Service Professional
Advisory Council
SPAC Minutes
January 22, 2015
8:30am – 10:00am
Babbitt Administration (Bldg #51) / Rm BA206
Present: see below
By Collaborate: see below
Absent: none
8:30am
Call to Order & Introductions
Called to order by Suzanne Siler with introductions, names and roles at NAU
Those on collaborate not introduced separately due to larger attendance.
Suzanne Siler, Chair
8:35 – 9:10am
Dr. Rita Cheng, NAU President
President’s Comments on State of NAU Affairs
President Cheng began with thanking all present for their service. Her goal in this meeting was to give us a summarized perspective on NAU’s
current successes and challenges and then offer open discussion / Q and A. Success indicators included continued growth in enrollment. Challenge
indicator is the economic downturn and NAU’s need to adjust from 22% of the budget from state appropriations to 20% in FY16. With a $77 million
budget cut to higher education, NAU’s portion is $13 million. We must look at all ideas throughout campus to address this issue from both short
and long term perspectives and avoid retrenching. Ideas include:

Personalized Learning and Extended Campuses - broaden these markets and increase national attention to our innovation which will have
ripple effect on traditional enrollment.

Strengthen ties to Native American students. We are currently noted in the top 10 schools for service, but should aspire to be No. 1.

Increase enrollment in International and Graduate programs.

Enhance community engagement, partnerships and collaboration. Examples include Flagstaff Medical Center in technology and
personalized health care; and new PhD in Astronomy and Biomedical programs that bring qualified graduate students and expanded
research with partners like Lowell Observatory and Gore.

Improve retention, find ways to “think outside of the box” and serve students more seamlessly, use data to inform best practices.

Enhance research opportunities where NAU attracts top scholars with access to grant funding.
Open Discussion - Q&A:
Q. New Hiring: with increased enrollment and retention, is there a plan for new hiring for faculty, staff and administrators to accommodate?
A. We will have new resources for this, but can’t hire ahead. We will experience some stress, but then “right size.” Administrative and student
leadership is analyzing best practices, parallels among divisions, and how best to collaborate.
Q. City of Flagstaff: how is the NAU relationship moving forward?
A. Development of student housing is continuing with good discussions regarding code of conduct and how to create better systems for educating
students at the end of the freshman year on how to be a good neighbor. The City needs to address zoning – there are not violations currently – but
NAU supports the full household concept vs the rent-by-bedroom concept to better support adult community behaviors.
Q. Space utilization, what is the status?
A. CollegeNET is running parallel with current systems and will allow us to optimize classroom space. We’ll schedule with priority for colleges and
their proximity to faculty, advising and administration, then open to the full campus as appropriate.
Q. Public/private partnerships: what about expanding the public/private partnerships to include transit and law enforcement?
A. Our transit partnership is in force with expansion planned. Sharing information among law enforcement entities is also in force, but combining
forces is not recommended.
Q. Technology: what about perceived reluctance from faculty/staff in pursuing full proficiency in technology?
A. Technology for teaching support is the focus. We have systems in place for peer mentoring and funding for innovation in the classroom but it
has to remain tied to retention efforts. We need to showcase the results from our classroom technology to show that a little seed money goes a
long way here.
Q. Budget: what is the timeline for the FY16 budget reduction? Are we in a hiring freeze?
A. Leadership Days are planned for students and administrators. Vice Presidents are reworking their budgets now – I’ve asked for 2-3 version to
consider. Again, we want to avoid retrenching. We will seek broader input from the divisions campus-wide. I have initiated cautious spending for
at least 5 months. We are in a hiring “frost” where I’ve asked the VPs to scrutinize carefully any replacement hires, consider reorganizations and
restructuring carefully so that we don’t make commitments we cannot keep.
Q. ABOR response to budget?
Service Professional
Advisory Council
A. Support for the new governor and recognition that he entered a difficult climate. We will continue to emphasize that higher education is a part
of the solution to build the workforce, attract and retain industry and new ideas. Short term we must work with cuts, but long term we must build
the value of higher education.
Q. University Leadership Program, will it continue?
A. Yes, it’s great and I support the continuation. This is a great way to open dimensions of the university so that the staff can realize how it works.
It facilitates cross-campus networking and collaboration.
Q. Grants and federal funding: what are plans for increasing for direct and indirect costs?
A. We are focused on bringing in young scholars and that the Deans can offer packages that recruit new talent competitively. Also, we are
recruiting senior scholars with good track records that bring funding with them.
9:10 – 9:30am
HR Update
Marcia Warden, Employee Relations Manager – Human Resources
Marcia offered a summary of the employee appraisal process and current changes in consideration:

This is an “enhancement” rather than a “revision.”

We are reviewing forms, process, training and accountability (supervisor focused).

Campus feedback, peer institution comparisons, and HR national organizations indicate a preference for a 4-point rating system which
will avoid the “middle ground” rating and force supervisors to decide whether the performance is consistently going beyond
expectations.

We have to consider the “human element” and that within a decentralized university campus, the supervisors must be very proactive in
defining the differentiation among ratings.

HR seeks feedback from all campus divisions on this issue with simplified forms ready for implementation in FY16.
Open Discussion Points:

4-point system pros and cons.

Consider increasing equity from supervisor to supervisor. HR’s supports this by promoting this among departments with focus towards
formulating key job description functions, analyzing % of each function within the whole, understand learning curves for more difficult
functions, etc.

Consider mandatory supervisor training.

Consider stated deadlines for goals submission.

Avoid future changes, consider committing to one system – teach and train to that system.
9:30 – 10:00am
SPAC Business
SPAC Committees

Supervisory Training (Brown Bag Lunches): Personality Training presented by Cassie (Anderson) Petit , HR is schedule for 2/20/15.
Completion of personality test prior is recommended but not required. More details forthcoming on this via email.

Service Projects: KNAU March 2015 fundraising drive. SPAC volunteers contact Suzanne directly.

Annual Meeting/Mixer: Tentatively scheduled for April 2015. Watch for email poll from Dylan Rust regarding pricing and budget options.
Suzanne polled for interest in either presenting a table at the CSAC Mixer or combining mixers, tabled until next meeting.
Minutes from November 2014: approved
Good of the order: no additions.
Meeting concluded at 10:00am
Next Meeting:
February 19, 2015
See attendees next page
Applied Research and Development (Bldg. 56), Large Pod, host: Mary-Kate Wolter
Service Professional
Advisory Council
SPAC Attendees, January 22, 2015
Last Name
First Name
Attended in Person
Adams
Jean
Alicee
Audrey
Badenhoust
Alisa
Bernstein
Yael
Brown
Brant
Brown
Christina
Carpenter
Kathleen
Coder
Marcille
Egan
Vanessa
Gillman
Elane
Goldberg
Cheryl
Graves
Andrea
Guerrero
Kelly
Hagin
Justin
Jackson
Felice
Krzyczkowski Alicia
Lang
Robin
Luttinen
Trevor
Martin
Darrelle
Miller
Shari
Morris
Kim
Nelson
Pat
Neuer
Tish
Paddock
Kristy
Rust
Dylan
Sanderlin
Jeremy
Sandoval
Albert
Schneider
Caprice
Sellers
Jenna
Siler
Suzanne
Stoffel
Dan
Swartz
Wendy
Warden
Marcia
Wildermuth
Debbie
Wolter
Mary Kate
Young
Mark
Department
ITS
OFFICE OF THE PROVOST
BUDGET
PAIR
UAO
BUDGET
PERSONALIZED LEARNING
BILBY RESEARCH CENTER
BUDGET
UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS & ORIANTATION
HUMAN RESOURCES
STUDENT LEARNING CENTER
HEALTH SCIENCES
STUDENT ACCOUNTS
ENROLLMENT SERVICES
UNIV. COLLEGE
CCC2NAU
ITS
PAIR
EXTENDED CAMPUSES
UNIV. MARKETING
SBS
EMSA Communications
CC2NAU-UC
CIE
ITS
COLLEGE OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
PAIR
STUDENT ACCOUNTS
HOTEL RESTURANT MGT
E-LEARNING CENTER
COMPLIANCE/ CONTROLS
HR
UNIV. COLLEGE
UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT
ITS
SPAC
Voting
Member
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Service Professional
Advisory Council
Attended through
Collaborate
Allender
Rebecca
Bai
Monica
Bajer
Sonya
Bergman
Robbie
Bradford
Eric
Buchanan
Jacque
Chief-Yazzie
Sharon
Crone
Carla
Erickson
Hannah
Fleece
Pam
Gidley
Matthew
Gomez
Bernadette
Hade
Jamie
Haven
Teresa
Laird
Tammy
Lauer
Susan
LaBranche
Kevin
Locarni
Tracy
Locicero
Jess
McCallie
Trey
McCarthy
Stephanie
Neeb
William
Presloid
Bernadette
Schenck
Renee
Servis
Dena
Snow
Cathy
Stalker
Andrea
Sutton
Brenda
Ullyot
Ben
Westerlund
Gail
Wilkinson
Elizabeth
HUMAN RESOURCES
GATEWAY STUDENT SUCCESS CENTER
HUMAN RESOURCES
COLLEGE OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
REGISTRAR
FINANCIAL AID
UNIVERSITY BUDGET OFFICE
HUMAN RESOURCES
STUDENT ACCOUNTS
HUMAN RESOURCES
EXTENDED CAMPUSES
EXTENDED CAMPUSES
GATEWAY STUDENT SUCCESS CENTER
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE
NAU-YUMA
GATEWAY STUDENT SUCCESS CENTER
ITS
REGISTRAR
ITS
E-LEARNING CENTER
ITS
NAU-YUMA
HUMAN RESOURCES
EXTENDED CAMPUSES
HUMAN RESOURCES
REGISTRAR
EXTENDED CAMPUSES
REGISTRAR
GRADUATE COLLEGE
UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT
x