UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD
STAFF ASSOCIATION MEETING MINUTES
May 9th, 2012, Woods Family Classroom, Mortensen Library – 1:00 pm
PRESENT:
Bonnie Barsi, Nancy Clubb, Karen DeGrace, Nancy Fields, Valerie Gilleran, Kathleen
Hayden, Ben Ide, Cheryl MacMath, Erik Pavesic, and Holly Stevenson.
MINUTES: Meeting minutes for the March 14, 2012 and the April 11, 2012 meetings were approved.
UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE REPORTS
BAT
Sharon Scorso provided an email list of bullet points to Evelyne Haldimann. The Budget
Advisory Team met on May 3, 2012. Items discussed: Tuition discounting - Chuck Colarulli
reported on how the University has provided and factored tuition discounting and financial
leveraging since 1993. Chuck also noted that deposits for the Fall 2012 entering class are
down; Asylum Avenue Campus is up for sale, prospective buyers wanted to use it as a
school, however, Hartford’s Planning and Zoning Committee unanimously voted down the
proposal and there is not an appeal process. Other options will be pursued; the proposed
FY 2013 budget was reviewed; and Arosha explained that the first phase of the
Foundation of the Future process was going well and the report is scheduled to be
presented to the President in July. This was the last meeting of this fiscal year. Monthly
meetings will resume in September 2012.
WELLNESS
Per Kathe Snow’s bulletin, 14 individuals have signed up for Weight Watchers, need one
more person to sign up to reach the minimum needed of 15 for Weight Watchers to come
to campus. Monthly passes are available, it is easier to join – spread the word!
BTF
No report.
SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE
– No report.
Foundations of the Future Evelyne Haldimann provided an email for this month’s update as follows:
Templates from departments/programs were due to the committee by the end of April.
The committee has an aggressive schedule to complete reviews of the templates by some
point in June so we may solicit questions (if there are any) back to departments/programs
for clarification to the committee. A report is due to Arosha and Sharon Vasquez by midJuly. Please continue to watch for Town Hall meetings for more information and ability to
submit questions/concerns.
STAFF ASSOCIATION REPORTS
WEB ADVISORY COMMITTEE – No report.
FACULTY SENATE – Ben Ide reported that the Faculty Senate held elections and there are new
representatives on the board. Check the website for their names. The Officers will be
the same as last year. The last meeting of the semester will be Thursday, May 10, 2012.
Meetings will resume in the fall. Chuck Colarulli and Rick Zeiser attended the Senate
meeting to discuss undergraduate recruiting – they are doing an amazing marketing job to
recruit students. Examples include: virtual tour for mobile phone, based on GPS. As people
walk around campus they can get information; personalized mailings not only with the
individuals’ names but future programs geared to their interests, can go to the website;
aggressive email campaign 11.5 million messages sent talking about events and programs;
ramping up social media – Facebook groups for class of 26 students. It was noted that we
admitted 16.4% more students, but deposits were 1.8% down. They are trying to follow up
with students who didn’t enroll to find out why. President Harrison addressed the Senate
regarding the Asylum Avenue Campus. The plan is to close 2/3 and keep some of it open
while trying to sell the campus. Currently on that campus we have graduate housing, Center
for Social Research, Center for Professional Development, Construction Institute. The
Butterworth Hall, and graduate dorms we will be keeping.
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE – Kathleen Hayden reported that the committee has been following
up with Barbara Steinberger of the Office of Communications to generate a mass email to
all staff that will ask about which forms individuals use most often and where those forms
are found now. They are trying to get this sent out before summer. They are starting to
gather information for different forms and sites.
MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Members.
– Nancy Clubb reported that there are 170 Staff Association
TREASURER’S REPORT – Cheryl MacMath reported that the balance in the budget is $3,088.56. Funds
were spent for a sympathy gift for an EBoard member’s loss. Discussion followed as to
whether this is a common practice. The Staff Association tries to acknowledge with cards
if there are family deaths, employee illness, and/or for congratulatory occasions, however,
EBoard members aren’t always made aware of these occasions as they happen. This is an
elective practice with good intention, but it is hard to be consistent due to the word of
mouth communication. Anyone can let Nancy Fields know when there is an occasion to be
recognized and she will send a card. A log is maintained of the cards sent “from your
friends at the Staff Association.” In some instances, care should be taken for privacy
issues. Some people would prefer that others are not informed of their circumstances.
Discussion on Community Representatives and Grievance Officer Position descriptions – The one line
officer position description for the Grievance Officer is suggested to be added to Article
7, Section I of the Bylaws as the second sentence. Elli Cherry has been appointed by the
EBoard as the Grievance Officer. HRD knows of the appointment. Reference to a
Grievance Officer is in the Staff Employment Manual under grievances. Community
Representatives were sent an email on 5/9/12 to review the draft job description of their
role, based on their suggestions and asked to respond with any comments by 5/18/12. Any
edits will be presented to the Staff Association. It is suggested to be added to Article 3,
Section I of the Bylaws. The current list of Community Representatives is on the website.
Contact Evelyne or Nancy Clubb if anyone wants to get involved as a Community
Representative.
OLD BUSINESS – regarding recent Eboard activities.
1. Marketing the Staff Association – waiting to get the Community Representatives to be
involved once they sign off on the description. Want to try to get the Community
Representatives geared to come to meetings and market the Staff Association, and to
head committees for events, etc.
2. Lynn Galvin would love to bring back the Thanksgiving Lunch. She secured a contract
to have the Thanksgiving Lunch on Wednesday, November 14, 2012. The quote from
ARAMARK is based on an estimate of 100 people from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. in the
1877 Club. The EBoard offered that some of the Staff Association budget funds could
subsidize the costs. At $12.50 per person on the contract, if the Staff Association
paid $5.00 per person, the customer would pay $7.50. The Staff Association budget
would pay for any additional costs for room set-up. The general consensus favored
making the discount available to all staff (not just members), setting the seating limit
to 100 persons, requesting an RSVP and having a ticket system for the purchase price
of $7.50 (non-refundable). Responses over 100 count could be put on a wait list to be
determined whether or not they could be accommodated. The idea was enthusiastically
supported with the goal that members and non-members could enjoy a social venue, it
would encourage more non-members to participate with a good ticket price, and it was
suggested that brief remarks be made about the Staff Association during the
luncheon to promote the Staff Association.
3. We look forward to starting up with social activities, some of which may impact the
Staff Association budget such as the Thanksgiving Lunch. This would justify having
fundraisers to help contribute to the costs. Fundraising ideas were discussed, such as
a kite flight, to sell kites and enjoy a fun outdoor activity on campus. Another idea
would be a pet clinic, possibly offering microchip implants, discount grooming, etc.
NEW BUSINESS –
It was recently realized that the Non-exempt Member at Large position is currently held by an exempt
employee. The intent of the position was to represent non-exempt staff. From the time that Erik Pavesic
was placed on the ballot by the Nominating Committee and voted in by the members, Erik and the Staff
Association did not realize that he was exempt. It was brought to light during recent Foundation of the
Future discussions. We would like to keep Erik on the EBoard for continuity until the next election in April
2013. We will discuss this again as old business at the next meeting.
Respectfully submitted by
Nancy Fields, Secretary in collaboration with Cheryl MacMath