WCU Staff Senate Meeting Agenda
January 12, 2012 (8:30-10:30 am)
Cardinal Conference Room (University Center)
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Approval of the Meeting Agenda (Jason LaVigne)
Approved
Approval of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting (Jason LaVigne)
Approved
External Informational Reports
a. Office of the Chancellor Updates (Chancellor Belcher/Dianne Lynch)
Not present
b. Human Resources Report (Kathy Wong, ex-officio member)
Electronic W2s will be available in the next two weeks.
c. Faculty Senate Report (Erin McNelis, ex-officio member)
FS meets in 2 weeks. The FS passed the shared governance language and are working to
decide where the statement should be posted. Morale is going to be an ongoing issue
moving forward.
d. Student Government Association Report (TJ Eaves, ex-officio member)
Not present
e. Coulter Faculty Center (CFC) (Laura Cruz, Director)
CFC has recently opened many of its services to staff – Qualtrics, virtual collaboration
tools, Sandbox, etc. Full details will be February CFC newsletter
The next CFC-Leadership Institute leadership conference will be held May 31st
and is open to faculty and staff
Unless otherwise stated, CFC events are open to staff as well as faculty.
f. IT Survey Results (Anna McFadden, IT)
Presentation of results from IT survey to the Senate
Additional feedback from SS for IT:
1. R25 and Web Services issues
2. Wireless access in UPD and access while on patrol
3. Increasing wireless access in rooms which will allow rooms to act as a wireless
classrooms
a. Anna: IT wiill be bringing in vendor to conduct an assessment of the
wireless connectivity
4. Would like obtaining guest wireless accounts easier
5. Data storage
Guest: Norman West, Full Spectrum Farms (FSF)
Presentation and discussion on FSF.
Ways the SS can help:
i. Donate funds
ii. Check the farm out online – one day Cullowhee will be known for WCU and FSF
iii. Currently finishing a house – need volunteers
iv. Currently raising chickens – will be selling eggs and need egg cartons
v. Have a large garden – need help with general garden work: weeding, etc
vi. Need help at various festivals, markets
vii. Have a thrift store – will take donations
b.
V.
viii. Have hay field and walking trail that need maintenance
ix. Have a barn that needs work
x. Family events – Service Learning helps out with activities
xi. Awareness campaigns
xii. 5K run
xiii. Have 2 horses
xiv. Clearing some land to be fenced off and will have goats
For February SS meeting, Norman will bring/send a schedule and plan for ways SS can volunteer
and help out at the farm
Internal Informational Reports
a. Treasurer Report (David Porter, Treasurer)
$29300ish in scholarship fund
$900ish in discretionary fund – not including cost of ornaments
Ornaments sold out; will be looking to redesign 2012-2013
b. Staff Assembly Report (Jason LaVigne)
SB 575 still being discussed – SA meets next week, we should hear something from them
regarding the bill
c. Committee/Council/Task Force Reports
i. Jason LaVigne
1. Provost Search – Staff Senate Meetings
a. Questions
i. Can you tell us about your previous experience working with
Staff.
ii. How do you see your role in building a unified campus
community.
1. AJ-thoughts on shared governance – willing to give
staff a role in governance process
iii. How would you increase staff morale in an environment
where we are reorganizing and RIF’s (Reduction in Force) are
taking place and workloads are increasing without increases
in salary to reflect the increased workload.
Suzanne Baker-how does the candidate feel about the OneStop
concept? It doesn’t work on many campuses but does work
here.
Walter Turner: what is the candidate’s philosophy on student
service delivery? Thoughts on holistic student development
and citizenship?
Amy McKenzie: A way to get to the candidate’s understanding
of work flow including the trickle down effect in information
gathering; do they have the understanding of what it takes to
gather data, create reports, etc.?
Alison Joseph: Data driven decision making
Jason LaVigne: also about shared access to data
VI.
Jason will clean up text for the candidate questions and put up
on the Sharepoints site for editing and review
2. Chancellor Leadership Council (Jason LaVigne)
Budget is looking ok, a reversion doesn’t seem to be in the works.
They are looking for feedback on the shelter in place communication
flow from the bank robbery in December. The council also talked
about the issues surrounding the opening of the HHS building –
parking and transportation are key issues. There will be a gravel
parking lot will be built across from the building that will be open on a
first come first serve availability. CatTran buses will also shuttle people
back and forth between HHS building and main campus. SACS
accreditation changes and updates were also discussed by the council.
3. Budget Committee (Jason LaVigne)
SS will be very participatory in the new budget allocation process. For
the current year, SS will be represented by the SS executive
committee. In the future, there will be formal subcommittee named
or elected. The spring budget review only pertains to the allocation of
new money.
4. 2020 Commission (Jason LaVigne)
A subcommittee focused on faculty and staff development will be
established. We should have something to review at the next
meeting.
ii. Installation Committee (Shawna Young)
The schedule for the week has been settled it should be available to the public
via the installation website in the next few weeks.
Erin McNelis: I’m chairing the installation service project committee –
if anyone wants to participate or has ideas please email me.
Updates from Sub-committees
PR Committee (Mike Corelli)
Newsletter has been well received the next one goes out February. If have someone in
mind for a staff spotlight, let Mike or Alison know.
Suzanne Baker: Should we send shining star recognitions to PR?
Jason LaVigne: Nominations should go to the HR group.
Alison Joseph: This has been a really positive initiative
Jason LaVigne: We will solicit recognitions each month and they will be
publicized in The Reporter and SS newsletter.
Scholarship (Will Shivers)
Yard Sale – we will be soliciting donations and volunteers when the date is closer.
Application is Live – be sure to encourage your work group to refer students to apply;
We will have applications at the staff/faculty appreciation lunch on 2/17 in the dining
hall and will be asking for volunteer to help at the table and answer questions.
a. HR Committee (Jeff Tatham)
Update for the HR committee - here is a list of the ideas that we have discussed as a
group. We have not yet discussed this with Kathy.
VII.
VIII.
1. Allow (and encourage) managers and departments to decide to implement
telecommuting and flex scheduling if and when possible
2. Strongly encourage managers to allow for flex scheduling for their employees due to
scheduling conflicts with college classes
3. Create a new leave type for college classes (“use-it-or-lose-it” similar to community
service leave)
b. Resources and Environment (Homer Harris) – no updates
c. Governance (Caden Painter)
Governance changes are coming up
Old Business
Suggestion Box – Link to the survey will be sent to SS – please review to make sure this is what
you would like distributed in terms of the feedback you are interested in us collecting.
New Business
a. Job Shadowing/Mentoring Program (Shawna Young) – Possibly interested in creating a staff
mentor/shadowing program for students interested in the work done here at the university or
for students who can’t travel to an internship.
Alison Joseph: We will need to outline clear expectations for the staff mentor
Jason LaVigne: Clear expectations are key with the possibility of the student and staff
member developing a longer term mentor relationship. Carol Burton is supportive and
Dr. Belcher is aware of the idea.
Alison Joseph: We should publicize the program to graduate students as well as
undergraduates.
Another thought – creating opportunities for job shadowing/cross training for
new employees or employees looking to broaden skills
Jason LaVigne: Others interested in helping develop this idea for approval to the SS?
Mike Corelli, Alison Joseph, Caden Painter
b. Campus Walk Event (Jason LaVigne) Whee for Life committee would like to schedule a walking
event to help build community.
Other comments:
Mike Corelli: Dance Marathon is March 10th – students will be participating in teams. Would SS like to sponsor a
team? Each member on a team would need to raise $100 dollars to support the Children’s Miracle Network. Will
provide additional info for next meeting.
Adjourned: 10:25
Information Items:
1.
Next Staff Senate Meeting:
February 8, 2012 (8:30-10:30 am)
Cardinal Conference Room (UC)