Staff Senate
Full Senate Meeting
May 12, 2010
Senate Chambers
The meeting was called to order at 1:15 p.m. by President Scott. A quorum was present.
Roll Call
Guests: Doug Vinzant, Vice-President of Administration, Laura Alexander, Associate Vice
President of Human Resources
Senators Present: Aimee Appelhans, Ginny Becker, Bonnie Botello, Christi Byers, John
Campbell, Cyndi Cowardin, Cheri Frank, James Fuerholzer, Winter Hansen, Carolyn
Herman, Stacy Lane, Jamie LeJambre, Lori Lewis, James Logue, Rachel Martin, Kelly
McMicheal, Christy Nordmann, Thyra Page, Tod Scott, Diana Waggener, Linda
Waggener, Maureena Walker
Senators Absent: Amber Blough, Avery Cowardin, Al Emmons, Tonya Gerharter,
Jauque Schuman, Tina Walrath
Proxies: Valerie Vasquez for Kathi Zubrod
Approval of Minutes and Agenda
A motion to approve the April minutes and May agenda was made and seconded by Senators
Martin and Campbell. Motion passed with Senator LeJambre dissenting. A motion to approve
the April budget report (Attachment A) was made and seconded by Senators Nordmann and
Walker. Motion passed.
Administrative Reports
Vice President of Administration, Doug Vinzant, spoke about the Board of Trustees meeting
held May 5-7, 2010 (official report). The Board passed the largest bond issue in university
history ($44.3 million), which will enable construction on the Visual Arts facility (to begin late July
or early August) and renovation of Downey Hall (to begin in August). The bond also refunded a
previous bond series and saved the university $540,000 in interest expense.
The Board also passed the FY 2011 budget. For the first time in university history, the budget
exceeds $0.5 billion, with a total budget of just over $1 billion. (See Attachment B for VP
Vinzant’s budget presentation to the Board). The budget includes $5.2 million in stimulus
funding for operating expenses and $27 million in stimulus funding for major maintenance
expenses. Approximately $2 million of stimulus funding will be allocated to replace revenues
that would be generated from tuition increases in FY 2011. Essentially, the stimulus funds are
covering the tuition increase, instead of students having to pay the increase. Students will begin
paying the tuition increase in FY 2012. The increased tuition will support UW libraries, academic
department support budgets, and physical plant operations for new facilities on campus. VP
Vinzant reiterated that the budget reduction goals set last June will be completed at the end of
FY 2011.
Senator Nordmann asked for clarification on when students will see the tuition increase on their
tuition billing statements. Students will see a total of 10 percent tuition increase (FY 2011 and
FY 2012’s increases) beginning fall 2011. VP Vinzant noted that tuition funds are not being
utilized to compensate for budgetary shortfalls, as is common with many other institutions; UW
is comparatively in a very good fiscal position.
VP Vinzant noted that this year’s budget is the first to contain a comprehensive picture of the
university’s revenues. In the past, there have been sections of the budget haven’t been included
for review by the Trustees. Going forward, the Trustees will now approve ALL of the budget
revenues/expenses. Additionally, in the future there will be time for review of the budget prior to
the Trustees receiving it for approval.
VP Vinzant reported that the Central Salary Management (CSM) practice of limiting salaries of
new hires to 15 percent above the minimum salary level will continue, and will, in fact, be made
a permanent policy. The savings acquired will be allocated toward budget reductions. Staff
vacancies will continue to follow a careful authorization process.
In terms of construction progress, the Summit View area is being razed, with the first portion
coming down right now, and the second to be demolished mid-June. The university is
considering how best to utilize the 29 acres of land that will be made available. Options include
replacement housing, retail development, and game-day parking.
Senator Lewis inquired as to what process will be put in place to ensure that the university’s
salary matrix will be kept up-to-date so that the hiring rate is competitive. VP Vinzant responded
that one of the potential uses of CSM savings is to supplement or change the salary range
within the matrix.
VP Vinzant closed by thanking President Scott for stepping in to complete the Staff Senate
Presidential term and for doing a fine job representing Staff Senate at the Board of Trustees
meetings.
Associate VP Alexander reported that Web-based trainings are ready to ‘go live.’ Five options
will be available beginning this week. HR hopes to eventually offer 10 to 15 modules in an
online format. Associate VP Alexander is optimistic that these online offerings will help training
for UW employees in outreach locations.
Senator Martin inquired whether or not there is a cost for the online trainings. There is no cost to
UW employees. Should HR make the trainings available to non-UW entities/individuals, there
would be a small fee included.
Senator Campbell asked who is designing/administering the online trainings. These trainings
are purchased from a vendor and modified to fit UW’s needs.
The Performance Management Team has been making good progress toward drafting a new
performance management system. All minutes from the meetings will eventually be available
online. Senator LeJambre thanked Associate VP Alexander for making the minutes available to
staff.
President Scott asked why the Manager’s Power Hour brown bags were postponed. Associate
VP Alexander indicated that many changes have been taking place in the training division of
HR, so the Power Hour was cut as a matter of focusing resources on higher priority tasks.
Associate VP Alexander asked the Senate for their assistance in promoting enrollment in
retirement plans. Currently, if a new UW employee does not select a retirement plan, they are
defaulted into a money market account through TIAA-CREF. These accounts are not doing well,
and Associate VP Alexander is concerned about employees who are enrolled in them. Senator
LeJambre noted that there are a number of employees who would like to roll their retirement
accounts over from TIAA-CREF to Wyoming State Retirement or vice versa, but this is not
possible. It would be beneficial for UW employees if such an option was available. Senator
Appelhans expressed concern about the availability of adequate information about the various
plans and appropriate guidance in making a selection. She also noted that there is often not
enough time for employees to make a good decision, because New Employee Orientation is
usually long after the employee’s original hire date. The hire date is the benchmark for setting
the deadline to register for retirement plans.
Officer reports
President: President Scott mentioned that the Executive Committee discussed having
the new committee chairs attend EC meetings. He encouraged all new committee chairs
to plan on coming to EC meetings starting in June.
President Scott noted that the Trustees meeting went well. He has a lot of material from
the meetings, if anyone wishes to review it.
President Scott met with VP Vinzant, Associate VP Alexander, and former Senator
Forsythe Lefevre to discuss years of service awards for Staff Recognition Day. VP
Vinzant encouraged Senate to change the demarcation from a calendar year to anyone
who would achieve their milestone by the end of May.
Vice President: Senator Frank has been attending the Director/Administrator meetings.
She mentioned that the Freedom of Information Act has been brought up, and she
reminded Senators that e-mails are public information and can be requested for review
by the general public. Employees need to be careful about what is sent via e-mail.
Budget Officer: Senator Martin reported that there are some surplus funds to spend for
FY 2010. Senator Lewis asked who will make the decision about how surplus money will
be spent. She requested a list of expenditures. Senator Martin indicated that she would
attach a list to the budget report next month.
Old Business
Senator Lane has provided an electronic version of the Staff Senate Retreat agenda. The
retreat will be held May 26, 2010, and will combine new Senator orientation and traditional
retreat items. Senate officers and committee chairs will be conducting the retreat. Senator Lane
requested feedback on who plans to attend the retreat so that she can have an accurate
headcount for lunch.
New business
A motion was made and seconded to confirm Rebecca Ashley to Senate Seat #1 and Mark
Davidson to Senate Seat #3 by Senators Nordmann and LeJambre. Motion passed.
Senator Lane provided ballots passed for election of Senate Vice President, Secretary, Member
at Large and Parliamentarian. Candidate write-ups/resumes were included with the meeting
agenda. Newly elected officers include: Cheri Frank as Vice President, Lori Lewis as Secretary,
James Logue as Member at Large, and Jamie LeJambre as Parliamentarian.
Liaison reports
ASUW Representative: Senator LeJambre reported that ASUW is out of session for the
summer. She will continue to work with ASUW’s new officers and EC this summer, and
is coordinating with the ASUW Parliamentarian to speak at the Senate retreat.
Faculty Senate: No report.
Committee Reports
Communications Committee: Senator Waggener reported that Senator Campbell has
been elected the new Communication Committee chair. A final newsletter is being
compiled.
Compensation Committee: Senator LeJambre reported that Senator Byers has been
elected the new Compensation Committee chair. A primary topic that the committee has
discussed is monthly HR meetings. Associate VP Alexander has indicated that she does
not need to meet with the committee every month. The committee will meet with her in
June, however, to discuss some options for offering no-cost benefits to staff, such as
athletic ticket or other performing arts ticket discounts.
Credentials and Elections Committee: Senator Lane reported that election ballots will go
out on Monday for vacant seats or seats coming up for re-election. The elections will be
conducted online. Physical Plant Senators will need to communicate with their
constituents that if they cannot vote online, then they can request a paper ballot. The
new Credentials and Elections Committee chair will be Senator Nordmann.
Finances Committee: Senator Lane reported that $487 was made on the bicycle raffle
and $94 on the 50/50 raffle.
Recognition Committee: Senator Frank reported that the committee is working on getting
expenses/invoices finalized for SRD; the event came in under budget. She indicated that
the committee intends to discuss staff awards and how they are awarded before next
year’s SRD. Feedback from this year’s event has been mostly good. Leftover door prizes
and years-of-service awards were drawn for among Senators. The new Recognition
Committee chair is Senator McMicheal. See Attachment D for the Recognition
Committee report.
Open Forum
Senator LeJambre suggested that electronic files of Trustee meeting documents be provided to
Senators. She indicated that many are currently available in electronic format; for those that are
not, Senate could scan them. She would like to put the documents on the website to make them
available to constituents
The meeting was adjourned by President Scott at 2:24pm.
Respectfully submitted by Lori J. Lewis, Staff Senate Secretary and Lou Ann Chakmakian
Attachment A
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Attachment B
Return to Minutes
Attachment C
RETREAT 2010
Date
Location
May 26, 2010
Wyoming Technology Business Center Conference room 104
1938 Harney St
“A” parking and street parking available
Timeline:
8:00 – 9:00
Current and incoming Presidents and Vice Presidents
9:00 – 10:30
Officers & Chairs (new & old) discussing goals for upcoming year
Old officers bring committee book and jump drive
10:30 – Noon
New Senate Orientation (Officers and new senators since Oct 2009)
Committees
Full Senate Meetings
Expectations
Noon – 1:00
Catered Lunch (Full Senate)
1:00 – 1:15
Ice Breaker/ Team Building – Kelly
1:15 – 1:45
Communication – Tod, Cheri, Lori
Receiving/giving information to constituents
1:45 – 2:15
Web Page Ideas/WyoWeb/Facebook – Lori and Jamie
2:15 – 2:30
Break
2:30 – 3:00
Policies – Rachel, Jim and Kelly
Policy and Procedure handbook
3:00 – 3:30
Legislation – Jamie
Write bills & resolution / UniReg
Basic of Robert’s Rules
3:30 – 3:45
Budget – Rachel
3:45 – 4:00
Community projects – Stacy
4:00 – 4:30
Questions
There will be lunch from McAlisters and Exec will provide afternoon snacks.
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Attachment D
Staff Senate Recognition Day Committee Report
Prepared for Full Senate Meeting, May 2010
The Staff Senate Recognition Day Committee have been meeting every 2 weeks leading up to Staff
Recognition Day. Our most recent meeting was Friday, May 7, 2010
Present were: Kelly, Al, Cheri, Janean, Rachel, Linda
Congratulations on a job well done, more than 600 employees attended SRD. Door prizes were great,
nice assortment, most everything picked up. One note in case the carnival theme is followed and games
for prizes, limit one prize per person.
Overall positive comments received. Many people liked the less speeches, more free time at the end,
fruit skewers and food mostly good.
Negative comments: no coffee, pretzels not a huge hit, no tables, did not present advocate of staff
awards.
Major immediate concern and issue is the awards presented at SRD. Each member of the committee is
researching the history and qualification of the awards presented. This will be completed by our June
10th meeting. The committee wants to use this research in developing a guide book for SRD so there is
consistency in the process from year to year.
The SRD Committee has also been charged to write a bill recognizing their committee. We would like to
incorporate when possible or necessary the requirements for the awards presented at SRD including
years of service.
It was with sadness that we accepted the resignation of Senator Forsyth-LeFevre from the SRD
committee.
We also elected a new chair for 2011 SRD-Kelly McMichael has stepped forward and accepted the
position. The remaining seated senators on the committee have also agreed to continue serving and
would like to send a request to any new or current senator to sign up for SRD committee if interested.
Questions or concerns? Please contact Cheri Frank (cfrank1@uwyo.edu) Thanks.
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