START
Meeting Minutes
DATE: FEBRUARY 19, 2015
LOCATION: SACRAMENTO HALL 161
TIME START: 2:00 PM TIME END: 3:00 PM
ATTENDANCE LOG
MEMBERS PRESENT
SUZANNE BRACAMONTE
DEAUNDRIA BROOKS
LAUREN GARRETT
JOEY MARTINEZ
EMILY PARMELEE
EDELSA REYES
ANDREW STIFFLER
SARAH WHYTE
AGENDA
WELCOME BACK!
PROJECTS UPDATE
MEMBERS ABSENT
AMY PETERS
OTHERS PRESENT
ACTIONS
START members were welcomed back with the first meeting of 2015. Sarah
shared with members some of the upcoming events in ABA.
Including:
 March 18, ABA Speaker Series
 April 22, VP Coffee & Conversation
 April 23, VP Coffee & Conversation
 May 1, ABA Staff Professionals
 June 3, ABA Spring Social
Sarah shared with START members the newly completed New Employee
Portfolio. The portfolio was printed by Reprographics, and half of the 50
ordered have been received. The portfolio contains helpful resources and
information about ABA, including a newly crafted Message from the Vice
President, organizational information, maps, brochures, and information about
ABA programs for staff, etc. Sarah recently sent out an email to managers
informing them of the availability of the portfolios, and several requests have
already been received.
An orientation website for new ABA employees has also been completed, and
features mostly the same resources and information as the portfolio.
Andrew shared with START members the framed ABA Mission, Vision, Values,
and Code of Conduct documents which have been delivered to each office
within ABA. These frames will be hung/displayed in each office, as to remind
employees to keep them in mind in their work. Initial feedback from START
members and managers has been very positive.
WINTER SOCIAL DEBRIEF
LEADERSHIP AWARDS DEBRIEF
START members discussed the Winter Social, which took place on December 17,
2014. Feedback from START members was positive. The liked the venue (Alumni
Center) as well as the food.
Sarah and Andrew led a discussion about the Leadership Peer Awards that took
place on December 1, 2014.
START members enjoyed seeing their colleagues recognized, but expressed
some dissatisfaction with how large some of the teams were. Some members
felt that recognizing and awarding large teams was cumbersome/overwhelming
and hard to follow.
FALL NEWSLETTER DEBRIEF
SPRING NEWSLETTER BRAINSTORM
SUSTAINABILITY WEBSITE LAUNCH
Andrew shared with the group that considerations were made for the large
teams. The order of the teams, as well as the order of the names, were
arranged to help reduce overall confusion. The sheer size of several of the
teams still made it difficult, although the event went smoothly.
START members were asked to provide feedback on the most recent newsletter
that was released last fall.
Reception was very positive. Members specifically mentioned that they liked
the Staff Spotlight and the ABA Reads sections. A suggestion was made to
include more backgrounds/profiles of people in ABA.
Sarah and Andrew asked START members for ideas or volunteers for the next
newsletter scheduled to release spring 2015.
Ideas included:
 Profiles on staff persons who set goals
 New paint on police building to make it stand out/more recognizable at
night
 Behind the Scenes - ride-a-long with University Police
 Behind the Scenes - profiling staff who are enrolled in courses at Sac
State
 ABA Talents – Nat Martin and his passion for Martial Arts. Suzanne
Bracamonte and her new business of bison milk gelato.
Andrew has been working with representatives from Sustainability to re-launch
their website. Originally produced by ATS, the new site is contained within the
WCM and will allow for easier editing by sustainability staff.
Efforts have been made for the website to appear and function like the existing
site. Finishing touches are being made and the new site should launch
sometime next week.
RECORDED BY: ANDREW STIFFLER 2/24/2015