Civil Service Employees Council
MINUTES
Thursday, April 3, 2014, at 11:30 a.m.
Quad Cities Campus
Roll Call – Connie Upton, Alisha Barnett, Jessica Lambert, Alison Shook, Holly Fecht, Stacy
Dorethy, Wendi Mattson, Kim Sedgwick, Bill Rupert, Carla Farniok, Karen Trusley, Linda
Wade, and Dawn Schmitt (guest)
Absent - Heather McMeekan, Tammy Klinedinst, Tammy Fretueg, and Charlene Hammond
Non-voting members absent: Julie DeWees, Pam Bowman, and Peter Skrypkun
I. Minutes (last meeting)
a. Motion to approve: Connie
b. Approved by:
Stacy
II. Treasurer’s Report (Stacy Dorethy) – The correction from last month was made this
month as reflected in the scholarship and operating accounts below. Some initial costs
associated with the Luncheon have posted, including lottery & bags game items.
With regard to upcoming scholarship expenses, Alison indicated that we only have three
applicants as of now, and she suggests having the Council have a discussion after this
year on opening the awards to a child or grand-child of an employee. Holly and Bill
share that there is a demographic shift occurring, not just of the student population but
also the employees. As people retire, there are often younger individuals coming in who
don’t have college aged children. Alison said that sometimes students reapply and
sometimes they do not. She has seen students really improve on their interview skills and
get the scholarship on a second year. Holly asks if we have asked the Scholarship
Director how many eligible students there are; the consensus is no.
With regard to scholarship funding, Bill says it would be good to maybe let the fund
build so that it can be self-sustaining in the future. Holly indicates that fund is not selfsustaining at the current endowment level; however, the donations and interest earnings
are covering a significant portion of the annual expenses (if no additional funds were
raised, the fund would not be in trouble for a few years). Bill says to consider moving
funds into the endowment as they become available to help it be self-sustaining. He also
suggests possibly moving the scholarship deadline in the future may be a viable option
too.
a. Motion to approve: Carla
b. Approved by:
Alison
III. Director of Human Resources (Pam Bowman) – Pam was absent. Alison said she
emailed Pam; she brought up the concern that minimum wage is going up, and there are
Civil Service Employees who are not making much more than the $10 proposed
minimum wage. Alison said Pam directed her to the Civil Service Website. Bill talks
about the issue Accountancy is having hiring Accountants with PhDs to teach accounting
(even with a six-figure salary, they cannot attract faculty due to the lack of
competitiveness). Bill said unless Unions take over or something significant happens, it
is an uphill battle. The employees have no leverage if the positions are still able to be
filled. He thinks the University will also face issues hiring part time employees due to
the hours of work restrictions of the Affordable Care Act. Bill said the University is
over-staffed by probably about one quarter. Bill said the CS system is not very adaptive
to change.
IV. Vice President for Administrative Services Report (Julie DeWees) – absent
V. Group Concerns – none
VI. President’s Report (Wendi Mattson) – Wendi said they were trying to give Mrs. Obama
an honorary doctorate – whether this will happen is still under question.
VII. Civil Service Employee of the Month (Alisha Barnett) – Tom Dursa in Broadcasting is
April’s employee of the month. They had their videographer there, and it was a nice
ceremony.
VIII. Employee Advisory Committee Representative (Peter Skrypkun) - absent
IX. WIU Quad Cities Campus Report (Alison Shook) –The people here in the Quad Cities
saw the progress on Stage II. All of 60th Street will move here in the Fall, and the new
Environmental Studies PhD program will be there. What is happening at 60th Street is
still in the air.
X. Representative Reports to Council
a. Affirmative Action Internship Committee (Holly Fecht) – The Committee has
completed the first round of interviews. There were four applicants, and I believe
two people are moving forward with an Internship. There are plans in the near
future to meet with applicants supervisors (current and future). Holly shares that
the Administrative Internship is open to all currently employed people who are in
non-administrative positions (i.e. faculty or Civil Service); it is aimed for them to
gain job exposure doing a project half time in hopes of gaining skills that would
be useful in an administrative position.
b. University Diversity Council (Karen Trusley) – She wants to remind everyone
that the President’s Diversity Reception is coming up in May from 4pm to 6pm at
the Multicultural Center.
c. Website and IT Issues (Jessica Lambert) – Jessica shares that everything is
updated, and Connie will be updating the Website.
d. Training and Development (Carla Farniok) –
Summer Socials
The ever-popular "Summer Socials" are being planned again for this
Summer. The goals of these after-hours WIU employees events are to learn
more about selected areas of campus, meet our campus leaders, get to know
other employees outside their respective work place, for new employees to
have an opportunity to meet other employees, and to continue to bridge campus
and community. As a reminder these are offered to ALL WIU
employees: faculty, staff, administration and their spouses, guests, or
significant others. Watch for Tele-STARS and flyers which will be coming
soon!
Enrich YOU Sessions
Be The Change Part I
Wednesday, April 9th from 2:00-3:30 in Facilities Management Large
Training Room
Be The Change Part II
Wednesday, April 16th from 2:00-3:30 in the Facilities Management
Large Training Room
The Audit Process
Tuesday, May 13th from 9:00-11:00 in the Facilities Management Large
Training Room
Microsoft Office Trainings
Microsoft Excel 2010 - Tables, Charts, Data Validation
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
From 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Location: Malpass Library 2nd floor computer classroom
Microsoft Access 2010 - Introduction
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
From 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Location: Malpass Library 2nd floor computer classroom
Microsoft Access 2010 - Intermediate
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
From 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Location: Malpass Library 2nd floor computer classroom
XI. Committee Reports
a. Policy & Appeals (Bill Rupert) – Bill said an employee came in to claim work in
another job classification as one in his own classification. The appeal group
found there was no basis for his claim to the work based on contract, University
rules, or SUCSS rules that would permit such a claim.
b. Awards and Selection (Alison Shook) – No additional information other than
what was discussed under the Treasurer’s Report.
c. Constitution/Election (Linda Wade) –
i. Linda reads the following proposed changes to Bylaws:
Article IV
– Membership and Qualifications
Section 1
Membership of the Council shall be composed of persons elected from
each of the recognized employee groups, with group (6) having at
least one elected member. Groups 1-5 shall have 3 members
representing their group. When possible all groups shall be
represented on the council by members from their group. If interest is
lacking from group members someone may be appointed/elected to
represent those groups who did not show interest in being on the
council. The council must always consider with membership the
potential of members to be in person at the CSEC monthly meeting.
The Civil Service Employees Council must have a quorum present at
the physical meeting location to be in compliance with the Open
Meetings Act to conduct voting and business.
ii. Wendi is concerned about the wording saying “at least” – this allows for
the Quad Cities to have an unlimited number of members, meaning they
could all be there.
1. Linda says this just means the legal meeting place could be
changed to the Quad Cities
iii. Wendi says her concern is more that there could be no Macomb
employees on here with the word change suggested— essentially all
employees could be in the Quad Cities. She asks the Council what their
thoughts are on rewording. Since the majority of employees are at the
Macomb campus, it makes sense to have some sort of balance.
1. Alison thinks a maximum of three from the Quad Cities would be
fair. Everyone else thinks that sounds good.
iv. The change will be a minimum of one from the Quad Cities but no more
than three.
d. Education (Alisha Barnett) – no report.
e. Fundraising (Karen Trusley/Alisha Barnett/Connie Upton) –
i. Luncheon:
1. Karen reports that everything is in full swing, and we need
everyone on hand the day of the luncheon to work tables, serve
food, etc. She talks about things to be going on at the Luncheon the bags tournament, cotton candy, photo booth, Mr. & Mrs.
CSEC, raffle prizes, and food. She encourages people to sell
raffle tickets and lottery tickets. She said the doors will be open at
5 a.m. at the Rec Center, but the Council usually starts around 7:30
a.m. The price was increased for the luncheon to $10 due to cost
increases.
2. Alisha adds that we still need more prizes. Alisha passes around a
sign-up sheet for people to volunteer the day of the luncheon.
3. Alison adds that she thinks there are some people in the Quad
Cities that come down with her that may be willing to help.
4. Wendi asks if they would like Costume things for the photo booth;
Karen indicates they would. Wendi said they have some countrytype items for Oklahoma that the group could use.
5. Stacy asks if there is a template or something we could send out to
sell tickets to family and friends. Karen said she just used Holly’s
example from Facebook and modified it to fit hers. However, she
said she can definitely make one to share. Alisha will make a
similar one for the regular raffle prizes.
f. Mentoring (Kim Sedgwick) – Daniel Kendall, Office Support Associate in
Admissions; Michelle Mussatto, Office Manager in Curriculum and Instruction;
and Sara Turpen, Collections Representative in Billing & Receivables.
Carla asked Shelia if we can add new employees from HR’s Facebook Page to the
CSEC Facebook page. Wendi has been sharing their information on our page.
g. Social Events & Development (Wendi Mattson & Stacy Dorethy) – no report.
h. Open Meetings Act Requirements (Linda Wade) – no report.
i. Provost Advisory Council Report (Karen Trusley)- no report.
XII. Old Business - none
XIII. New Business – Election and Acceptance of new members: Statements of Candidacy
have been taken for new membership from the following individuals: Christine Staley
(Office Manager Kinesiology), Gail Ault (Office Manager Political Science), Jane
Woerly (Office Manager Philosphy & Religious Studies), and Butch Smith (Laboratory
Animal Care Specialist). Alison also shared there is an interested applicant from the
Quad Cities.
a. Bill motions to accept candidates and fit into Council openings as appropriate.
b. Stacey seconds the motion.
Connie recommends inviting them to the luncheon to help, and the group agrees that is a
good idea.
XIV. Announcements – Bill shares that there are not a lot of expected changes with regards to
benefits for the upcoming Benefits Choice period. Long-term disability insurance is
anticipated to go down in cost a little bit, and there will be an open enrollment period.
They are looking for a different vendor from “Wage Works” for flexible spending, and
there are likely going to be some co-pay changes on the health insurance.
XV. Meeting Adjournment –
a. Motion to adjourn: Kim
b. Seconded by: Carla
XVI. Next Meeting will be Thursday, May 1, 2014, at 1:15pm in the Capitol Room.