UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD
STAFF ASSOCIATION MEETING MINUTES
January 8, 2014 – Woods Family Classroom – 1:00 PM
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Present: Jessica Abbott, Lisa Belanger, Anne Marie Cirullo, Lynn Galvin, Evelyne
Haldimann, Marlene Hall, Ben Ide, Cheryl MacMath, Anita Marchant, Erik Pavesic,
Venice Sterling, Connie Yoczik.
I. Discussion/Approval of Minutes of both the October and December meetings:
Anne-Marie Cirullo moved approval and Jessica Abbott, seconded. The minutes
were approved as presented.
Corrected information for the October minutes, page 3 of 4, section
Wellness Committee, is as follows:
Prescriptions costs are approximately 1/6th of the total cost of Health Care to the
University. With prescription tiering and other negotiated terms, the University
has been able to more effectively control increases in costs in this area.
2. Committee Reports:
Budget Advisory Team (Eric Pavesic): No report. Committee had not met.
Wellness Committee (Lisa Belanger): The free exercise classes that were
sponsored by the University in the fall semester will resume again with the
beginning of the spring semester. For those enrolled in the Wellness program, all
portals are up so participants are able to see their points posted.
Benefits Task Force (Chris Dupuis): No report. No meeting.
Sustainability Committee: No report. There is no Staff Association
representative.
Web Advisory Committee (Barbara Dessureau): No report, committee has
not met.
Faculty Senate (Ben Ide): President Harrison and Pat Meiser, the Associate
Dean for Athletics, spoke about the athletics programs at the University. The
Provost talked about a new category of Clinical/Applied Faculty who would have
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professional productivity responsibilities in their fields in addition to teaching.
This plays into the University’s plan to help students become more career ready
when they graduate.
Membership Committee (Anne Marie Cirullo): There are no new members.
Membership remains at 159.
Treasurer (Jessica Abbott): There has been no change in the balance since
the previous meeting: $2,303.56.
3. Old Business: Connie Yoczik reported that Mario Maselli, campus Print
Services and Procurement Manager at Howie’s Printery, has been invited to the
February 12 Staff Association meeting to give a brief talk on reorganization and
changes at Howie’s Printery.
4. New Business:
Strategic Plan Draft: Evelyne Haldimann reported that President Harrison
is urging attendance at either of two Strategic Plan Draft listening sessions,
January 17 or 23, to hear from and share thoughts with faculty and staff peers.
The Provost has requested that Staff Association Executive Board members go to
both meetings and meet with her to summarize what they believe to be staff
members’ opinions.
Future meeting suggestions: A discussion about the focus of future Staff
Association meetings elicited suggestions that they might to be opportunities to:
hear from speakers representing various constituencies and departments on
campus; raise scholarship money for students; organize trips; and/or engage
motivational speakers. It was generally agreed that the December meeting
proved to be an enjoyable time and it was suggested a good practice might be to
spend 10 – 15 minutes at each meeting in similar community–building activities.
The Executive Board will take these suggestions into consideration when planning
future meetings.
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Training Opportunities: Lisa Belanger took this opportunity to mention the
wealth of training opportunities available through EmPOWER, a crossdepartmental program that offers professional development and computer
training to staff and managerial faculty. Participating departments are: Finance
and Administration, Human Resources, Information Technology Services, Faculty
Center for Learning Development, and the Institute for Leadership and Talent
Development. A calendar of classes is listed on the website, and suggestions for
new classes are welcomed.
University 101 Representative needed: Evelyne Haldimann announced
that University 101, an all-day program for new University employees designed to
familiarize them with the University, has an available opening at its next meeting
on March 27 at 11:45 AM, for anyone who would like to be the voice of the Staff
Association. This would entail explaining briefly what the Staff Association does
and when it meets. Any member willing to provide this service should contact the
Staff Association Chair or any member of the Executive Board.
Updating of Staff Position and Grades: When asked about the progress
being made on expected reevaluation of staff positions on campus, Lisa Belanger
stated that hopefully the University will begin that process in a couple of months.
Many situations need to be evaluated and positions need to be balanced in a very
complex process.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:50 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Anita Marchant
Secretary
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