. In 2010 WIU had 40 violations found during their Civil Service Audit. In 2014
WIU had 80 violations.
b. The goal is to transfer these violations from AP positions on campus back to Civil
Service positions. This transfer would also help the pension system since AP
positions are not required to pay into the SURS program, whereas CS employees
are required.
c. The systems office is expecting a 20% budget reduction next year
d. A new rule proposal is currently in its first notice (80 IL Code 250) and it is
known as the Rule 3 project.
e. Only 16 people voted in the election for Peter’s position
f. The state is possibly considering eliminating the typing test for many positions.
g. He gave us a handout of bullet points from the new governors recent state of
address speech. The following are links he has provided us with to keep up on the
state news:
i. http://www.surs.com/legislation
ii. http://www.afscme.org/news
iii. http://www.sj-r.com/
iv. http://www.suaa.org/
v. http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/
vi. http://www.ilga.gov/senate/schedules/default.asp
vii. http://www.ilga.gov/house/schedules/default.asp
viii. http://senategop.state.il.us/News/RecentNews.aspx
ix. http://www.housedem.state.il.us/
x. http://watchdog.org/category/illinois/
xi. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/
xii. http://www.ilga.gov/commission/jcar/
XI.
XII.
WIU Quad Cities Campus Report (Alison Shook) –
a. No report, but Steve shared that 40 hours of man hours and 600 pounds of salt
were used to clean the sidewalks in the QC on Feb 2nd following the big snow
storm.
Representative Reports to Council
a. Affirmative Action Internship Committee (Butch Smith) – no report
i. Heather said something that I didn’t catch about this committee.
b. University Diversity Council (Karen Trusley) – campus climate survey is
currently being worked on and will hopefully go out this Spring.
c. Website and IT Issues (Connie Lincoln) – no report
d. Training and Development (Gail Ault) – zimbra intermediate training will be
held March 11th from 10:00-11:30 in the Malpass 2nd floor computer class
XIII.
Committee Reports
a. Policy & Appeals (Christine Staley) – no report
b. Awards and Selection (Alison Shook) – application deadline will be April 17th.
Each recipient is only allowed to win the scholarship once in their college career.
c. Constitution/Election (Butch Smith) – Butch wondered if we still donate
$100 every time a CSEC passes while currently employed. He also discussed
mailing ballots to everyone within the group classification with vacant seats.
d. Education (Alisha Barnett) – no report
e. Fundraising/Social Events (Karen Trusley) – skipped
f. Mentoring (Connie Lincoln) –
i. Ruth Kostreva, Office Support Associate, Center for International Studies,
start date February 2, 2015
ii. Curtis Samson, Engineer, Facilities Management, start date March 9, 2015
iii. Anthony Campagna, Building Service Worker – Intern, WIUQC, start date
January 4, 2015
iv. Blade Swift, Inform Tech Support Associate – Intern, U-Tech, start date
January 2, 2015
v. Megan Bennett, Office Support Specialist, Engineering Technology, start
date February 16, 2015
g. Open Meetings Act Requirements (Christine Staley) – Debbie & Robert need to
complete their open meetings act training. Chris will be sending them an email.
h. Provost Advisory Council Report (Karen Trusley) – skipped
XIV.
Meeting Adjournment – at 3:30 pm
a. Motion to adjourn: Stacy
b. Seconded by: Chris
XV.
Next Meeting will be Thursday, March 5, 2015 in the President’s Conference Room.