CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES COUNCIL
November 6, 2008
Horrabin Hall 60
Minutes
I.
Roll Call
Present: Jim Buffalo, Laura Caldwell, Carla Farniok, Greg Phelps, Dan Rathjen, Kim Sedgwick, Jamie Shuda,
Martha Youngmeyer, Sheila Kirby, Jackie Thompson, Chris Brown
Excused: Suzanne Boussaard, Hilary Churchill, Amber Dodds, Richard Hamilton, Ed Lavin, Lois Retherford, Cerese
Wright, Bill Rupert, Pam Bowman
II.
Guest – No guest
III.
Minutes (Carla Farniok) – Minutes could not be approved. There were not enough voting members in attendance.
IV.
Treasurer’s Report (Jamie Shuda) – Wii fit was the only thing that actually went out of the account but Bill’s picture and
the centerpieces will be coming out so Jamie included those. There is still $1505.18 in the account. The
Scholarship account went up $414.99. Treasurer’s report could not be approved. There were not enough voting
members in attendance.
V.
President’s Report (Ed Lavin) – No Report
VI.
Civil Service Employee of the Month (Laura Caldwell)
Becky Ebey of Human Resources is the November Civil Service Employee of the Month. Her presentation will be on
November 3rd at 9:00 in Sherman 105 (Human Resources).
VII.
Vice President for Administrative Services Report (Jackie Thompson) – Western Well activities continue. Some of
the activities may have a minimal cost. Free blood pressure screenings are being offered throughout campus.
There was also someone on campus on November 6 that is doing a presentation on “Cumulative Trauma Disorders”
There is a Western Well committee and they are hoping that Western Well will continue to grow an d develop over
the next few years.
Open enrollment ends on November 14. Starting January 1, 2009, deductibles and premiums could go up.
Ethics training is going on and needs to be completed by November 14. The State of Illinois website has had some
issues so try again later if you have any problems. 65% of the employees have completed the ethics test. Western
is looking into developing training for the University for next year.
Jackie is the chairperson for the search committee to replace Cathy Couza, Director of Equal Opportunity and
Access
.
VIII. Director of Human Resources (Pam Bowman) – No Report
IX.
Employee Advisory Committee Representative (Sheila Kirby) – Sheila hosted a meeting on October 9 and 10 at the
Quad Cities campus. Thank you Jackie for helping with the costs. There were hours of discussion of the pros and
cons of combining the Learner program with the Trainee program. There would only be about 100 employees
affected by this out of 20,000.
There could be new rules coming down the road about registers and staying on registers. If they pass, a person can
only be on a register for 2 years and then will have to retest to get back on if the new rules go through.
Office Support test pass rates
Assistant – average score was 83% with a 91% pass rate
Associate – average score was 78% with a 84% pass rate
Specialist – average score was 76% with a 77% pass rate
Manager – average score was 70% with a 60% pass rate; 87% of the 60% was only within a question or two of
passing
They have done what they are supposed to by getting harder as you advance but these will be examined again in a
couple of years. Some of the IT questions may be removed. So many people use the task bar or right click so the
shortcuts are not used as much.
X.
WIU Quad Cities Campus Report (Lois Retherford) – Chris reported that Joe Evans left so there is a vacancy at the
Quad Cities campus. They are working on the job description now.
XI.
Representative Reports to Council
1. Affirmative Action Internship (Amber Dodds)
The affirmative action internship committee has set up a meeting with prior interns and other interested persons
on November 14th from 11:30-1:30p. We welcome any persons interested in being a possible intern to attend.
We are also sending out a telestars to let people know about applying for an internship. The applications will be
due mid-February.
2. Accreditation Committee (Martha Youngmeyer) – The first meeting will be next week.
3. Women’s Center (Martha Youngmeyer)
October was Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and the annual Take Back the Night march and rally was on
Oct. 9. The theme for this year was “Break the Silence, Stop the Violence.” Approximately 500 attended the
event. October was also Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the Women’s Center participated in
Macomb's “Paint the Town Pink” activities on Oct. 4 and sold bracelets and pink light bulbs to raise money for
breast cancer awareness and support services. We are again this year collecting Yoplait Yogurt lids through
mid-December. We had a resource table in the Union Concourse for Love Your Body Day (LYBD) for people to
make postcards with thoughts on body image. A belly dancing demonstration was also presented for LYBD by
a local belly dancing group.
4.
5.
6.
The Women's Center theme, Women's Health and Wellness: Challenges and Responsibilities, follows this
year’s University theme, and we’re planning a variety of women’s health-related programs and activities. We
have added a number of new volunteers in the past few weeks. We've sent out a call for proposals for the
REAL Women: Women as Researchers, Educators, Activists and Leaders presentation series. Planning has
begun for the V-Day activities in February, with auditions for “The Vagina Monologues” taking place November
18 and 19. National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) planning committee meetings have begun for
activities in February. The Women's Center newsletter will be out this week, so look for information about these
and other programs and activities.
Web Page (Jim Buffalo) – Everything is going good. Please send all updates and information on upcoming
events to Scott Lawson at ST-Lawson@wiu.edu.
Provost Advisory Council (Greg Phelps) – There will be a meeting late November.
Training and Development (Carla Farniok) – The committee is looking for ideas on what topics people are
interested for professional and personal development.
There is a Managers and Supervisors conference on November 21 being held at Spoon River College here in
Macomb. WIU employees get a discounted rate of $80.00 for the whole day and that includes a continental
breakfast and lunch. This is how to be a better communicator so this will work for any position. You do not
have to be a manager or supervisor to attend. Anita encourages anyone and everyone to attend.
XII.
Committee Reports
1. Appeals (Greg Phelps) – Working on a way to revamp the appeals process. He has some ideas that he needs
to run by a few people. He will talk about this when he has a formalized proposal together.
2. Award Fund (Amber Dodds) – No Report
3. Award Selection (Dan Rathjen) – There will be 5 book awards at $100.00 a piece going out soon.
4. Constitution / Election (Jim Buffalo) – No Report for Constitution; Election-Be thinking about the elections
that will be coming up. They will be here before we know it.
5. Education (Hilary Churchill) – No Report
6. Mentoring (Kim Sedgwick) –
Christian Neuschwanger
Library Specialist
University Library
George Beckman
Construction Project Coordinator I
Physical Plant
Andrew Neal
Construction Project Coordinator I
Physical Plant
7. Salary (Suzanne Boussaard) – No Report
8. Social Events & Development (Jamie Shuda) – There is a speaker for the luncheon. His name is Dr. Radlow
and he specializes in anxiety and stress. He should be very good and funny. He will give a presentation on
how to be stress and anxiety free for the holidays. It will be fun and enjoyable for everyone. The council will
provide his lunch. The Wii Sport has been purchased for the large prize. There will be a hang tag and
volunteers are needed to pick up other prizes for the raffle. Laura will make up the raffle tickets. Jamie will get
an invitation out very soon. The centerpiece is going to be a lunch bag with bottled water, nutrigrain bars, and
9.
fruit in the bag. There will also be extra for the raffle. The menu is grilled cheese on texas toast with American
and Colby jack cheese with a choice of chicken noodle soup or chili, chips, assorted fruits and pies, coffee,
water, and tea. Jackie Thompson is providing the vegetable trays. Jamie has not been able to talk to anyone
about doing free massages during the luncheon. Again, volunteers are needed for prizes.
Committee on Committees (Richard Hamilton) – No Report
XIII. New Business:
1. Food Drive – The Council is going in with other groups on campus to sponsor “Stuff the Bus” can drive on
November 12, 2008. The food does stay locally. The BSA will make their food baskets for Thanksgiving out of
this also. They are trying for the Guiness World Record.
2. Support The Troops – There is a collection for troops overseas. Multiple organizations are getting together to
collect items to send to them. There will also be a table set up in the Union for Christmas cards to be sent to
the troops. There will be tons of cards to choose from.
XIV. Old Business:
1.
2.
XV.
Blood Drive – There were 41 units of blood donated at the blood drive on October 31. This was a little short of
the goal but there were some that were not able to donate. Thank you for volunteering or giving blood. We
have the opportunity to sponsor another blood drive in January and then again in April. It was brought up to
possibly sponsor 2 a year.
Open Forum – The open forum will be held November 11 from 11:00-12:00 in the 3rd floor auditorium in
Sherman Hall and the second session will be from 3:30-4:30 in Horrabin Hall Room 1 with a connection to the
Quad Cities campus. A brochure is going to be made up to put around the Physical Plant locations with a
statement about release time.
Group Concerns:
Committees - There was discussion about getting volunteers to be on committees. There was an idea brought up
about the Civil Service Employees Council holding some open forums to explain what the council does. There was
some concern about doing this. There is a possibility to go to University Relations and Marketing to see if they have
any ideas on how to get the council’s name out there. It was recommended that one of the best ways to get
volunteers is to go up to other civil service employees and ask them if it is something that they would be interested
in.
Lunch and Raffle – There was discussion about the number of raffle prizes needed for the luncheon and when to
hold the raffle. The raffle is a very good cause with it going towards the scholarship fund and some think that
employees buy the tickets to go towards this cause not because of the prizes. There was an idea to have the raffle
on and off throughout the luncheon. This lets everyone attending be there for some of the raffle if they are not able
to stay for the whole thing. This is something that might have to be played by ear a little bit. There was also an idea
to have a grab bag. The lunch bags could have an extra prize in them and you do not know what it is until the
person opens it. There was also discussion about a discount rate for groups. This is not possible because the ticket
price is the price of the luncheon. There is no money made on the lunch itself.
Group Nominations for Employee of the Month – There was discussion about how to handle a group nomination
for employee of the month. There were ideas to just recognize groups two times a year or quarterly with certificates
and recognition on the website. There was also an idea to have the $100.00 stipend go to the group for a pizza
party. There was concern because the employee of the month gets a parking place and $100.00 stipend from Watts.
This will not work for a group. There needs to be set standards and guidelines for the group to get the recognition.
Something else to consider is if a whole building gets nominated and not just a department within that building for
example the Library or Physical Plant. There are a lot of employees to consider if this happens. Another possibility
could be going in with COAP and doing this. They do not have a program for this right now and not every employee
in a department is going to be civil service. There will be some administration.
XVI. Announcements: Next meeting: December 4, 2008 in the President’s Conference Room (Room 205) in Sherman Hall.