Civil Service Employees Council
May 3, 2012, 1:15pm
Capitol Room, University Union
MINUTES
I. Roll Call – Present: Pam Bowman, Chris Brown, Jim Buffalo, Hilary Churchill, Julie
DeWeese, Stacey Dorethy, Carla Farniok, Holly Fecht, Tammy Freutag, Charlene
Hammond, Rich Hamilton, Wendi Mattson, Cindy Roon, Bill Rupert, Kim Sedgwick,
Wendi Mattson, Peter Skrypkun, Bill Rupert, Alison Shook, Karen Trusley, Linda
Wade
Excused: Kathleen Clauson, Tammy Sinnett
II. Minutes (Wendi Mattson) – Minutes from April read – motion made by Linda,
seconded by Jim to approve the April minutes. Motion carried
III. Treasurer’s Report (Carla Farniok) – Carl read the treasurers reports for February,
March and April, 2012. Motion made by Cindy and seconded by Tammy Freutag to
approve all three months’ minutes. Motion carried.
IV. President’s Report (Bill Rupert) – Bill reported that the state still owes the
University $25 million. It is important to have a voice at the table in light of the
Governor’s plan on pension reform.
V. Civil Service Employee of the Month (Wendi Mattson)- Wendi reported that the
May Employee of the Month is Bill Brewer from the Quad Cities. Chris Brown is
taking care of making the presentation arrangements.
VI. Vice President for Administrative Services Report (Julie DeWeese) – Julie reported
that Dave Steelman – Government liason asked for a reduction of 6.1% or 3.4
million dollar in general revenue funds for next year. They are watching the
pension and pension funds trying to do the best for everyone. A letter will be sent
out to the campus community once more information is known.
VII. Director of Human Resources (Pam Bowman) - On April 24th Service Recognition,
Community Service and Distinguished Awards ceremony will took place. They had
good attendance for a fun evening. At this time there are 139 retirements, 80 or so
civil service positions. Health insurance open enrollment coming soon. Gary Biliter
working on a program for student retention. Charlene will see if she can get him to
come to our meeting to discuss this.
VIII. Employee Advisory Committee Rep (Peter Skrypkun) –
Summary of the State Universities Civil Service Advisory Committee
Meeting Dates: April 19th and 20th 2012.
Civil Service Employees Council
May 3, 2012, 1:15pm
Capitol Room, University Union
MINUTES
SURS Update as reported by Larry Curtis:
Larry reported that there are 1500 retirement applications in the works for the
months of June and July of 2012. This is well above normal.
We conversed on ILSB 512:
Update: April 20, 2012
Governor Quinn outlined the framework of his plan to resolve the state’s pension
funding crisis. Briefly, the Governor’s proposal provides for 100% funding for
pension systems by 2042 by making the following changes to the current plan:
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3% increase in employee contributions
Reduce COLA (cost of living adjustment) to lesser of 3% or ½ of CPI, simple
interest
Delay COLA to earlier of age 67 or 5 years after retirement
Increase retirement age to 67 (to be phased in over several years)
Establish 30-year closed ARC (actuarially required contribution) funding
schedule
Public sector pensions limited to public sector employment
The Governor’s plan also calls for phasing-in the responsibility for paying normal
costs of pensions to each employer, including school districts, community colleges
and public universities.
We also talked about The return to work legislation; House Bill 4996 and its impact
on the SURS system.
House bill 4996 :
Synopsis As Introduced
Amends the State Universities Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Provides that if an
employer notifies the State Universities Retirement System that it has employed an
annuitant for more than 100 paid days or 500 paid hours in a school year, then the
System shall certify to the employer the current value of the annual retirement
annuity of that annuitant. Provides that if an employer receives such a certification,
then the employer shall pay the certified amount to the System within one year after
receiving the certification. Amends the University of Illinois Act, Southern Illinois
University Management Act, Chicago State University Law, Eastern Illinois
University Law, Governors State University Law, Illinois State University Law,
Northeastern Illinois University Law, Northern Illinois University Law, Western
Illinois University Law, and Public Community College Act to make conforming
changes. Effective July 1, 2012.
Currently it is in the Senate and has been Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading
May 3, 2012.
Report from Director, Tom Morlock
Civil Service Employees Council
May 3, 2012, 1:15pm
Capitol Room, University Union
MINUTES
We were updated and discussed the proposed rule changes to the
Classification Plan Management Manual.
1) That each position proposed to be exempt under Section 36e(3) above shall be
reviewed and approved by the Merit Board, or as designated by the Merit Board to
The Executive Director.
2) That the term "trainee" is replaced with the term Intern.
3) That the extension of probationary period will be equal to the time spent at offsite training during their probationary period.
We were introduced to a pilot program draft that will introduce a different
interpretation of Rule of Three.
The Rule of 3 analyses will use the top three scores, and not the top three persons
from an employment register for a specific classification.
Effected classification titles:
Accountant I, Accounting Associate, Administrative Assistant I, Assistant Facilities
Manager, Assistant Program Director, Budget Analyst I, Business/Administrative
Associate, Clinic Nurse, Grounds Worker, Human Resource Associate, IT
Manager/Administrative Coordinator, IT Support Associate, IT Technical Associate,
Medical Assistant, Member Service Representative I.
Test Security and exam compromises were disused, and Western Illinois was on the
list. The Admissions and Records Series test was compromised.
It was pointed out that Western Illinois Testing personnel were quick and
effectively prevented a "Full compromise".
IX.
WIU Quad Cities Campus Report (Chris Brown) – Chris reported that the designs for
Phase II are being worked on. The tentative ground breaking is set for September 5,
2012. Quad Cities campus held their years of service awards ceremony and handed out
awards for our excellence in values. Four faculty and staff won as well as two
community members for excellence in all four core values. The Administrative Team
also met with Dr. Biller to institute a student mentoring program and Dr. Rives will be
leading the charge to put forth a program that is designed specifically for QC students.
The QC Commencement is being planned.
X. Representative Reports to Council
a. Affirmative Action Internship/University Diversity - (Kathleen
Clauson) – No report.
Civil Service Employees Council
May 3, 2012, 1:15pm
Capitol Room, University Union
MINUTES
b. Web Page and IT Issues - (Jim Buffalo) – Jim now has the front page
link.
www.wiu.edu/vpas/civil_service_employees_council\index2.php
Send suggestions to Jim about further development of the site. Send
him pictures, etc for the web site.
c. Training and Development - (Carla Farniok) – No report.
XI. Committee Reports
a. Policy and Appeals (Bill Rupert)- No report
b. Award Selection (Cindy Roon) – Hilary reported that the scholarships
had been awarded and she enjoyed the process. There were 20
applicants for the scholarship. They were very close in rankings.
c. Constitution/Election (Jim Buffalo) - Election of officers delayed due
to new members that need to be present.
d. Education (Hilary Churchill) – no report.
e. Mentoring (Kim Sedgwick) – none
f. Social Events & Development (Hilary Churchill)- Hilary reported that
the invitations for the June 1 luncheon will be going out soon. The
menu price for the theme of “cheeseburgers in paradise” will be $9.57
plus tax for $10.29. She will check with the President to see if he
wants to start a tradition at the luncheon. We will charge $11 and will
therefore not lose money on the event as we have in the past. It was
motion by Jim and seconded by Chris that the Council provide $750
for prizes to be purchased.
XII. Old Business –
XIII. New Business – none.
XIV. Group concerns –none.
XV. Announcements – none
XVI. Meeting adjourned.
XVII. Next meeting June 7, 2012 at 1:15 pm in the Capitol Room.