Northern Illinois University
Supportive Professional Staff Council Meeting
MINUTES
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Heritage Room, 10:00 A.M.
Present
Pat Anderson, Nancy Apperson, Sam Baker, Monique Bernoudy, Terry Borg, Michelle
Bringas, Steve Builta, Kay Chapman, Bobbie Cesarek, Jes Cisneros, Jen Clark, Neil
Dickey, Deborah Haliczer, Julia Lamb, Todd Latham, Jonathon Ostenburg, Lyndon
Perkins, Michelle Pickett, Judy Santacatarina, Donna Smith, Roslyn Snell, Michael Stang,
Rachel Turner, Phil Young, Rita Yusko
Guests
Tim Griffin, Jay Monteiro, Ken Zehnder
Absent
Cliff Bottigliero, Dan House, Al Mueller, Grant Olson
I.
Call to Order
SPS Council President Bobbie Cesarek called the meeting to order at 10:05 AM.
II. Guest Speaker—Ken Zehnder, associate director, Office of External Affairs and
Economic Development. Introductions were made. Zehnder provided the Council with
an overview of state activities and that the upcoming national, state, and local elections
are being watched closely. November 14 begins the veto session. But Zehnder noted
that it is his sense it will be mostly a clean-up session due to the extended special
session this summer. Among the accomplishments, Zehnder reported on the following:
1) ethics bill was passed, pushed through by the speaker of the house, which prohibits
donations to constitutional officers in areas they oversee, and 2) a fund sweep was
approved to fund many of the underfunded areas in the budget. Zehnder reported on
upcoming events. The election in November will mark the end of the 95th general
assembly cycle. In January, everything starts over. So bills that did not get passed into
law will have to be reintroduced. Of the 6000-8000 bills, only about 300 were passed
into law. Of those that passed, there were none with great impact on higher education.
And there was no capital bill. The senate president is retiring so the dynamics of the
leadership in Springfield will change. The house will retain Mike Madigan as speaker.
Zehnder spoke about the impact of the constitutional convention, which will be put to
voters in November. He also noted that the economy is a big issue facing the state.
Income tax revenue is ahead of schedule and federal funding is coming in slowly but
should remain level, but all other revenues, such as gaming and sales tax are down.
And the legislature is not willing to override the governor on an income tax increase
during an election year. The university is now in the budget cycle for FY 2010. The
president and his staff will soon meet with the chair of the IBHE for an overview and to
discuss processes and issues facing higher education. On October 20 there will be a
public hearing with the IBHE on campus. In November the IBHE will have its
recommendations.
Cesarek asked, if the constitutional convention is approved, how are delegates selected.
Zehnder responded that there are a lot of unknowns in this process. If it passes it goes
to the legislature to determine the procedures. Petitions for candidates would go on a
ballot in a special election. Apperson asked about the security of employees’ pensions.
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Zehnder said that our pensions are guaranteed by the constitution. He added that
underfunding of the pensions is a concern, but not an immediate one.
A. The agenda was approved with the following additions:
Committees of the Council—move Workplace Issues to after Vice-President’s
Report.
B. A motion was made and seconded to approve the September 11, 2008, minutes.
Motion passed unanimously. Dickey asked if the minutes could also be provided
to Council members in pdf format. Smith agreed to work on that.
Attendance was taken and a quorum was confirmed.
III. Announcements
A. National Coming Out Day. It’s officially October 11, but will be observed today,
October 9. Smith and Haliczer reported that they had extra stickers for anyone
interested in wearing one.
B. Retirement Seminar. Haliczer reported that an employee does not need to be ready
to retire to attend. Representatives from SURS and social security will talk about
pensions. She also reminded the Council that anyone at any time may speak with a
retirement counselor.
C. Ethics Training. Haliczer reported that mandatory ethics training will take place
October 16 through November 14 and added that there are more examples that are
specific to university situations. It is more relevant than it has ever been. Haliczer
reported that the first five departments with 100% compliance will receive homemade
cookies. Ostenburg reported that next year the burden will be on the university to
create the software and administer the training. Cesarek asked about the costs and
Haliczer responded that Human Resources does not have that information yet, but a
number of universities have agreed to work with the University of Illinois.
D. Flu Shots. Apperson reported that the second date for free flu shots for NIU
employees is November 13, 2:00-4:00, HSC Regency Room. About 700 employees
took advantage of the first time the shots were offered.
E. HRS Satellite Office. Haliczer reported that thanks in part to the efforts of the SPSC
and OSC, there will be an HRS Satellite Office in Swen Parson. There will be an
insurance counselor and other employees to answer questions and provide most of
the services that the staff in the main office provide.
IV. Committees of the Council
A. Awards
Haliczer reported that SPS may apply for the Faculty Development SPS Grants for
the January to July 2009 time period. There will be a workshop on November 3, 121. She encouraged SPS to apply so the funds get used. The call for nominations for
the SPS Presidential Award for Excellence will go out October 22 with a deadline of
December 3, 2008.
B. Communications
No report.
C. Constitution and Elections
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No report.
D. Events
Chapman reported that the committee is planning for the next event, November 12,
11:30-1:00 in the Chandelier Room. To offer an event for a cheaper price, the
committee decided to have the fee be $2.00 for dessert and beverage with attendees
bringing their own lunches if they choose. In the spring, the committee is planning
two luncheons. Chapman checked on alternative locations, including the Blackhawk,
and they will reserve a section of the cafeteria for an SPS lunch at no charge. Then
attendees can provide their own lunches. The committee also discussed another
retreat and decided that it would be more beneficial to have a retreat every other
year rather than annually. Chapman will be getting in touch with the
Communications Committee regarding a flyer for the November lunch. Cesarek
reported that she took the leftovers from the October lunch to Hope Haven.
E. Finance
No requests for funds have been forwarded to her, but there will be money spent on
advertising the November and spring luncheons.
F. Legislative
No report.
G. Technology Resources
Ostenburg reported that changes will be made to Groupwise in the upcoming
weekend. The main change is that employees’ aliases will appear in the “from” box
rather than the longer, less recognizable string of loginid@wpo.niu.edu, etc.
H. Workplace Issues
Perkins presented the Council with a list of issues in rank order after Council input.
The first three items, supervisory training, definition of a reasonable workload, and
performance reviews, are all related. He added that mandatory supervisory training
would help improve defining a reasonable workload and performance reviews.
Haliczer reported that a proposal for mandatory supervisory training is in the works.
Cesarek added that the committee should continue to work on this issue and that
there is support from members of the president’s cabinet including Provost Alden
and Steve Cunningham. Perkins suggested that the committee could look at
supervisory training at other institutions including Alden’s former institution, UNLV.
Haliczer noted that the proposal is for mandatory supervisory training for all
supervisors except maybe for those who only supervise student workers. It would be
one half-day workshop, with strong encouragement for supervisors to voluntarily
attend other workshops. Haliczer, Cunningham, Karen Baker, and Celeste Latham
are working on the content, which should include fairness, nondiscrimination, and job
evaluations. Haliczer stated that once Cunningham has reviewed the proposal, he
will present it to the president’s cabinet. When they’ve approved it, HRS will act
quickly to implement the procedure. Apperson asked about the inclusion of soft skills
(e.g., self-control, transparency, empathy, conflict management) and Haliczer
responded that it would include more of compliance and rules, but it is the soft skills
that employees have issues with that have come forward on surveys. Cesarek
asked if an SPS representative could be present at the cabinet meeting for the
discussion to show support. Haliczer also thought that having statistical data from
the SPS survey and from Apperson and Griffin’s offices would be good support as
well. Haliczer will also check with Cunningham to see if Cesarek could be present
for that part of the cabinet meeting. Perkins noted that the Council needs to put
forward their recommendation that this supervisory training be mandatory. Clark
added that employees should know what is expected of their supervisors to help
them feel more empowered that all employees are being treated equally. Ostenburg
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asked if this wasn’t also an issue for operating staff. Operating Staff Council (OSC)
President Jay Monteiro stated that the OSC has not discussed this formally, but it is
an issue for them as well. Cesarek stated that she will share the information with
Monteiro for him to present to the OSC, but she added that the SPSC needs to keep
moving forward on the issue. She asked Haliczer about the timing of the proposal
that is in process. Haliczer responded that the HR committee would be meeting in
November and Cunningham will forward the proposal to the cabinet later when the
draft is finished. She also noted that this will impact SPS since SPS have the
highest percentage of the supervisors on campus. She added that it is hoped to
expand orientation to cover some of the same issues to be covered in the mandatory
supervisory training. Perkins made a motion, seconded by Apperson, that the
Council should write a letter to President Peters and his cabinet in support of
mandatory supervisory training. Snell asked if the letter should include that this be
infused into the mission of the university. Haliczer suggested that the language of
the letter parallel language (institution/employer of choice) from the strategic
planning process (i.e., making NIU an institution of choice for students, faculty, and
staff). Motion passed unanimously.
Cesarek brought the issue of reasonable workload. How does the Council let
administrators know how many SPS are working more than 37.5 hours per week?
State employees are being required to be more accountable for their time. Haliczer
noted that there are data from the 2001 survey and from the pilot program where a
sample of employees are reporting how they spend their time on their benefits usage
forms. She added that the Council could do a survey focusing on this issue. Young
asked if the supervisor updated job descriptions with HRS when they add duties.
Haliczer responded that that is the employee’s responsibility. Clark asked about the
definition of “reasonable workload.” Haliczer noted that it is usually defined as
however many hours it takes to get the job done within reasonable limits, but there is
no definition of “within reasonable limits.”
I.
Vice President
Latham reported that the new director of Campus Parking is Kristin Waddell. The
Campus Parking Committee also discussed issues with the lot at Anderson Hall.
There have been complaints that there aren’t enough blue spots and the need for
those has increased due to the decrease in available spots in the Campus Life
Building parking lot. The Libraries Advisory Committee reported that cell phones will
no longer be restricted to the lobby and stairwells as long as cell phone users are not
disturbing others. Also the library staff is looking at ways to be more welcoming for
group projects, and journals will be reclassified and will follow the Library of
Congress numbering. The Unity in Diversity Committee reported on the number of
contests they sponsor and that Deaf Awareness Week is November 3-7. Young
stated that he is on the Campus Security Environmental Quality Committee and they
have not met, although Young feels that they should be meeting. Discussion
followed regarding rules of committees of the university and how often they should
be meeting. Haliczer expressed her thought that the rule is that university
committees should be meeting on a regular basis. Griffin noted that if the committee
reports to the University Council, that may be the body for Young to approach
regarding getting this committee to meet.
V. Old Business
A. SPS Between Hours.
See report under Special Events Committee.
B. Constitutional Amendment.
Remains tabled.
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C. Materials to Archives.
Smith reported that she still could use minutes from all of 2000, SeptemberDecember, 2002; March-April, 2003; June-August 2003; May 2004; August 2004;
and October 2004.
D. SPS Sabbaticals.
The ad-hoc committee (Haliczer, Lux, Stang) continues to work on this project.
E. Grievance Procedure.
The committee is planning to meet to review a draft of a proposal.
F. Ride Share.
Cesarek reported that the site is up and running but she hasn’t had a chance to try it.
G. Meeting with President Peters.
Dickey asked Cesarek if MyNIU was discussed when she met with Peters. She
responded that the meeting was more of a chance for him to let the shared
governance leaders know what’s happening on campus and not a chance for them to
ask questions. Discussion followed regarding the proper channels for reporting
problems with academics and that those issues should be brought to the Provost’s
Office. One of the concerns with MyNIU is levels of access. Other Council members
reported awareness of the issues. Perkins added that once all the kinks are worked
out, MyNIU will be a great tool.
VI. New Business
A. Foundations of Excellence (First Year Student Experience) and Baccalaureate
Review – Steering Committee Members.
Cesarek reported that she was asked to provide the names of individuals to
represent SPS on the Foundations of Excellence (First Year Student Experience)
and Baccalaureate Review – Steering Committees. Jacky has agreed to serve on
the Foundations of Excellence (First Year Student Experience) Steering Committee
and Smith has agreed to serve on the Baccalaureate Review Steering Committee.
Apperson made a motion, seconded by Ostenburg, to support these two
appointments. Motion carried with one abstention.
B. Judicial Advisory Board.
Cesarek reported that the Council needs to name a representative for the Judicial
Advisory Board. Bernoudy has been the representative. Cesarek stated that when
there is a judicial issue there is a hearing panel and this person would be asked to sit
in on the hearing panel. Latham added that these typically involve academic
misconduct and that the hearings provide students with due process. Ostenburg
asked about the time commitment and Bernoudy responded that it is probably a
couple of hours per month. The following Council members volunteered to be
considered for the board: Dickey, Lamb, and Ostenburg. Apperson made a motion,
seconded by Turner, that Cesarek forward these names to Larry Bolles, director,
Judicial Affairs. Motion passed unanimously.
VII. University Committee Reports
A. BOT. Cesarek provided a report from Paul Stoddard and that most of this
information was already shared with the Council through the BOT committee reports.
B. University Council report. Cesarek reported that Alden expressed his support of
strategic planning initiatives and the administration is revising what can feasibly be
accomplished under the new budget. Cesarek also reported that the 2009 Holiday
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Calendar was approved with January 2, 2009, to be a schedule closure with
employees using their vacation benefits or taking the day without pay. She added
that the Council’s comments about additional closures were received by HRS, but
they decided not to pursue the closures on December 22 and 23, 2008. Ostenburg
asked if there would be language in the announcement that employees could use
flex time to make up the time lost on January 2, 2009. Monteiro stated that the
official memo would go out later today.
VIII.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 12:00.
Minutes submitted by Donna Smith, SPSC secretary.
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