UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD
STAFF ASSOCIATION MEETING MINUTES
January 11, 2012, Mortensen Library – 1:00 pm
PRESENT:
Lynn Galvin, Nancy Fields, Evelyne Haldimann, Ben Ide, Bonny Barsi, Kathleen Hayden,
Carla Fuller, Cheryl MacMath, Erik Pavesic, Jessica Abbott, Valerie Gilleran, Jamie
Aueiello, Jillian Holt, Deb Boyle, Karen Degrace, Nancy Clubb, Kathe Snow, Jen Conley,
Barbara Dessureau, Holly Stevenson, and Connie Yoczik.
MINUTES: Meeting minutes for the November 9th meeting were discussed. A question was raised
regarding the date referred to in the Budget Advisory Report (BAT) in the sentence,
“Suggestions were made regarding the 2013 merit increase.” The term fiscal year was not
mentioned, so it was unclear if the reference was being made to calendar year 2013 or
fiscal year 2013. Another question was raised in the same report regarding the reference
to “the formation of a new committee called Foundation for the Future.” It was believed
that the accurate name for the newly created committee is “Foundation of the Future,”
not “Foundation for the Future.” Evelyne confirmed that the appropriate name for the
committee is Foundation of the Future and that the year referred to regarding the 2013
merit increase is 2013 fiscal year.
The December 14th meeting minutes were approved without discussion.
UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE REPORTS
BAT
Evelyne shared that most of the Budget Advisory Team meeting was a presentation by
Facilities. The topic of discussion was a recently completed evaluation by outside
consultants who compared the University of Hartford buildings and grounds to peer
institutions. The buildings were categorized as being very old (over 50 years old), old
(between 25 and 50 years old), average (10-25 years old), and new (under 10 years old.).
The findings were that most of our campus is very old. Approximately 8% of our buildings
are over 50 years old. Over 60% of our buildings are in the 25-50 year old category and
many of these will flip to 50 years within the next two years or so. About 21% of our
buildings are 10 to 25 years old and only 9% of our buildings are considered new (or under
10 years old). The evaluation did not simply look at the actual age of the building, (i.e.
when it was built), but also considered interior and operating plant updates. It is hoped
that this study will help Facilities increase the ratio of “planned” fixes to “emergency”
fixes. Other types of facilities evaluations were: energy consumption,
maintenance/cleanliness, grounds, and general repair. These categories were rated on a
scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best rating. The rating process included a walk through
the buildings (classrooms, hallways, and restrooms), but did not include specific or
particular offices. Maintenance/cleanliness was rated at a 4. Condition of grounds was
considered a 3.8 (which was an improvement from the last rating of 3). General repair was
rated 3.8 (most of our peers rate at 4 in this category.) Energy consumption was rated at
4 which is a higher rating than many of our peer institutions.
WELLNESS
Kathe Snow provided updates on a few wellness initiatives. Employees who chose to
participate in PureWellnes should be receiving an email from PureWellness and HRD will be
happy to help employees individually if they seem to be having any difficulty. Rape
Aggression Defense classes (RAD) are scheduled for March 6 th, 8th, 20th, and 22nd. Kathe
is trying to gather healthy recipes for a “healthy recipe cookbook.” She needs more
recipes, so please send them in. Weight Watchers on Campus will most likely not run for
the January session. There are only 6 people signed up and at least 15 people are needed
to hold a session. United Health Care offers an 8 week session which is very similar to the
Weight Watchers on campus program and is free. She is still looking into that as a
possible option. Kathe is also exploring health webinars. One webinar per month could be
broadcast. Employees could come and view them as a group. Pedometers were ordered,
but there will be a limited number of them. They will be available only for participants in
PureWellness. Questions were asked if the walking workshop could be extended to a 6
week workshop.
BTF
DeLois was not able to make this meeting. Again Staff Association members were asking
about what progress might have been made regarding scheduling discussions about the
current benefits tiers at upcoming Benefits Task Force meetings. It was reported at this
meeting that the topic of benefits tiers was not on the agenda for Benefits Task Force
discussion. As this is such an important issue to staff at certain pay scales, members
were asking with great enthusiasm and purpose about how this topic can be added to the
Agenda. (Please note: that in an email report provided by DeLois to Evelyne two days after
the Jan 11th Staff Association Meeting and prior to the writing of these meeting minutes,
DeLois reported that the topic is part of the BTF meeting agenda for the BTF meeting
scheduled on Thursday Jan 19th.) She will present an update at the February Staff
Association Meeting.
SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE
nothing to report
– Sally Henowitz stated that there was no meeting and therefore was
STAFF ASSOCIATION REPORTS
WEB ADVISORY COMMITTEE – Barbara Dessureau reported that there are two new templates available
for the web site: One is for Social Media – you can add your own web site to the icon.
Another is for Web Forms. The best part of this is that if you have a required field, and
the user does not fill it in, it will kick back an error and the email wont’ be processed until
it’s filled in.
The Office of Communication is purchasing a new server for the web pages so that the
sites will run faster.
Craig is developing new phone directory pages for searching – possibly coming out in the
spring.
FACULTY SENATE – No Report. However, Evelyne updated Ben that she has not been contacted by
anyone in The Faculty Senate regarding their request to see the presentation of the
completed Staff Satisfaction Survey results which were presented in early October to
University of Hartford staff.
TREASURER’S REPORT – Cheryl MacMath reported that there was no change since the December
report. The budget balance is $3,138.75. This prompted some discussion regarding why
the budget is not being used. It was explained that since membership in the Association is
no longer dues-based, the Eboard has been concerned about spending funds until we know
how we can replenish the budget when needed. Since rewriting the Constitution and the
Bylaws, the Association has been in a “re-building” stage. New committees that
concentrate on fund raising and perhaps building social activity agendas are being
considered. Before we begin fund raising in earnest, it is believed that we should have
some ideas as to where/what we want to support financially.
MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR’S REPORT – Nancy Clubb reported that as of January 11, 2012 there were 161
Staff Association Members.
OFFICE STAFF COMMITTEE – Evelyne shared that the Eboard will meet with President Harrison,
Provost Vasquez, Arosha Jayawickrema, and Lisa Belanger to present the final Staff
Satisfaction Survey which began in October 2010. The presentation was provided to
everyone listed above after all Staff had been surveyed originally. This meeting will
provide an update as to how the second offering of the survey to Administrative Support
Staff gathered a larger pool of data which substantiated the findings of the first round
of surveys. Evelyne will provide a quick overview of survey results and the meeting will
concentrate on the action items identified on the last page of the survey Power Point
presentation that was provided to all staff this past fall.
OLD BUSINESS – Lynn Galvin reported on items that were addressed recently by the Eboard.
1. As reported above, the Eboard will meet with University Administration on January
23rd. We will re-initiate quarterly meetings with Administration.
2. Mandatory break requirement for more than 5 consecutive hours – Lisa Belanger and
Jamie Harlow informed Lynn that this is an institutional policy and needs to be brought
before Officers for further consideration. It will be submitted for their
consideration. We will track this item and will report on progress.
3. Flex schedule minimum length – Again this is an institutional policy and needs to be
brought before Officers for further consideration. It will be submitted for their
consideration. We will track this item and will report on progress
4. Appointing a University of Hartford Staff Association Grievance Office – the Eboard
is developing a job description for this position.
5. Marketing the Staff Association – The Eboard is looking at ways to better market the
Association to the staff community and increase Community Representative
involvement. Efforts to date include:
A. creating and updating a one-page document that is posted on the Staff
Association website which outlines the Staff Association mission and provides
contact information for Executive Board members and Community
Representatives, (The “one-pager” will be provided to all new staff employees
by HRD and will be distributed to Employees at each presentation of the
Extended Staff Orientation.)
B. Discussions about how best to meet or reach out to Community Reps will
continue at the next Eboard meeting.
6. Fundraising and Social Events Committees – The Eboard will be asking general
members and Community Reps for volunteers to head these two new committees.
These committees will help raise funds for the Association (since we are no longer
dues based) and will help determine how those funds will be best spent. A directive
will most likely be that funds need to be spent in ways that directly benefit staff.
What should a social events calendar include? Do Association members want trips and
event tickets to be subsidized? Do members want the Thanksgiving lunch to be
brought back? Do we want to set up a staff awards process?
Other old business included:
1. Getting non-exempt staff (administrative support staff) representation on the
Administration task force for the Foundation of the Future. Evelyne reported that
she will be meeting with Arosha later in the afternoon and will address this with him
then.
2. Evelyne addressed questions about the time line for bringing full-time staff onto the
automated time keeping system. The overall goal is to have everyone trained and on
board by June 30, 2012. Full time employees will begin training through initial pilot
groups. System “kinks” will be worked out and then the system will be rolled out to
everyone else. Some questions were asked about how alternates or delegates for
current supervisors and/or department chairs are determined? What happens when a
current chair or director rotates out of their position – who signs for the employee
then? It was explained that during “supervisor” training, current supervisors are
shown how to designate an alternate for employee timesheet signatures.
NEW BUSINESS – Jillian Holt reported on the Daffodil Days – a fundraising program for The American
Cancer Society. The deadline for purchasing bouquets, potted daffodils, a Bear and a
Bunch (10 fresh-cut daffodils and a limited edition Boyd’s plush bear) is Friday March 2,
2012. A bouquet can be purchased for as little as $10.00. More information will be going
out to Community Reps shortly and a letter including a link to the on-line ordering site will
be sent to staff soon. Jillian is trying to get a delivery date before spring break.
Other new business included:
1.
Discussion of getting all HRD forms from the HRD website rather than using old
copies. Please get rid of all saved paper copies and go to the website each time you
need a new PAF or Roster.
2. The above topic prompted discussion about all forms being available on one website –
one location rather than having different websites for purchasing forms, ITS
computer purchasing forms, HRD forms, etc. At one point in time it was understood
that the http://uhaweb.hartford.edu Utilities and Directors section was supposed to
be THE central repository for all University forms. This central repository system
seems to have broken down over the years. Questions were asked about who is
responsible for updating and maintaining that site and ensuring that all departments at
least link to that site for their forms. This prompted discussion as to whether or not
the Staff Association should form a new committee for Communications. Anyone
interested in forming a Communications Committee of the Staff Association was
invited to email Evelyne at uhartstaf@hartford.edu.
3. There was also some discussion about properly addressing inter-office mailing
envelopes. Staff were reminded that the proper way of addressing mail within the
University is to use the receiver’s NAME and DEPARTMENT. There is no need to use
a building or room address. This raised further questions about how/when/where
Banner was updated to accurately reflect University-wide mailings. It was suggested
that once the proper notification path is determined, it should be communicated in
UNotes. Again, it was stated that there is a real problem with communications within
the University and the need for a Communications Committee was re-emphasized.
Respectfully submitted by
Nancy Fields, Secretary