Northern Illinois University
Supportive Professional Staff Council Meeting
MINUTES
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Sky Room, 10:00 A.M.
Present
Nancy Apperson, Susan Armbrust, Sam Baker, Frankie Benson, Steve Builta, Bobbie Cesarek,
Kay Chapman, Abby Chemers, Andre Crittenden, Dana Gautcher, Norden Gilbert, Deborah
Haliczer, Sabrina Hammond, Gail Jacky, Todd Latham, Steve Lux, Mark McGowan, Grant
Olson, Lyndon Perkins, Michelle Pickett, Donna Smith, Michael Spires, Rachel Turner
Guests
Tim Griffin, Angie Vargas
Absent
Monique Bernoudy, Dan House, Al Mueller, Derrick Smith
I.
Call to Order
SPS Council President Cesarek called the meeting to order at 10:05 AM.
A. The agenda was approved with an addition to the following:
Announcements:
E. Biennial Conference for Women
F. Diversity Equity Awards
New Business
D. Grievance Committee
E. Resolution for Virginia Tech
B. A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the March 13, 2008,
meeting. Motion carried.
Attendance was taken and a quorum was confirmed.
II. Announcements
A. SPS Awards Recognition and SPS After Hours
1. SPS Awards Recognition: Tuesday, April 15, 2008, from 2-4:30 p.m. in the
Duke Ellington Ballroom. President Peters will begin his presentation at 2:30
p.m.
2. SPS After Hours: Thursday, April 17, 2008 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the Marshall
Gallery. It was noted that invitations were sent out to administrators. Chemers
asked for help with set up and tear down.
B. Follow-up/Status meeting with Steve Cunningham
A meeting is scheduled for April 14. Cesarek announced that the following items will
be discussed: status report on job descriptions; permanent secretary position for
Council meetings; salary survey process, an individual will be hired for this, however,
they will be discussing what the status is currently. Cesarek will report back to the
Council in May meeting.
C. Meeting with President Peters/pending--SPS Survey Results
1
A meeting is scheduled for April 21. Cesarek noted that all the survey materials
have been e-mailed to Cunningham, Peters, and Provost Alden for their review prior
to the meeting. Cesarek will report back to the Council in May.
D. Policies and Procedures from Committee Chairs
Cesarek reminded the committees that they should be working on their policies and
procedures, but she has extended the deadline to August, 2008.
E. Biennial Conference for Women
Cesarek reported that the conference is scheduled for May 7 and May 8, 2008, at the
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign campus. Any interested employee should
notify their immediate supervisor. For additional information you may go to the
conference website: www.theconferenceforwomen.com or see a memorandum sent
by Cunningham on April 9, 2008. Cesarek asked Council members to share this
information.
F. Diversity Equity Awards
Pickett announced the awards are scheduled for April 17, 2008. The reception will
begin in the Duke Ellington Ballroom at 6 p.m. and the ceremony will be at 7 p.m.
There is no cost for the event.
III. Committees of the Council
A. Awards: Haliczer reported on Faculty Development Grants. Proposals are due April
18.
B. Communications: No report.
C. Constitution and Elections: Gilbert noted that everyone who was nominated should
have received a notice regarding elections earlier this week. The deadline to submit
the responses in order to run in the election is scheduled for April 18. He stated that
each division except for the Division of Athletics has a sufficient number of
candidates. Most of the nominees have responded promptly. He also noted that
most of the nominees who declined said that they did so due to lack of time. Gilbert
asked Council members to let him know if there are problems with balloting.
Discussion followed regarding the Policy on University Service. Cesarek noted that
the OSC is voting this morning on the revisions the SPSC made at their last meeting.
It is her hope that it gets finalized this semester. Gilbert added that the policy is not
strong enough and does not state that part of being an NIU employee is service. Lux
suggested that a flyer that outlines the time commitment be sent to nominees and
Gilbert responded that such a statement is sent to the nominees. There was
additional discussion regarding providing more information on the Council to
nominees, anything that might get more people excited about serving. An Ad Hoc
Committee was formed consisting of Haliczer, Jacky, and Benson to put together a
one-page user’s guide for the Council. Gilbert then commended Ostenburg for all his
work on the elections.
D. Finance: No report.
E. Legislative: Chemers announced that the April 3 hearings at the Senate went very
well. She stated there will be a special NIU House meeting on April 16. State
revenues are significantly short for the current fiscal year. Cesarek asked if
Chemers knew when the budget would be decided on and Chemers responded that
she did not know. Cesarek also noted that input on salary increments has yet to be
asked for. She reminded Council members that in the past it was decided that any
2
increments at or below a cost of living increase should be across the board. Any
increments above cost of living could be used for merit. There was general
consensus among Council members that this continues to be the Council’s
recommendation. She asked Council members to think about polling their
constituents for feedback.
F. Technology Resources: Ostenburg is working on the instructions for how
representatives may e-mail their division constituents.
G. Workplace Issues: Haliczer reported that they are reviewing the survey results,
looking at the status of temporary SPS, and looking at tuition waiver issues (the
policy is different for different classifications of employees). A notice about SPS
evaluations is due to go out soon to all supervisors. Cesarek suggested that SPS
ensure that they have an up-to-date job description.
H. Vice President’s Report
Latham reported on the Computing Facilities Advisory Committee meetings. On
March 7, a $150,000 upgrade to the video conference equipment was approved for
Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Gable Hall. Issues discussed on
February 11 were GroupWise update to version 7.02; types of text messaging
services and other high tech procedures, which are currently still being evaluated;
and estimated costs of $3 million for the Fall 2009 semester for upgrading the
computers in the labs to Vista. Latham reported on the Strategic Planning process
and that several proposals are moving forward.
IV. Old Business
A. Benefits Choice
Haliczer announced that there will be two time periods for the benefit choices, the
usual May 1-31, with another still to be determined, but she noted that it will be
sometime during the summer or fall. However the benefits period will still be
effective on July 1, 2008. Due to the different benefits choice periods, it was decided
not to do a Benefits Choice Fair. Instead there will be several information sessions
on available benefits. She also reported that the booklet employees normally receive
may not be sent out at all and will only be available at a website. She added that it
has not been clarified what can or cannot be changed during the second benefits
choice period and that employees will want to make their choices during the first
period as if that were the only period they will have.
Haliczer announced she will attend the state briefing on April 23 and will make sure
that any pertinent information is directed to Cunningham for him to include in the
memorandum he sends out to all faculty and staff.
V. New Business
A. President’s Cole Hall Advisory Committee
Cesarek announced that she has received 90 responses thus far regarding Cole
Hall. Cesarek will provide Latham with a tally on the suggestions and number in
favor of each suggestion. Latham will be attending the committee meeting on April
11 for Cesarek. Some of the suggestions for handling Cole Hare were: 1) renovate
Cole Hall and continue to use it as classroom space, 2) renovate Cole Hall for a
different purpose, 3) make part of it a memorial and the rest storage space,
administrative space, etc., 4) convert Cole Hall into a center for non-violence, peace.
Per Cesarek, the majority preferred the first option and all who responded seemed to
have appreciated the opportunity to be able to provide their comments. She added
3
that any thoughts on a memorial were forwarded to Lux, Peska, and Stang who are
on the Memorial Committee.
B. SPS Council Calendar for 2008-2009
Cesarek noted that there has been one change to the SPS Council calendar. The
meeting originally scheduled for November 13, 2008, has been changed to
November 20 due to a conflict with the Board of Trustees committees meeting on
November 13. A motion was made to approve the SPSC calendar by Chemers,
seconded by Spires. Motion passed unanimously. Smith will post the SPSC
calendar on the website. Thus far the Sky Room and Blackhawk West have been
reserved for Council meetings and executive committee meetings respectively
through the month of December with the exception of the October 9, 2008, meeting,
which will be held in the Heritage Room. When new members are elected,
Ostenburg will send out electronic appointments via Groupwise to all current and
new members as standing meetings.
C. Sabbaticals
Cesarek announced that Cunningham sent an e-mail about SPS sabbaticals.
Haliczer stated that she will forward the e-mail to any Council members who did not
receive it. It was proposed to have a Sabbaticals Ad Hoc Committee again and the
committee members are Haliczer, King, and Lux. Fifty sabbaticals have been
approved; however, none are for SPS because no SPS employees applied. Per
Haliczer, many SPS employees do not realize they can apply for sabbaticals. The
Sabbaticals Ad Hoc Committee will work on getting information out to SPS about
sabbaticals. It was noted that NIU’s Board of Trustees are very supportive of
sabbaticals, but the national trend is that they are decreasing, if not being eliminated
all together. Lux suggested that half-time sabbaticals be investigated and that SPS
supervisors may be more supportive of that.
D. Grievance Committee
Cesarek noted that she received a notice from Donna Mathesius to provide an
updated list of names for the Grievance Committee. Discussion followed as to who
had the current list and it was suggested that either Don Bramlett and/or Mathesius
would have the list. Per Spires, there are two types of panels. The first is for a
general grievance and the panel can consist of all employment classifications. The
second panel is for termination for cause and consists only of SPS. Cesarek asked
Latham to work on this issue.
E. Resolution for Virginia Tech
Cesarek stated that she has a note indicating that President Peters would like to
have a resolution from each of the shared governance bodies at NIU regarding
Virginia Tech because a contingency from NIU will be traveling to Virginia Tech to
observe the first anniversary of the shooting there. Due to the short amount of time
available, Spires suggested that a motion be made to approve that a small group
prepare the resolution. Haliczer made that motion, seconded by Baker. Motion
passed unanimously. Council members to work on the resolution are Cesarek,
Jacky, Latham, and Spires. The group will meet on April 14 to prepare the resolution
and will forward to Peters. Council members present at today’s meeting provided
their signatures.
VI. University Committee Reports
A. Board of Trustees. President’s e-report.
B. Faculty Senate. President’s e-report.
C. University Council. President’s e-report. Cesarek elaborated on the e-report. She
announced that the title for the Faculty Personnel Advisor was changed to Faculty
4
and SPS Personnel Advisor and will be listed as such in the by-laws. The University
Council also discussed concerns about funding sources for the faculty personnel
advisor position, which has been funded in the past by the individual’s college. It
was suggested to house this and similar positions such as the Ombudsman under
the University Council.
VII. Other Business
Lux reported on the progress of the Memorial Committee. The committee consists of 40
people with good representation. Lux and Stang are the SPS representatives. Per Lux,
the first meeting was held on April 9. He added that Peters wanted it communicated
that any and all suggestions would be taken into account. Lux noted that there were 30
different criteria that people felt were important to consider. Any comments can be sent
to memorial@niu.edu or to Lux or Stang. The next meeting is May 1, with May 31 being
the deadline to report all findings to Peters. Currently there has been over $60,000
raised for the memorial fund. Lux encouraged everyone to visit the temporary memorial
currently located in Altgeld Hall.
VIII.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 11:20 a.m.
Minutes submitted by Angie Vargas, recording secretary and Donna Smith, SPSC secretary
5