CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES COUNCIL
February 4, 2010
Horrabin Hall 60
Minutes
I.
Roll Call:
Present: Leslie Apel, Chris Brown, Suzanne Boussaard, Jim Buffalo, Laura Caldwell, Hilary Churchill,
Amber Dodds, Carla Farniok, Richard Hamilton, Tishly Herrington, Sheila Kirby, Ed Lavin, Dan Rathjen,
Bill Rupert, Kim Sedgwick, Jackie Thompson, Martha Youngmeyer
Excused: Jamie Shuda, Pamela Bowman
II.
Minutes (Suzanne Boussaard)
Minutes for the December meeting were officially approved via motion by Rich and seconded by Dan.
Motion passed.
III.
Treasurer’s Report (Jim Buffalo)
Jim gave his report over the December (there was no January meeting) and January budget sheets.
The general account has a current balance of $4,063.88. The Scholarship Account balance is
$7,631.01. The Endowment Fund balance is $102,400.00. A motion was made by Suzanne to accept
the budget reports, and it was seconded by Laura.
IV. President’s Report (Ed Lavin)
President Ed reported on the University Administration’s continued concerns with regard to budget and
the money owed to WIU from the state. Also, a concern over the Quality Care insurance issues at
McDonough District Hospital and doctors’ office was brought up again. An article was sent to UPI
members by their chapter president. This article was shared with CSEC. MDH has been evaluating
whether to renew the contract between them and CIGNA as well as several doctors in Macomb.
Obviously, the State of Illinois’ backlog of bills has prompted this reconsideration. Discussion followed.
It was suggested that concerned individuals write to their congressman. Handwritten letters are most
likely to be read and acknowledged.
V.
Civil Service Employee of the Month (Laura Caldwell)
Tishly reported Sharon Brown has been selected as Employee of the Month. Sharon works in
Acquisitions in the Library. Tishly also handed out packets for the March EOM nominations. Council
members expressed t heir great appreciation to Laura for all of her hard work on past EOM activities.
VI.
Vice President for Administrative Services Report: Jackie updated the Council on the continuing
budget crisis. She announced another letter from President Goldfarb should be going out within the
next two weeks. Also the search for a new Director of Scholarship Office has concluded. A news
release announcing the selected individual should be released next week. She informed Council
members that only crucial repairs will be fixed.
VII. Director of Human Resources: Diane Sayers attended on behalf of Pam Bowman. Diane reported
SUCSS auditors will be on campus the week of Feb 15. Also, HR will soon be sending out the annual
register purge letter to all individuals. Benefits will be conducting a retirement workshop next week and
SURS counselors will be on campus in March. Beu Health Center still has H1N1 flu vaccines available
free to employees.
VIII. Employee Advisory Committee Representative: Sheila Kirby reported on the latest meeting she
attended in Champaign-Urbana on January 14 and 15. The Chancellor spoke and they held their
annual election of officers. She also announced they are in the process of hiring a new SURS director.
SUCSS has not been told to take furlough days and 86% of their budget has been expended so far.
SUCSS relies solely on the state for their budget. Sheila also announced she will be retiring at the end
of May. This will mean a special election will be conducted to find a replacement EAC representative.
IX.
X.
WIU Quad Cities Report (Chris Brown): Chris reported on the announcement from Governor Quinn
regarding the renovation for the new building at the QC. A ground breaking ceremony is slated for
March 23 at 10:00am. Also, the QC campus continues to be busy with many activities such as financial
planning seminars in April, the hockey club will be playing this weekend in iWireless Center, H1N1 clinic
was held recently, and several Health & Wellness activities are planned. Chris also inquired as to
whether or not CSEC would conduct a similar survey as to what COAP had done. The COAP survey
was sent out to all COAP members recognizing the need to acquire feedback with regard to necessary
budget cutbacks. Several options were listed on the survey which might be possible areas to seriously
consider. COAP had a 40% return rate of the surverys. This feedback has been presented to the
Administration. Much discussion took place as to whether or not CSEC could/should do a similar
survey. CSEC will carry forth with this as it is important to hear the opinions of all as budgetary
cutbacks do affect all employees. Ed will try to meet with Teri North to see what might be the best way
to circulate a survey because of the logistics with Physical Plant employees who have no or limited
access to a computer to complete an online survey. It may be necessary to send online surveys to
most employees and to send paper copies of the surveys to the Physical Plant employees. Ed will
report back to us at next month’s meeting if not sooner via email.
Representative Reports to Council
1. Affirmative Action Internship (Tishly Herrington) – The committee is transitioning in leadership
since Ellyn Bartges has resigned from WIU. A meeting is to be scheduled in the near future.
2. Accreditation Committee (Martha Youngmeyer) – No report
3. Women’s Center (Martha Youngmeyer) – No report
4. Web Page (Jim Buffalo) – Jim reported Scott Lawson is still maintaining the website for us.
5. Provost Advisory Council (Amber Dodds) – Amber reported a meeting is to be scheduled for the
week of February 22 or February 29.
6. Training and Development (Carla Farniok) – No report
7. Technology Advisory Users Group (Jim Buffalo) – No report
8. Web Accessibility (Amber Dodds) – A meeting was held last week where they compiled a list of
the top 200 websites. The committee will work with these website managers to compare a
checklist to the website to make sure it is accessible. CITR will conduct some training sessions.
People are encouraged to attend. Volunteers will be needed to help with videos and typing text for
close captioning purposes.
9. Technology Cabinet Committee (Jim Buffalo) – No report
10. Users Group Committee (Jim Buffalo) – No report
11. University Diversity Council (Tishly Herrington) – No report
12. Systems Policy Committee (Bill Rupert) – No report
XI. Committee Reports
1. Appeals/Award Fund (Bill Rupert) – No report
2. Award Selection (Dan Rathjen) – Dan reported the application deadline is April 9 at 3:00pm.
There will be no extensions granted. Applications will be reviewed the week of April 10-15. The
award ceremony will be held on April 29. Jim will make sure the application form is available online
at the CSEC website. Dan also reported that Sharon Chenoweth, HR, is assisting with the
scholarship applications. Thank you to Sharon! Thank you to Becky Ebey for all of her support
and great assistance in the past.
3. Constitution / Election (Jim Buffalo) – Jim reported at December’s meeting Sandy Blue resigned
from the Council for personal reasons and Leslie Apel, VPC, had volunteered to replace her. Since
there was no other name on the ballot at the time Sandy was elected and since an official vote was
tabled in December due to the lack of a quorum, a vote was taken at today’s meeting. Jim made a
motion to accept Leslie as Sandy’s replacement, Jamie seconded. A vote was taken and passed.
Welcome, Leslie!
4. Education (Hilary Churchill) – No Report
5. Mentoring (Kim Sedgwick) – Kim reported the following new employees:
Diane Edwards, Office Support Specialist, Geology
6.
7.
8.
Amy Howe, Office Support Associate, Financial Aid
Tammie McCoy, Office Support Specialist, Equal Opportunity and Access
LaDawn Thomas, Office Support Assistant, UHDS
Jennifer Graves, Clerk, Kinesiology
George Hartman, Photographer, Visual Production
Salary (Suzanne Boussaard) – No Report
Social Events & Development (Jamie Shuda) – Hilary volunteered to spearhead the spring
luncheon and several others offered assistance. Also, several names of individuals who have
expressed willingness to assist with projects and not on the Council will be contacted to see if they
would like to assist with this upcoming project.
Committee on Committees (Richard Hamilton) – No Report
XII. New Business:
1. President’s Search: Ed announced upcoming meetings have been scheduled for April 27 and 28
in the Lincoln Room, University Union and Room 231 at the Quad Cities. These meetings are
interested parties who are interested in meeting with a consultant on what we are looking for in a
new president. The Search Committee will be in need of a civil service representative. A teleSTARS message will be sent out soon to all civil service employees.
2. Open Forum with the President: Ed will schedule a date for the Open Forum with the President’s
3. Garage Sale: Ed suggested the Council conduct a garage sale as a fund raiser. Discussion
followed. Council members were asked to email Ed with any ideas and suggestions.
XIII. Old Business:
1. Proposed Language for CSEC Actions for Constitution (Donation) – This has been tabled.
2. FRBR Screens: Tabled due to Pam’s absence.
3. Group Recognition: Dan Rathjen will work on how best to implement and develop an appropriate
form.
4. Golf Outing: Ed asked members to think of a possible date. Please bring any dates we should avoid
due to other major events.
XIV. Group Concerns:
XV. Announcements: Ed announced Steve Rock is the area AARP representative and there is assistance
with tax preparation for individuals who are age 60 and over with lower incomes.
Next meeting March 4, 2010 in the Capitol Rooms in the University Union.
XVI. Adjournment: A motion to adjourn was made by Jim, seconded by Laura. Motion passed. Meeting
adjourned at 3:05pm.