ESAC Meeting Minutes
(June 25, 2009)
(8:30am-10:30am, NADS meeting room)
Council Members:
Present: Dawn Marshall, Phil Jordan, Susan Beckett, Sarah Williams,
Present (incoming): Troy Lyons, Angie Schenkel, Dan Johnsen
Absent: Deborah Hampton, Richard Hardin, Diana Harris, Pete Haug, Craig Just, Andrew Veit, Dina Blanc
Quorum present? Yes
Others Present:
Janann Schiele, Ryan Baumert
Proceedings:
· Meeting called to order at 8:40am by Phil Jordan
· Round the table introductions
· Outgoing President Phil Jordan said goodbye and turned things over to incoming president Dawn
Marshall
· Dawn gave a brief outline of council structure to new members and discussed the responsibilities of
the Executive Committee. While nominations should be today, they will be postponed until next
meeting due to absences and a change to the operational year. The position of president elect is to be
filled - no volunteers at this time.
· Constitution and By-law report by Dawn Marshall:
- The constitution and by-laws are being reviewed due to a change in the operational year. Several
things have been moved around and a May luncheon for recruitment was added.
- MOTION to confirm the changes by Phil, seconded by Susan, no discussion, motion carried.
- Brief aside to point out that incoming members do not vote as their terms do not start until July.
· Liaison Committee report by Dawn Marshall:
- Due to the dates and times not being printed, Dawn will circulate a sign-up sheet. Another brief
overview for the incoming members - outline responsibilities: meeting attendance, note any interesting
items, report back to committee.
· Engineering budget update and miscellaneous issues provided by Janann Schiele
- The College of Engineering lost 1.23 million dollars from their budget which constitutes a very large
percentage of the approximate 17 million dollar total. 700k of this will be recouped through the
stimulus package, but this is temporary and is conditional regarding spending.
- College is currently taking proposals for cost cutting/income generating ideas.
- Ryan did a great job on food and gifts at the Faculty Staff Luncheon.
- As of June 3, 100% of sexual harassment training had been completed.
- Susan asked about the status of the international flags. Janann said the status was still up in the air
pending a decision by Barry Butler. One of the issues is where to hang the flags.
· Publicity report by Phil Jordan:
- Year End Summary presented
- Phil noted that the emphasis was on things DONE and not simply discussed
· Old Business
- Susan gave background on international flags. There was a great response at their first unveiling; the
college is currently being lobbied for permanent purchase and display. Ideas for fundraisers are being
accepted (an international potluck was briefly mentioned as an idea) and the Coca Cola funds are a
possibility. The current committee consists of Deborah, Susan and Natalie Potter though there an open
offer for membership.
- Susan addressed the staff milestones webpage. No new news, but she provided a background to the
incoming members.
- Susan mentioned that the flood posters are now up in the Seamans Center.
- Phil presented information on the Staff Service Award. He sent an email to Barry Butler (see attached
document from previous minutes) and Barry told Ryan to schedule a meeting to discuss with either Phil
or Dawn. No meeting time has been decided yet. Ryan asked for clarification whether the award would
be aimed at a career body of work vs. simply over the last year. Some discussion about whether there
would be years when it would not be awarded lacking a viable candidate or whether some years could
have multiple winners. Consensus was that there should be no limitations. Brief discussion regarding
whether there would be a monetary award. Phil guessed that the budget would probably not allow for
it in the short term -- he would rather see awards without stipends if it meant keeping a college
employee.
·New Business
- The next brown bag lunch date was set for July 14th, 12-1pm
- Discussion regarding whether the brown bag invitation should extended to faculty in addition to staff.
Consensus is that the preference would be to keep it as just staff since faculty already have a meeting
and would likely dominate with budget talk. Dawn will send an email to the Merit staff to notify them
and will be responsible for communication regarding the brown bag.
· Social events for ’09-10: Despite the fact that nobody saved any of the big cinnamon rolls for Phil, the
Welcome Back tailgate was successful last year. Widely considered to be the best social event and
generated lots of feedback -- Dawn would like it to occur again this year. Discussion about how social
events were a primary focus at the outset of last year, but were lost in all the budgetary concerns.
Dawn would like the council to think of cost-effective ideas for social events and email or present at
meetings. She would like some members to form a Social Event Committee to track who is responsible
for each event task, dates, etc. Phil liked the idea of a mid-winter BBQ. Get volunteers to bring grills,
karaoke machines, games, etc. Emphasis should be on low budget activities as grant money will
probably not be available.
· Project Plans:
- Dawn will make a list of subcommittees for the next meeting. Incoming members should bring ideas
for topics of discussion, committees, etc.
- One example last year was Professional Development. Ideas floated were in regard to college support
for training, conference attendance, seminars, skill-building, professional society membership.
However, give the economic situation the timing may not be right for this. The topic can be brought up
and discussed for a year or two first before being submitted. Budget may look better by then.
- Possibility for a Professional Development Award that can be based on other colleges’ award models.
·Rotational Meetings:
- The rotational order is set to lighten travel load and increase council presence in engineering buildings
(SC, CCAD, IHR, NADS)
- The 4th Thursday of the month at 8:30am works well for everybody and will be kept.
- The 2nd Tuesday of the month at 8:30am will be the Executive meeting schedule
- Traditionally either the July or August meeting is skipped. Dawn wants to meet in July to address
nominations for the Executive Committee. Should we skip August? Consensus is NO. Phil felt this
meeting is needed to address the welcome back plan.
-Next meetings will be (Dawn will send out the meeting requests):
Seamans Center, July 23, 8:30am
?, August 27, 8:30am
- Phil says thank you to all the outgoing members.
· MOTION to adjourn, seconded, motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 9:51am.