Tulane University
Staff Advisory Council
Minutes of Thursday, October 15, 2009
ATTENDEES
ATTENDEES
OFFICERS
UPTOWN CAMPUS
Susan Barrera, Chair
Gwen Chavez, Vice Chair
Rob Platner, Election Coordinator
Lisa Britton, Recording Secretary,
Excused
Present
Present
Present
Kathy Bourgeois
Linda Cantero
Erin Coffey
Liz Davey
Excused
Present
Excused
Absent
Proxy
Present
Shirley Dymond
Miriam Espinosa
Mike Griffith
Michael Harrison
Cynthia Hayes,Immediate Past Chair
Present
Excused
Present
Present
Present
Absent
Excused
Excused
Excused
Present
Present
Present
Present
Absent
Absent
Present
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
Excused
Absent
Excused
Present
Resigned
Present
Excused
Present
Absent
Absent
NORTHSHORE
Scott Goings
Corrie West
Robert Johnson (proxy)
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)
Present
Present*
Absent
INVITED GUESTS AND VISITORS
Patricia Sullivan (proxy for C.
Sterling)
Travis Tague, WFMO
* Via teleconference
All Officers are serving the Staff Advisory Council term 2009 – 2010
Present
Present
TU Staff Advisory Council Meeting
October 15, 2009
Page 2
Call to Order: Gwen Chavez, Vice Chair, called the October 15, 2009 meeting of the
Staff Advisory Council to order at 3:30 p.m. The meeting was held at the School of
Public Health Dean’s Conference Room in the Tidewater Building.
I. Review and Approval of the Minutes
Vice Chair Chavez called for a motion to approve the September 10, 2009 minutes and
the minutes were approved.
II. Report of the Chair
Vice Chair Chavez explained that Susan Barrera was out due to illness. There is no
chair report today.
Two resolutions to be voted on today:
 “Commuter Savings Account Resolution, SAC Resolution 2009-002”, (See
Attachment 1). Motion was approved by the members to submit to WFMO.
 “Shuttle Promotion Resolution, SAC Resolution 2009-001”, (See Attachment 2).
Motion was approved by the members to submit to WFMO.
 Travis Tague will bring these back with him to WFMO.
Heart Walk is on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at Audubon Park. KickOff for the
SPHTM and SAC teams will be on October 20, at 10:00 am in the Dean’s Conference
Room (24th floor) in the Tidewater Building. Dr. Ben Sachs and Dr. Robert Lynch are
the co-chairs of this event.
III. WFMO Liaison
Travis Tague, WFMO Director of Customer Relations, gave the following:
 Open enrollment is taking place on all campuses. October 23rd is the closing date.
If you do not want to make changes to your plan, you do not need to do anything,
will remain the same. If you do want to make changes to your plan, must submit the
changes by the closing date.
 Turnout for the enrollment meetings have been positive.
 EAP carrier has been changed to Horizon Health
 Flexible spending – you must re-enroll every year. If you opt to have the card
(where to swipe the card at the doctor’s office), the cards will be sent out after the
first of the year. You are encouraged to keep all receipts whether you use the card
or submit receipts for reimbursement.
 Staff Excellence – November 2nd is the deadline to submit your nominees. The
winners will each get $1,000 cash and be invited to a dinner with Scott and Margie
Cowen.
TU Staff Advisory Council Meeting
October 15, 2009
Page 3
Question from floor: What is the policy on donating vacation time to a specific
individual? Travis said he will check into this for us and get us an answer.
IV. Officer Reports
A. University Senate
Lisa Britton reported from the October 5, 2009 Senate meeting:
 Brief meeting since the prior meeting (Sept 14th) had been a short time prior. No
president report since information was the same as the previous meeting.
 Introduced new Senate members, Rob Platner is one of the new members.
 Some issues to change the by-laws but there were not enough voting members
in attendance so voting was postponed until the November meeting.
Rob Platner gave the following from the September 14, 2009 Senate meeting:
 President Cowen said still $75 million claims with FEMA.
 Trying to open neighborhood centers (clinics) New Orleans east, Gentilly and
mid city.
 Economic downturn hasn’t affected the university yet however we have a
hiring freeze and we have hired over 300 new employees.
B. Board of Administrators
Gwen Chavez reported the following from the Board meeting:
 Resolutions for the endowment were approved.
 Resolutions for appreciation to Scott Cowen for recently receiving the Carnegie
award
 Successes for fiscal year 2009: Hiring senior level hires; Adding doctoral
programs; Student quality and undergraduate, graduate and professional
programs; Creating neighborhood health centers; FEMA insurance progress;
Stable financial position and strategic plan for institutional advancement.
 Disappointments for fiscal year 2009: Impact of the economic down turn, caused
the endowment to go down; Campus and neighborhood crime; Still haven’t
found/hired someone to head the Law School; Inability to reach an agreement
with LSU for the new hospital (Note: since the board meeting, there has been an
agreement with LSU); Deferral of salary enhancement and the decrease of
research awards;
 Continuing challenges: The weak economy; Attracting, retaining and awarding
the best people of faculty and staff; The availability of investment dollars;
Continuing to enhance education and clinical mission of medical school; and
improving the IT structure of the university.
 Athletic report:
 Won two conferences, women’s volleyball and women’s golf
TU Staff Advisory Council Meeting
October 15, 2009
Page 4


Cumulative grade for the athletes is 2.95. Academic progress reports that
compare all schools in the US, Tulane scored 977 and the NCAA baseline
score is 925. Our GPA is in the top 5 percent of the country for student
athletes.
 Will be hosting a Final 4 Men’s game
Endowment report:
 Total market value $807 million. At end of August $860 million.
 Financial Committee didn’t have a report because financial statements were
not finalized but will be given at the next Board meeting.
V. University Senate Committee Reports
1. Benefits
No meeting.
2. Budget Review
No meeting.
3. Information Technology
No meeting.
4. Equal Opportunity
No meeting.
5. Physical Facilities
Gwen Chavez said there was no meeting. Gwen also sits on the Traffic Appeals
Panel for the uptown campus. She wanted to make everyone aware of new rules
recently implemented by the Facilities Committee for the Traffic Appeals Panel.
With the new rules in effect, you will not be able to appeal any traffic ticket you are
given, you will be automatically denied. This information can be found the Public
Safety Traffic Office website at: http://tulane.edu/publicsafety/traffic-office.cfm. (go
to Citation Appeal regulations and click on “list of the types of citations” for the full
listing of unacceptable extenuating circumstances.)
6. Social Issues
No meeting.
VI. SAC Sub-Committees
TU Staff Advisory Council Meeting
October 15, 2009
Page 5
1. Election Committee
No meeting.
2. Electronic Technology and Information
Mike Griffith reported that he is planning to have a meeting in a couple of weeks. He
invited anyone interested in being on the committee to contact him.
Mike asked all SAC representatives to pass out these flyers (See Attachment 3) to
everyone. The IT department has set up a survey asking everyone to participate in
the survey. The IT department is interested in finding out what training needs or
computer classes the staff is asking be made available.
3. Staff Appreciation
Rob Platner reported we are having a Fun Run on February 27, 2010. This is to tie
into the baseball game that day on 2:00 pm.
 Athletics is interested in helping us with our event because this game typically
does not have a big turnout. Athletics should be able to give us up to 500 free
tickets for the game.
 Have some ideas for give away’s
 Plan to have face painting for the kids, games for the kids.
 Health screening for adults and kids. Mary Brown has committed the Medical
School to help with this.
 President Cowen will be there for the beginning of the walk.
 Still need to meet with Anne Banos to discuss budget. Asked we mention to
Anne individual departments are not able to have staff appreciation so we are
hoping this can help boost morale.
4. Staff Issues
No meeting.
5. Health and Wellness
Judy Vitrano reported:
 Health and Wellness committee participated at all of the benefit fairs. Offered
information on upcoming seminars and online coaching program offered by
UnitedHealth.
 Health assessment still going on – 1,100 participated in the online assessment;
953 participated in the online coaching program (nutrition exercise, stress
management or smoking cessation); 95 have participated in the telephone
coaching program.
 Seven seminars coming up between now and end of the year. Seminars are
spread out over the three campuses.
TU Staff Advisory Council Meeting





October 15, 2009
Page 6
American Heart Walk, Tulane and SAC members have put together teams to
participate in the Heart Walk on November 21st.
Active for Life Program – team-based fitness program. 189 participants made up
25 teams. Program just finished and the winners will be announced soon.
Another program coming out on Nov 9th – Walk Well Program will be a six-week
program to help get you through the holidays. Time based not step based. In
late October and early November information will be sent out announcing the
program.
Planned for 2010 - three walking based programs for spring, summer and fall.
Wellness committee will be assisting SAC in the Fun Day event.
6. Community Service
Cynthia Hayes reported that SAC is committed to CASA especially since this will
help the children in the three parishes. Will do a campaign like we had last year,
collecting gifts/toys for no more than $20.00, and also accepting cash donations.
Volunteers on each campus are needed to accept the gifts / donations and if you are
able to assist, please let Cynthia or Gwen know. Cynthia will be sending out
information on this year’s campaign out to everyone soon. Last year was a
successful campaign for CASA and they appreciated our help and generosity.
VI. Old Business
None.
VIII. New Business
Lisa O’Dwyer wanted to mention a few reminders to everyone:
 For Tulane faculty and staff, season men’s and women’s basketball tickets
can be purchased at half price.
 The 1834 Club will be having an “Oktoberfest” with authentic food and music
on Tuesday October 20th from 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Cost is $5.00
 Tulane University Women’s Association is having the Annual Fall Coffee in
celebration of their 100th year. Will be at Two Audubon Place on October 22,
2009 at 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Invitation only but Lisa has invitations available to
anyone interested in attending.
Next Meeting: The next meeting will be held on Thursday, November 12, 2009 at the
Lavin-Bernick Center for University at 3:30 p.m. and President Scott Cowen will be our
guest speaker.
TU Staff Advisory Council Meeting
October 15, 2009
IX. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 4:30p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Lisa M. Britton
Recording Secretary
Page 7
Attachment 1
Commuter Savings Account Resolution
Staff Advisory Council
Resolution 2009-002
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
TU Staff Advisory Council Meeting
October 15, 2009
Page 2
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
Attachment 2
Shuttle Promotion Resolution
Staff Advisory Council
Resolution 2009-001
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:
Images: Stop at Feret includes (1) uncovered bench and (2) the sign which is the only
information.
TU Staff Advisory Council Meeting
October 15, 2009
Page 2
Resolved:
The Staff Advisory Council recommends that Tulane University look into upgrading its shuttle
stops as more functional spaces, while maintaining esthetics, accessibility and safety.
Recommendations:



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



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.
We further would like to see the service improved to have shuttles ran in both directions so that
ride times would be significantly shorter. Under the new routes, the longer ride times are
contributing to staff members either arriving later to work and/or leaving earlier from work.
Service in both directions would help stem this new practice.
Attachment 3