WCU Staff Forum Meeting Minutes
November 10, 2005, 8:30 a.m.
UC Cardinal Room
Member present: Nancy Carden; Ronnie Amster; Marvin Bumgarner; Elizabeth Frazier; William
Frady; Mike Stewart; Cory Causby; Bill Studenc; Terry Riouff; Julie Walters-Steele; Jeff Gunter
Members absent: Alicia Estes (excused); Dawne Coward (excused); Sue Grider; Homer Harris;
Katie Spears (excused); Michelle Sutton; Jed Tate (excused)
Guest: Tom Johnson
The meeting was called to order by Terry Riouff.
Approval of agenda: The agenda for today’s meeting was approved unanimously.
Approval of minutes: The October 13, 2005 minutes were approved as presented.
Information items: The next Executive Committee meeting is scheduled
forThursday,December 1, 2005, 2:00 p.m. in HFR 540. The next Staff Forum meeting is
scheduled for Thursday,December 8, 2005, 8:30-10:30 a.m., Cardinal Room, UC.
There will be a University-wide videoconference Friday, November 11, 2005beginning at
10:30 in the University Outreach Center.
Tom Johnson, Chief of Police at Western Carolina University, was introduced and gave a brief
overview of his vision in serving as Director of University of Police. Tom would like for our
University Traffic Office to become accredited and mentioned that the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill and NC State are already accredited. Accreditation increases the level of services
and competencies of our employees. We are bringing a “parking consultant” to campus. An email
will be going out later this week announcing a University-wide meeting with this consultant. We
encourage everyone’s participation.
A week or so ago the Traffic Office began “wheel locking” in an attempt to control/prevent
parking indiscretions. Issuing tickets has not worked in the past. When a vehicle is “wheel
locked”, two fees will be incurred. Wheel locking is not exclusive to any particular population.
Mr. Johnson said we have seen a large increase in the area of alcohol abuse. Anyone arrested for
being highly intoxicated has the option of going to the hospital or going to jail. The University is
not and will not be liable for someone not waking up in their place of residence. Hopefully this
drastic stance will limit this particular type of citation.
The Parking, Traffic and Safety Subcommittee is being resurrected and making an effort to be
proactive. If you have issues of concern, please present these items to someone on this
committee.
Office of Human Resources Report:
There was extensive discussion of Career banding. An email was sent out a week or so ago about
the freeze on SPA positions and reclassification. HR staff time has been diverted toward the
career banding implementation. IT Services and University Police staff are the first employees to
be career banded. Dr. Bardo has designated monies to be set aside for this. Patrick McCoy, the
liaison from the Office of State Personnel, has been on campus and a considerable amount of
time has been spent with him learning the conversion process.
Administrative staff will be the next group of employees implemented into career banding. A town
hall meeting is highly recommended to enlighten employees about this issue. Career banding will
place employees within 1 of 10 categories, rather than the current 1 of 6,000 classifications. An
item of particular importance is that SPA employees will still fall under the governance
of the State Personnel Act. Some employees have been misled to the belief that being career
banded removes them from the protection of the State Personnel Act. The goal of career banding
is to make our campus more competitive.
Kathy said she is not sure at this point if “in-range” salary adjustments are still in place for this
academic year. Kathy has not had time to discuss this with Chuck Wooten.
Whereas the holiday schedule for 2006 has not yet been approved, Kathy sought our thoughts on
the University being closed next year (2006) at Christmas on Friday. This way the University will
actually get to observe New Year’s Day on January 1. The vote was unanimous for the University
to be closed that Friday. Individuals need to be informed well in advance so arrangements can be
made if insufficient leave is a problem.
Chancellor’s Office Report:
Dianne stated that EPA non-faculty are currently undergoing performance evaluations. The
Executive Council worked almost a year to develop this performance evaluation tool. This means
that everyone on campus is now being evaluated. Dianne said there are a lot of things going on
in the Chancellor’s office. The Chancellor was given the Golden Eagle Award last night. This award
is given to individuals who have a huge impact in the area of economic development. Dr. Bardo
was very humbled by the presentation of this award.
Mark Basnight and John Snow were on campus yesterday. In Mark’s speech last night, WCU was
highly esteemed for all the efforts of late with particular compliments for the programs we are
offering and the beautification efforts.
Western has had various individuals visiting our campus of late. It’s amazing how our little efforts
reap huge benefits. We have a mandate from the UNC System to grow as a University and we are
all responsible in this area of RETENTION. The Chancellor is most appreciative of the hospitality
we display to campus visitors.
The University received a rather sizeable gift this week, which will have a huge impact on one of
our colleges. More information will be provided at a later time. The Director of University Planning
( Troy Barksdale) is retiring in December and his replacement (Raymond Barclay) will begin in
January 2006. This position is undergoing a name change.
Campus Committee Reports: University Advisory Council – Cory said that the UAC website is
undergoing a few changes in order to be compliant with SACS standards. Keith Stiles has agreed
to bring the website up to date with the changes being completed within a week’s time. Parking
rules/regulations will also be updated. Discussion is underway to place a speed-bump in front of
the Print Shop to help slow down traffic coming from The Village. There is also a recommendation
that a 3-way stop be placed at the intersection of the area behind the old Bookstore and the road
going toward the Print Shop. Lastly, Cory said that the tuition waiver issue is being revisited.
Some would like to see children and spouses of employees eligible for tuition waivers. Calendar
Committee – No report.
SF Committee Reports: Human Resources : William said the committee is still checking into a
budget for the Staff Forum. There is some concern that the 1st career banding and the salary
study will cause a “double-dipping” effect. We can’t discriminate against the first two areas of
career banding when the administrative staff might possibly have the same thing occur. Resource
and Environment: Jeff reported that the pay rate for “on call” staff has been raised from $.94 per
hour to $2.00 per hour.
Public Relations: No report.
Scholarship: No report.
Governance: No report; however, the Committee will be meeting very soon.
Issues Status Report: None.
New Business:
Discussion centered around the University-wide email that was sent from the Staff Forum to
solicit morale-boosting ideas. These suggestions were discussed and are being channeled to the
appropriate Staff Forum Committee or area coordinator.
The idea of having an employee spring luncheon was mentioned. We will continue with this
discussion at a later date. We will need to be fairly resourceful to aid employees in the area of
morale since we are limited in the ways we can help.
Meeting adjourned at 10:22 a.m.