Tulane Staff Advisory Council Minutes
March 12, 2015
ATTENDEES
ATTENDEES
OFFICERS
DOWNTOWN CAMPUS
Loshbaugh, Alysia, Chair
Present
Barrera, Denise
Smith, Lawrence, Vice-chair
Present
Blue, Jeff
Ferbos, Wil, Elections Coordinator
Present
Carr, Rose
Turner, Joan, Secretary
NORTHSHORE
Catlin, Kristy
Phone
Conners, Linzi
Phone
Daigle, Bryan
MacLean, Avery
Phone
Davis, Patrick
Wright, Amber
Phone
Ely, Hunter
Present
Hayden, Nadrine
Excused
Huber, Jennifer
Excused
Elizabeth Langlois
Present
WFMO REPRESENTATIVE
Julio Diaz for Christina Wallace
Present
Montegut, Renetta
UPTOWN CAMPUS
Morel, Mel'isa
Phone
Pick, Amy
Present
Anderson, Jerome
Present
Rabito, Margaret
Beck, Trina
Present
Sliwinski, Roblynn
Bocage, Jered
Present
Young, Griselda
Bourgeois, Kathy
Present
Bush, Nicole
Present
Butler, Aleshia
Present
Charles, Evane
Excused Causey, Jamie
Cheramie, Christopher
Present
Cervini, Brucer
Deeves, Tim
Present
Crisler, Shammeia
Espinosa, Miriam
Present
Healy, Isobel
Ghattas, Joseph
Present
Hills, Tynette
DOWNTOWN PROXIES
Bruce, Deidre
Houck, Katie
La Salle, Lucia
Lowe, Brian
Langlois, Elizabeth
Marsh, Leslie
May, Matthew
Morton, Robert
Romig, Brad
SAC Minutes March 2015
Present
Present
Present
McKeown, Mark
Mitchell, Olivia
Page 1 of 6
Rouege, Jackie
Wilde, Elizabeth
Partridge-Hrabar, Kerrie
Present
Wilson, Marilyn
Wolford, Laura
Potter, Shawn
Present
Scherer, Donald
Present
Wyatt, Penny
Schmidt, Norine
Shinn, Michon
Strong, Sewann
NORTHSHORE PROXIES
Terrebonne, Connie
Lower, Shelley
Wright, Linda
Pham, Brooke
Simmons, Elizabeth
UPTOWN PROXIES
UPTOWN PROXIES (Continued)
Anderson, Marcus
Marinaro, Heather
Augillard, Sharon Hyde
Meaux, Shelley
Brusseau, Allyson
Present
Millon, Aaron
Clark, Marilynn
Mouton, Jean
Cruz, Allison
Nazar, Elizabeth
Davis, Angela
Nichols, Sherma
Downes, Patrice
O'Brien, Jennifer
Dunaway, Joe
Obrofta, Sharon
Farley, Torrie Augello
Paciera, JC
Fenimore, Samantha
Prator, Bobbie
Gordon, Erin
Robinson, LaShanda
Harris, Delisa
Rubin, Jeff
Jones, Michael
Sayas, Janice
Keck, Jeanny
Seymour, Caltha
Leonard, Angelica
Van Kirk, Elizabeth
Lossi, Suzanne
Withers, Sarah
Present
Maese, Adam
* No teleconference available
All Officers are serving the Staff Advisory Council term 2014 – 2015
The meeting was called to order by the Chair at 2:00PM.
SAC Minutes March 2015
Page 2 of 6
I.
Review and Approval of the Minutes
Minutes from the January 2015 were unanimously approved with no changes after a motion from
Miriam Espinosa and a second from Trina Beck. We still do not have minutes from the November
2014 meeting.
II.
Guest Speaker—Provost Michael Bernstein
Provost Bernstein was our guest speaker in March. He spoke to SAC about Successes and
Challenges from the previous academic year as well as academic strategic initiatives for 2014-15.
The successes from the previous year include:
 Record-setting fundraising in FY14 (over $100 million, the first time in history we’ve
fundraised to that level in a single year);
 Endowment performance—we are back at the $1 billion mark, where we were in Fall 2008
before the economic downturn;
 Opening of Yulman Stadium;
 Opening of Greenbaum Residence Hall;
 No serious weather events;
 Strong faculty and student recruitment;
 Most graduate programs had strong student recruitment;
 Relocated Social Work to Elks Place building downtown;
 Renovations in JBJ were completed; and
 High performance computer—CYPRESS—for academic work.
Challenges were:
 Clinical platform in the School of Medicine is down—New Orleans has too many hospital
beds for our population;
 Office of Inspector General—FEMA disbursements audit;
 Staff Morale— related to budgets, salaries; and
 Faculty Morale—difference depending on the discipline.
Academic Objectives for AY2014-15:
 Strategic Planning and Capital Campaign;
 Leadership Activities
o Two new Latin American endowed chairs open to any discipline; and
o Five Year reviews for Sally Kenney, Steve Sheffrin, and Dave Meyer.
 Grad and Postdoc Education—PhD Program reviews in the basic and health sciences;
 Policies and Procedures
o Revise the Faculty Handbook (hopeful for draft to go to the Senate next year);
o College Core Curriculum Revision; and
o Operational Initiatives—Interfolio Implementation (integrate faculty hiring and
onboarding with HCM).
 Faculty Mentoring and Development.
III.
WFMO Representative Report
Julio Diaz attended the meeting for Christina Wallace. He reported that the issue of parental leave
and vacation donation has been raised with WFMO and they are initiating talks on the subject.
WFMO will report back when they have more information.
SAC Minutes March 2015
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Staff Recognition Events are coming up at the end of March/early April to recognize staff who
achieved a milestone in their length of service to the university. There will be five events this year:
 March 30 from 3-5 pm at JBJ – Ice Cream Social for 5 Year anniversaries;
 March 31 from 9-10:30am at TNPRC for all employee anniversaries;
 March 31 from 3-5 pm at JBJ for 10+ year anniversaries;
 April 1 from 11-1pm at the LBC for 10+ year anniversaries; and
 April 1 from 3-5 pm at the LBC – Ice Cream Social for 5 year anniversaries.
Volunteers are needed, so any SAC reps or proxies that wish to volunteer should contact Julio,
Christina, or Catherine Demarr directly.
The Day of Service registration is going on until March 18.
EAP (Employee Assistance Program) Seminars—there is a new vendor. The seminars will focus on
the 5 buckets principle on work-life balance.
IV.
Report of the Chair
None.
V.
Officer Reports
University Senate
Wil Ferbos gave the report from the February Senate meeting. President Fitts talked about the
Huron Consulting projects and the issues ongoing at the Primate Center. Undergraduate
admissions for next year seems to be going well. The Assessment Committee gave a report
regarding the SACS report being pushed back to 2017. The Physical Facilities committee gave a
report that discussed how parking was being consolidated under Facilities Services. The EEO
Committee gave a report and recommended that sexual assault information and resources for
students should be added to course syllabi. The One Wave language is as follows:
Tulane University recognizes the inherent dignity of all individuals and promotes respect
for all people. Through One Wave, Tulane is committed to providing an environment free
from all forms of discrimination and sexual harassment, including sexual assault, domestic
and dating violence, and stalking. If you (or someone you know) has experienced or
experiences gender-based violence, know that you are not alone. Learn more at
onewave.tulane.edu.
Strictly Confidential
Except in extreme circumstances, involving
imminent danger to oneself or others, nothing
will be shared without your explicit
permission.
Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS)
| (504) 314-2277
Student Health Center | (504) 865-5255
SAC Minutes March 2015
Mostly Confidential
Conversations are kept as confidential as
possible, but information is shared with key
staff members so that the University can offer
resources and accommodations and take
action if necessary for safety reasons.
Coordinator of Violence Prevention | (504)
314-2161
Tulane University Police (TUPD) | (504)
865-5911
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Sexual Aggression Peer Hotline & Education
(SAPHE) | (504) 654-9543
Office of Institutional Equity | (504) 8628083
Faculty have been asked to voluntarily put this language on their syllabi.
The Senate also had a first reading of the revised Alcohol Policy. This revision is available for
review on the Senate website for those who wish to read it.
Board of Administrators
No meeting.
VI.
University Senate Committee Reports
Benefits
No meeting.
Budget Review
The committee met and discussed the proposed operating budget for FY16. Raises are tentatively
proposed at 2%, to go into effect January 1, 2016. A decision about whether to move forward with
the raises will be made in the fall semester.
Information Technology
No meeting.
Equal Opportunity
See the OneWave language above.
Physical Facilities
Robert Morton gave the report that there will be a consolidation of parking under Facilities Services
instead of TUPD Traffic. There will likely be changes to GameDay parking restrictions to be more
realistic with what was actually experienced last season, but the problems may lie in Tulane’s
agreement with the city. He also reported that the university is in Phase 1 of 3 in our Master
Planning process.
Social Issues
No meeting.
VII.
SAC Subcommittees
Election
No report, but Alysia and Will will meet soon to get things going for the general SAC elections in late
March/early April.
Electronic Technologies and Information
No report.
Staff Appreciation
SAC Minutes March 2015
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Alysia has made arrangements to coordinate a “Free Snowball” event for staff, where President Fitts
will attend as a “meet and greet” type of event. The dates are April 27 at the LBC from 12-2 and
April 28 at the JBJ building from 12-2. Hansen’s will provide the snowballs. Alysia is having 400
plastic cups printed with the new SAC logo for distributing the snowballs.
Staff Issues
No meeting.
Health and Wellness
No meeting.
Community Service
No meeting. The next event will take place in July/August and is the Dinerral Shavers Educational
Fund school supply drive.
VIII.
Old Business and/or New Business
SAC Logo
Alysia worked with a graphic designer to create a new logo for SAC,
inserted on the left. This logo is only for printing on tchokes, like the
cups for the snowball event, and should not be used for official
university communications.
Staff Recognition Events
Again, any staff that wish to volunteer to assist with these events
(dates/times above) should contact Julio Diaz, Christina Wallace, or
Catherine Demarr in WFMO.
Wave of Service
Again, the deadline to volunteer is March 18, 2015.
Huron Consulting
Alysia was appointed to the Operational Steering Committee. Any staff wishing to express concerns
or make suggestions is welcome to contact her.
Staff Legacy Status
Alysia drafted a proposal for establishing a Legacy status for staff who retire after 25+ years of
service to the university and who meet certain criteria for eligibility. She did not circulate the
proposal electronically as it is still in draft form and confidential, however she did read it to the SAC
members at the meeting. Various suggestions were made on how to modify or improve the
proposal. Alysia will take all the suggestions under advisement and will revise the proposal
according to her discretion. The final proposal will hopefully be presented to President’s Cabinet
for consideration in April/May with a proposed July 1 start date.
IX.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 3:45p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Alysia Loshbaugh
Chair
SAC Minutes March 2015
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