Tulane University
Staff Advisory Council
Minutes of Thursday, September 10, 2009
ATTENDEES
ATTENDEES
OFFICERS
UPTOWN CAMPUS
Susan Barrera, Chair
Gwen Chavez, Vice Chair
Rob Platner, Election Coordinator
Lisa Britton, Recording Secretary,
Present
Excused
Present
Present
Kathy Bourgeois
Linda Cantero
Erin Coffey
Liz Davey
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Absent
Shirley Dymond
Miriam Espinosa
Mike Griffith
Michael Harrison
Cynthia Hayes,Immediate Past Chair
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Excused
Present
Present
Excused
Present
Present
Present
Present
Absent
Absent
Absent
Present
Member at Large
Cheryl Sterling,Corresp. Secretary
Jered Bocage, Parliamentarian
DOWNTOWN CAMPUS
Linzi Conners
Cheryl Dempsey
Glenda Folse
Tami Jenniskens
Paula Lucas
Linda Miller
Merisa Pasternak
Patsy Stewart
Shirley Tubre
Tanya Ambrose (proxy)
Ron Cail (proxy)
Present
Present
Excused
Present
Present
Absent
Present
Present
Excused
Absent
Absent
NORTHSHORE
Scott Goings
Corrie West
Robert Johnson (proxy)
Present
Absent
Romella Hodges
Alysia Loshbaugh
Suzanne Lossi
Aaron Martin
Lisa O’Dwyer
Laurie Orgeron
Kimberly Vega
Judy Vitrano
Emily Capdeville (proxy)
Jeannine Coxen (proxy)
Simon Dorfman (proxy)
Jeanny Keck (proxy)
INVITED GUESTS AND VISITORS
Barbara Brauner, WFMO
Darby Berthelot, American Heart
Association
Present
Present
* Via teleconference
All Officers are serving the Staff Advisory Council term 2009 – 2010
Call to Order: Susan Barrera, SAC Chair, called the September 10, 2009 meeting of
the Staff Advisory Council to order at 3:30 p.m. The meeting was held at the LavinBernick Center, the Rechler Room on the uptown campus.
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September 10, 2009
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I. Review and Approval of the Minutes
Chair Barrera called for a motion to approve the June 11, 2009 minutes, and the June
minutes were approved. She then called for a motion to approve the July 9, 2009
minutes, and the July meeting minutes were approved.
II.
Guest Speaker
Darby Berthelot with the American Heart Association gave a presentation on the
upcoming Heart Walk.
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III.
The Heart Walk is scheduled for Saturday, November 21, 2009 and will be held at
Audubon Park. This is their largest fund raiser and Awareness Campaign.
Dr. Ben Sachs and Dr. Robert Lynch are the co-chairs of the walk.
Kick off was in May with the target goal of $500,000 to be reached at the November
21st walk.
Since 1970’s, the Heart Association has funded approximately $13 million to Tulane
researchers.
Awareness Campaign – to create hope, inspire change and celebrate success -- is
going on and stations will also be set up around the walking portion of Audubon
Park. An area set up to honor heart attack and strokes victims that are participating
in the walk. Those present will receive red caps as an acknowledgement.
One goal of the Heart Association is to have an AED in every school across the
state of Louisiana. Training has already begun for teachers to perform CPR and
utilize the AED. The Kiwanis are helping make this goal a reality to reach every
community and every school in Louisiana by the year 2012.
Childhood obesity - encourage students to have at least 30 minutes of activities, and
also teach healthy alternatives on eating.
American Heart Association not just coming to us for donations. Looking to Tulane
to continue the partnership as leaders to encourage healthy lifestyle.
Report of the Chair, Susan Barrera
No Report.
IV. WFMO Liaison
Barbara Brauner, Director, Employment & WFMO Administrative Services will answer
questions submitted to WFMO regarding FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) and sick
leave.
Question: If someone takes more than 3 days sick leave, does the FMLA policy state
specifically they must go on FMLA or is it up to the department manager? If yes, is the
TU Staff Advisory Council Meeting
September 10, 2009
Page 3
policy specifically indicating they must submit FMLA paperwork or does Payroll notify
HR when someone has taken more than 3 days to assure they have taken FMLA? Is
there a system in place to capture this information? Is this same policy for exempt
versus non-exempt employees?
The policy exists for everyone, staff, faculty, exempt and non-exempt. Congress
enacted the FMLA to protect our employment. FMLA guarantees unpaid leave and
when you return, you will have a comparable position with the company. Tulane is
generous employer. You will be paid while on leave and have your same position when
you return from leave. If you need to take time off for yourself or for a family member
needing constant medical care, you will return to the position that you had before you
took leave.
If you need to take off more than three days, you are required to complete Part 1 of the
FMLA form and submit to your supervisor. Your supervisor needs to complete the form
and submit to WFMO. Part 2 is completed by the practitioner and sent directly to
WFMO for your personnel file. The completed Part 2 is not seen by your supervisor.
If you are off for more than 3 days, your supervisor needs to call WFMO to discuss. For
example if you are going to be out for 4 days with the sniffles, may not be necessary to
complete the FMLA form. If you are going to be out for 4 days for surgery and recovery
time, that may come under FMLA. It is the responsibility of the supervisor to contact
WFMO and discuss.
Payroll does not automatically put you on FMLA if you have taken more than 3 days
sick leave.
V.
Officer Reports
A. University Senate
No report, meeting next week.
B. Board of Administrators
No report, meeting in a couple of weeks.
VI.
University Senate Committee Reports
1. Benefits
Chair Barrera explained at the last Benefit Committee meeting, the 2010 health plan
will continue to be with UnitedHealthCare. There is going to be a 4% increase but
Tulane will bear the increase, no increase for employees. Open enrollment will be in
October and everyone should be receiving information regarding enrollment.
TU Staff Advisory Council Meeting
September 10, 2009
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2. Budget Review
No Report.
3. Information Technology
No Report.
4. Equal Opportunity
No Report.
5. Physical Facilities
No Report.
6. Social Issues
No Report.
VII. SAC Sub-Committees
1. Election Committee
No Report.
2. Electronic Technology and Information
Mike Griffith is with Technology Services. Technology Services have been asked to
add staff training to the services they provide. Mike is asking SAC members to inquire
what kind of “training” are people interested in receiving. Are they looking for hour-long
fundamentals of Microsoft Word, or are they more interested in a lab setting where
someone would help trouble shoot problems? Please send suggestions to Mike
(mgriffi@tulane.edu). Technology Services will then incorporate the requests to the
other services they offer.
“Tech Day” is September 25th and hope you can join us.
3. Staff Appreciation
Lisa Britton and Rob Platner gave the following summary of their meeting just prior
to our SAC meeting.
 Date has been scheduled for Saturday, February 27, 2010.
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September 10, 2009
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Mary Brown has committed the Medical School to assist in the medical
screenings. She is interested in participating and wants the Medical School
represented.
Will use the Tulane track for the walk. By doing this, we can keep the fun walk
“contained” so we will not need to cross streets or spread out around the
campus.
For the children – have different types of prizes and kids games
Give away’s – nothing decided yet since we do not have a budget. We need to
meet with Anne Banos to get a budget. We do not know how much money we
can have to purchase items.
Will get Athletics involved,
UnitedHealth would be involved.
Judy Vitrano and Erica Taylor with the Wellness Group also want to participate.
Entertainment – discussions about getting a DJ
Food – will try to get as much donated as possible
Need an official name. We continue to refer to it as “Fun Walk” but need a name.
The Walk will be tied to the 2:00 pm baseball game and Scott Cowen is
scheduled to attend.
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4. Staff Issues
No Report.
5. Health and Wellness
Judy Vitrano was scheduled to give a report via teleconference. However, we were
not able to borrow the phone today for teleconferencing. Judy will do a follow up at our
next meeting.
6. Community Service
Cynthia Hayes said SAC voted last year to continue working with the same
community services for children. This will include the surrounding communities in St.
Tammany, Orleans and Jefferson. Cynthia will work with Gwen Chavez to get
something out to everyone soon.
VIII. Old Business
None.
IX.
New Business
Aaron Martin proposed two draft resolutions SAC forward to Administration:
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September 10, 2009
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Shuttle Promotion Resolution (Attachment 1) -- would also like to add to this
resolution to include the shuttle go back and forth (in both directions) instead of
just one direction.
Commuter Savings Account Resolution (Attachment 2) – need to verify that the
money can be rolled over into the next year.
Laurie Orgeron is the chair of the Homecoming. She explained the “President’s Spirit
Competition” which are decorated “Gumby’s” displayed the week of Homecoming.
Gumby is a wood cutout you decorate in any way you like. To enter the competition,
you must submit an application and the cost is $30.00. You can have your department
decorate one, or have student workers decorate one to represent your department. The
president’s office votes on the best Gumby. Last year there were approximately 20
entries and Laurie is hoping to have more entries this year.
Next Meeting: The next meeting will be held on Thursday, October 15, 2009 in the
Tidewater Building in the Dean’s Conference Room at 3:30 pm.
X. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Lisa M. Britton
Recording Secretary
ATTACHMENT 1
Shuttle Promotion Resolution
Staff Advisory Council
Resolution 2009-_______
Whereas, parking at the university is becoming less available.
Whereas, the university shuttle ridership could be greatly increased to the benefit of all
employees, students and guests.
Whereas, the university has strived to upgrade the shuttle vans and now needs to upgrade the
shuttle stops and provide more readily information about the shuttle hours.
Whereas, the university is committed to being “green” as noted through the American College
and University Presidents Climate Commitment. Encouraging use of shuttles between the
uptown and downtown campuses would support those efforts.
Whereas, potential riders of the university shuttle do not have confidence in the reliability of the
shuttles hours or sometimes lack information at the point of service.
Whereas, the current shuttle stops provide no information or comfort.
See Freret for example:
Resolved:
The Staff Advisory Council recommends that Tulane University look into upgrading its shuttle
stops as more functional spaces, while maintaining aesthetics, accessibility and safety.
Recommendations:
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Benches with seated back supports.
Covers for rain and extreme sun protection.
At least one wall or sign to allow posting of shuttle hours, shuttle map and a contact
phone number when shuttle is beyond 10 minutes late. This would require users to have a
cell phone.
Other options
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Call box for users to contact about shuttle delays.
More posting space for event promotions.
Perhaps have the architecture students design covers and or benches.
ATTACHMENT 2
Commuter Savings Account Resolution
Staff Advisory Council
Resolution 2009-_______
Whereas, the university is committed to being “green” as noted through the American College
and University Presidents Climate Commitment. Encouraging use of public transit, vanpooling
and bicycling to work would support those efforts.
Whereas, many organizations offer some form of a Qualified Transportation Benefit, or QTB
program sometimes called a Commuter Savings Account, or CSA, or a Commuter Expense
Reimbursement Account, or CERA, that lets employees put pretax dollars into accounts used to
cover commuting expenses.
Whereas, by setting aside money an employee would spend to commute anyway -- before taxes
are taken out of the employee’s paycheck – an employee’s taxable income would be reduced,
resulting in possible hundreds of dollars of savings a year.
Here's a look at how one hypothetical commuter saves with a QTB account.1
Taxable income
Less contributions of $110
per month
Result in taxable income
after contributions
Less federal income and SS
taxes withheld
Results in net income
Less commuting costs paid
outside of account
Results in spendable
income
Tax savings
1
With an account
$40,000
$1,320
Without an account
$40,000
$0
$38,680
$40,000
$9,053
$9,484
$29,627
$0
$30,516
$1,200
$29,627
$29,316
$431
$0
Added tax breaks for commuters, Bankrate, Inc., http http://www.bankrate.com/finance/moneyguides/added-tax-breaks-for-commuters-1.aspx
Whereas, money left in these commuter accounts at year-end is rolled over to the next year, so
employees don't lose the funds.
Whereas, under Section 132 of the Internal Revenue Service Code, employees can contribute up
to $120 a month for mass-transit passes this year, including vanpools, and $230 a month for
qualified parking. New for 2009, employers can contribute $20 a month to cover biking
expenses.2
Whereas, the university manages similar tax-advantaged financial accounts such as the Flexible
Spending Account.
Whereas, administration fees are the only cost to the employer, and these may be more than
offset by tax savings, since funds are taken out before the FICA tax is applied. Employers who
provide the benefit as a tax-free fringe benefit (paid by the employer) save on payroll taxes
because the employer does not need to include the amount of the fringe benefit in the employee’s
gross income.
Resolved:
The Staff Advisory Council recommends that Tulane University look into establishing a
Commuter Savings Account, or CSA program for its employees, at least an employee-financed
commuter benefit in which an employee designates a portion of salary before taxes (pretax
income) to pay for qualified transit, vanpooling, or parking expenses.
To encourage more bicycling to work and lessen the parking burden, the Staff Advisory Council
recommends that Tulane University establish a Bicycle Commuter Expense Reimbursement
Account or CERA program to reimburse employees up to $20 per month, tax free, for
"reasonable" expenses related to their bike commuter expenses, including equipment purchases,
bike purchases, repairs, and storage if the bicycle is used as a "substantial part" of the
commuter's trip to work for the month. The bicycle benefit may not be funded by an employee’s
pretax contributions; instead under the law, it would need to be reimbursed by the university as a
fringe benefit.
2
Commuters' Fare Deal, The Wall Street Journal, Feb 1, 2009, http://www.filife.com/stories/commuters-fare-deal