Staff Senate Minutes
Members
Lance Alexis
Tammy Ammons-Hagberg
Suzanne Baker
Kay Benson
Mike Burnett
Mike Corelli
Keith Corzine
William Frady
Sheila Frizzell
Tammy Frizzell
Homer Harris
Alison Joseph
April Karby
Jason Lavigne
Eric Margiotta
Caden Painter
David Porter
Kathleen Prindiville
Will Shivers
Carrie Shuler
Laura Simons
Scott Swartzentruber
Jeff Tatham
Walter Turner
Shawna Young
Dianne Lynch (Ex-Officio Member)
Kathy Wong (Ex-Officio Member)
Erin McNelis (Faculty Senate Chair)
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III.
Present
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Not Excused
March 10, 2011
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Approval of the Meeting Agenda
a. Motion
Homer Harris
b. Second
Mike Corelli
Approval of the Minutes for February, 2011
a. Motion
Jason Lavigne
b. Second
Homer Harris
Human Resources (Matt Brown for Kathy Wong)
a. Staff Changes
i. Linda Haney retired in late 2010.
ii. Leigh Ann Busby has resigned.
iii. Lisa Hakanson and Alicia Estes have moved into the vacated positions. The
positions will now be less specialized. They will share the duties between
SPA/EPA recruitment and class comp.
1. HR has received permission to advertise the 2 intake positions left
vacant by Estes and Hakanson.
iv. The office has a new Director of Training and Development, Patrick
Hughes.
b. New Performance Management system for SPA and EPA non-faculty is being
spearheaded by Patrick Hughes, Director of Training and Development
(mahughes@email.wcu.edu).
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March 10, 2011
IV.
i. There will be forthcoming communications on training workshops and
demos.
ii. The training will be for supervisors and employees. It is step by step training
that will explain when to save and how to navigate.
1. Supervisors cannot change an employee’s comments.
2. An employee cannot change comments made by their supervisor.
iii. The traditional deadline for Performance Management was April 30. This
year the deadline will be extended to May 31.
iv. Residential Living Housekeeping had a workshop on March 9, 2011.
v. One potential holdup is that all changes have to be made by the software
company. It is located in Austin, TX.
vi. Employees will have the option to self evaluate. However, it is not
mandatory that the employee do so.
New Business
a. Chancellor’s Search Committee (William Frady)
i. The committee is in the home stretch. They met last week in Atlanta (March
3, 4 and 5.).
ii. 3 names have been submitted to UNC President, Tom Ross. – All 3
candidates are high caliber. The high caliber of the applicant pool speaks to
the strength of Western Carolina University.
iii. There will be some campus discussion and input. However, if the candidates
visit the campus, the campus will not know about it until after the event if
ever.
iv. Anne Lemon at General Administration has informed the committee that the
Board of Governors will meet on April 8 and the name will be given to them.
We may hear about the decision on the news before William Frady can
officially notify the staff.
v. Confidentiality dictates that the campus will never know the identities of the
pool of applicants other than the new chancellor.
1. The confidentiality of the search is needed. Most applicants make
their participation known. Others may opt to keep their search
private. If an applicant decides not to inform their current employer,
the University making their interest known could be detrimental to
the applicant’s current situation. Some of the considered applicants
were female.
b. Election Results (Tammy Frizzell) The Staff Senate would like to welcome its newest
members:
Tammy Ammons-Hagberg, Suzanne Baker, Kay Benson, Alison Joseph,
Caden Painter, Will Shivers, Carrie Shuler and Shawna Young
c. Staff Senate Scholarships Awards (Tammy Frizzell) The Staff Senate Scholarship
fund currently has $1088.00. The Scholarship committee chose 2 recipients on
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V.
Monday March 7, 2011. Each recipient was alerted via letter of their $500.00 award.
However, the letter had a caveat. It stated that fundraising efforts for 2011 were not
yet finished. Therefore, monies raised by the yard sale would be used to augment
their awards. They would be alerted to any further awards via letter.
i. The 2 recipients are:
1. Adam Ray
2. Kristen Arrington
d. Proposed Amendments (William Frady)
i. Amendment one passed with the following word changes:
1. Staff Forum to Staff Senate
2. The Treasurer will be a member of the Staff Senate Executive
Committee
ii. Motion
Eric Margiotta
iii. Second
Jason Lavigne
iv. Wording of the Amendment adopted on 3/10/11 - Treasurer: The duties of
the Treasurer shall be to oversee the Staff Senate Discretionary Fund and to
complete all attendant paperwork. The Treasurer will work with Catamount
Clothing and Gifts to market items agreed to and voted on by the Senate.
The Treasurer will serve as a member of the Western Carolina University
Employee Emergency Assistance Fund. The Treasurer will serve as a
member of the Staff Senate Executive Committee. The Treasurer shall
assume the role of the Chair in the event that the Chair, Vice-Chair and
Secretary are not present at a Staff Senate meeting. Added 3/10.
v. The Second Amendment was tabled until the next meeting. Proposed
changes:
1. Last Sentence – The Committee shall, at all times, be acting on behalf
of the WCU Foundation in the discharge of its duties.
2. Faculty Representation
vi. Tammy Frizzell will contact Legal Counsel, Development and the Faculty
Senate about the composition of the committee and changes to approved
wording.
e. Yard Sale Update (Tammy Frizzell)
i. Homer Harris cleaned out the Zamboni Room.
ii. Donations are rolling in. Small donations will be accepted at Tammy
Frizzell’s office, Killian Annex 224B. For large donations, Tammy Frizzell
will arrange a time to meet at the Zamboni Room.
iii. A signup sheet will be circulated.
Old Business
a. Ornaments (Tammy Frizzell)
i. The ornaments have arrived. The ornaments will go on sale in Catamount
Clothing and Gifts in July, 2011.
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March 10, 2011
VI.
ii. Food Drive Update (William Frady) The food drive has been extended until
the end of this week, March 11.
iii. Furlough (William Frady) - No further discussion at this time
Additional Discussion
a. Morale
i. Budget cuts have lead to reduced morale. Is there a way we can improve it?
1. The negative News Reports
2. Student Chalking on February 19
ii. One positive note is that the budget situation is not as grim as first feared.
iii. As Staff Senate Representatives, we can listen to our coworkers and help
them cope. We are their voice.
iv. The state may ease up the 6 month retirement clause to keep talent in the
work force. (Currently employees that retire from the system must wait 6
months before they can return to work within the system as a
temporary/part-time employee.)
v. The Professor that was in the news was acquitted but the story created a lot
of negative publicity.
vi. WCU was mentioned in USA Today. Their state roundup mentioned the job
cuts in Cullowhee.
vii. What is important is the esprit de corps. Pride is what matters. WCU has a
talented Staff that supports this university.
viii. We can speak our minds at the Staff Senate meetings.
ix. We can help those that have lost their jobs. Mention to them open searches.
Talk to them about their needs.
b. The Budget
i. Has anyone heard about the situation for 2012? Nothing really firm is
known. We will not have a clear idea of what will happen in 2011 until the
state’s receipts are posted in April.
ii. Nothing is set in stone yet. All that is on the table are proposals.
c. New bill (EPA non-faculty and SPA) – The Office of State Personnel gives way to a
university personnel system? More later.
d. Retirement – Will personnel have to work until age 60 regardless of years of service?
Currently an employee can retire with full benefits if they have 30 years of service.
i. Use the Orbit site to calculate your retirement benefits.
e. Health Care – Smoking would drop employees to the 70/30 plan in 2010. Is the
weight component on target for 2011?
i. For the weight you must have a BMI under 40.
ii. Everyone may be dropped to the 70/30. Employees may only be able to
have the 80/20 if they pay a premium.
iii. The Smoking Plan ran into lots of issues – travel time, test sites, are
employees paid for their time…..stay tuned….
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