Tulane University
Staff Advisory Council
Minutes of Thursday, July 10, 2008
ATTENDEES
ATTENDEES
DOWNTOWN CAMPUS
OFFICERS
Kathleen Brumfield
Glenda Folse
Karen Hiller
Tami Jenniskens
Roxanne Johnson
Paula Lucas
Linda Miller
Cindy Stewart
Shirley Tubre
Merisa Pasternak (proxy)
Yesenia Vasquez (proxy)
Absent
Present
Excused
Present
Excused
Present
Present
Absent
Present
Present
Excused
Susan Barrera ,Chair
Rhonda Earles, Vice Chair
Gwen Chavez, Election Coordinator
Lisa Britton, Recording Secretary
Cheryl Sterling, Corresp. Sect
Jered Bocage, Parliamentarian
Present
Excused
Present
Present
Present
Excused
MEMBERS – AT – LARGE
Rob Platner
Excused
UPTOWN CAMPUS
Marty Brantley
Liz Davey
Shirley Dymond
Miriam Espinosa
Aaron Martin
Lisa O’Dwyer
Judy Vitrano
Linda Wright
Argentina Acosta (proxy)
Jenny Daigle Benoit (proxy)
Laurie Orgeron (proxy)
Excused
Absent
Excused
Excused
Present
Present
Present
Absent
Absent
Excused
Excused
INVITED GUESTS
Aileen Nethery, WFMO
(here for Jason Chretien)
Present
VISITORS
NORTHSHORE
Eileen deHaro
Mary Little
Robert Johnson (proxy)
Present
Present
Present
All Officers are serving the Staff Advisory Council term 2008 – 2009
McAllister’s catered lunch prior to the start of the meeting. While everyone was enjoying their
lunch, Robert Johnson gave a presentation on the Primate Center.
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July 10, 2008
Page 2
Call to Order: Susan Barrera, SAC Chair, called the July 10, 2008 meeting of the Staff
Advisory Council to order at 1:05 p.m. The meeting was held at the Tulane National Primate
Research Center in Covington, Louisiana.
I.
Review and Approval of the Minutes
After discussion regarding typographical corrections to the June minutes, Chair Barrera called
for a motion to approve the June 12, 2008 minutes. The minutes were approved with the
corrections.
II.
Report of the Chair, Susan Barrera
Susan thanked everyone for coming to the meeting, unfortunately many members are not
available to attend today’s meeting due to prior commitments and vacations. Intended to do a
presentation with a gift to Cynthia Hayes for a great job that she has done as past-Chair. Cynthia
was unable to attend today’s meeting so we will give her the gifts in September.
A presentation of flowers from the SAC members was given to the 2008-09 officers.
Constitution – in process of finalizing a meeting date with Anne Bãnos soon. Cynthia, Jered and
Susan will meet to go through and explain the changes to the constitution.
Members-at-large for the 2008-09 year: Rob Platner and Lisa Britton. Verna Lee is very busy
right now and declined to be a member at large and did offer her assistance when we need her.
Two additional members can be appointed if you have any recommendations.
SAC sub-committees: if anyone interested in chairing or co-chairing the Staff Issues or the
Recognition Committees, please let Susan know of your interest.
Constitution: once the constitution has been approved and signed, we will have two new
committees: Community Service Committee and the Health and Wellness Committee.
Maria Woods with the Athletics Department is interested in getting staff more involved in
attending the various athletic events. Athletics is in the process of coming up with ways to make
events attractive for staff to attend. They are considering reduced rates for employees. The
October 25, 2008 football game has been designated a “staff appreciation” day and employees
will be given two free tickets to attend that game. Discussion from the floor offered several
suggestions: women’s sports should be complimentary (typically a lower turn out for these
games); offer “family packages”, reduced rate and some food items offered free (this could not
be done at the Superdome, but at the other facilities where Tulane is responsible for the food.).
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July 10, 2008
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Susan asked for comments or suggestions on having community projects that SAC can do for the
year.
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III.
Last year we were able to help two families with furnishing their new apartments. While
the families were appreciative, it was a lot of work and frustration to get the furniture and
appliance to the families, especially during the Christmas holidays. Judy Vitrano
recommended that we come up with another way to handle if we do the same thing again
this year. Good response from employees donating and having different campus
collections sites worked well but was difficult getting the goods to the families since it
was done around Christmas time.
Have a food drive for Second Harvesters.
Have a gift drive for children at schools, choosing a school where there is the highest
percentage of students receiving free lunches.
Have monetary collection drive for holiday meals. Can arrange with a restaurant (for
example, Piccadilly) for a certain number of dinners. Then distribute “gift certificates” to
the families and they can have complete dinners at Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Kaboom idea for building children’s playground. There is a seminar giving information
and instructions on “how to” build a playground.
Endowment funds to help staff members that are attending classes to purchase text books.
Suggested that SAC could kick-start with a donation to get the fund stated. May take a
couple of years to build up but once established, could find ways of distributing money to
staff members attending classes. (Susan will present this idea to Anne Bãnos when they
meet regarding the constitution.)
It was asked of the SAC members if there are any guest speakers that you would like to
visit us at our upcoming meetings, let Susan know.
Suggested that TIAF-CREF be asked to offer a “general meeting” to give staff members
an overview. The appointment times fill up quickly and many times questions can be
answered in an overview meeting. Also need sessions offered at all of the campuses and
multiple meeting times so that everyone can attend a meeting. A “1-800” number is
offered for those with questions but can take up a lot of time trying to get to speak to
someone on the phone.
WFMO Liaison, Aileen Nethery
Aileen Nethery was here today to represent WFMO since Jason Chretien was unable to make the
meeting today. The first thing asked was the status of the Compensation Review. She responded
that the review process is nearing the end and conclusions should be made soon. Cheryl Avera
has been training on how to classify jobs and the next step is to send the information to the
department heads. It was asked that staff of WFMO attend our September meeting to give a
status update on the compensation review.
Some complaints for Aileen to bring back to WFMO—
 No one returns calls.
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July 10, 2008
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Job postings are still on the website for positions that have already been filled.
Would like to have the computer training classes offered again. Were very helpful and
seemed to be cost effective instead of going outside of Tulane for computer program
classes.
The “Staff Excellence Award” should also have a plaque offered in addition to the
money. This should be offered retroactive to those who received the award.
It is appreciated that we now can do PAF’s online and no longer necessary to hand
deliver paperwork to WFMO.
Aileen was asked if there is any way for staff to know who is currently handling the various
duties at WFMO. Since there has been many changes and new hires and as staff, we are not sure
who our contact or how to go about navigating the newer procedures. Aileen responded that
there are 32 people in WFMO. Dorothy Smith is the Assistant VP and her role is on
employment.
Customer service is their priority. Jason Chretien is Assistant VP of WFMO
Operations. Aileen is Assistant VP WFMO Strategy, Planning & Implementation with two
directors under her, Sandy West who handles the payroll end, and Stephen Kirsch handles the
processes at the Primate Center. Aileen will ask WFMO to give SAC a simple presentation at
our September meeting explaining who is who, and what their duties involve.
At the Primate Center, Dorothy will have a permanent office space since she comes here several
times a month. Steve comes here every Wednesday.
IV.
Officer Reports
A. University Senate
No report. Senate is off for the summer. Meetings will begin again in the fall.
B. Board of Administrators
No report. The Board is off for the summer. Meetings will begin again in the fall. Rhonda
Earles will take over attending this meeting starting in the fall
V.
University Senate Committee Reports
1. Benefits
Consultants came and gave a presentation on the five different insurance carriers, but have
narrowed down to three – UnitedHealth, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and Coventry. Questions from
this meeting were to be forwarded to the different insurance carriers for further explanation.
Representatives from each of the carriers are to meet with upper management here at Tulane.
Then a decision will be made as to which company to have cover the employees. Appears Blue
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July 10, 2008
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Cross/Blue Shield has better hospitals in their network around the country than UnitedHealth.
However there were other positive things about UnitedHealth that Blue Cross/Blue Shield didn’t
have. Coventry doesn’t have out of the country but can offer an add-on to offer that coverage to
those out of the country. Discussion about a study that was done regarding who pays the doctors
and UnitedHealth and Coventry were rated the worst on reimbursing doctors. So this should also
be considered in choosing a carrier. Haven’t heard any positive experiences with Coventry and
is recommended that Coventry not be considered as our medical insurance carrier.
After the health care providers meet with upper management, they will decide who will be
our carrier and then will present to the Benefits Committee. At this time, no date has been
scheduled for a Benefits Committee meeting.
2. Budget Review
No meeting. Committee is off for the summer. Meetings will begin again in the fall.
3. Information Technology
No Report.
4. Equal Opportunity
No Report.
5. Physical Facilities
No Report.
6. Social Issues
No Report.
VI.
SAC Sub-Committees
1. Election Committee
No report.
2. Electronic Technology and Information
No report.
3. Staff Appreciation
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July 10, 2008
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No report.
4. Staff Issues
No Report.
5. Constitution
Plan to have a meeting sometime in the next two weeks with Anne Bãnos. Jered Bocage,
Cynthia Hayes and Susan Barrera will meet to go through and explain the changes to the
constitution.
VII.
Old Business
None.
VIII. New Business
Discussion from the floor regarding a Staff Issues. Would like to see if Tulane would be able to
offer employees to work “flextime” hours. At the end of the discussion, it was agreed that
guidance will need to come from WFMO and they will need to have a statement in the “policy
handbook”. Managers are afraid to allow flextime since no specific wording in the policy
handbook. Flextime is a way to help employees with the rising cost of gas and goods. This
could offer employees one day a week not commuting to work, which would also go along with
“going green” to help the environment. It was suggested that offering flextime would be a good
retention strategy to keep employees.
Next Meeting: There will not be a meeting in August. The next meeting will be held on
September 11, 2008 at the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life in the Race Conference
Room at 3:30 pm.
IX.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 2:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Lisa M. Britton
Recording Secretary
TU Staff Advisory Council Meeting Minutes
July 10, 2008
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