ALACUPA-HR Quarterly Chapter Meeting
August 18, 2015
Birmingham Southern College
Meeting Minutes
Submitted by Teresa H. Faulkner, Secretary
Attendance Count: Twenty-seven including non-member institution speakers.
Institutions Represented: Athens State, Auburn University, Birmingham Southern
College, Jacksonville State University, Troy State, University of Alabama, University of
Alabama at Birmingham, University of Alabama at Huntsville, University of Montevallo
Speakers:
Lisa Atkins, Ogletree Deakins, Legal Update
Kathy Golden, TIAA-CREF
Leanne Fuller, Auburn University, CUPA-HR Knowledge Center
Officers Present: Barbara Forrest, president; Angela Harrill, president-elect; Brenda
Adams, treasurer; Teresa Faulkner, secretary; Judy Harrison, past-president
Chris McClendon, director at large – unable to attend
Meeting Opening
Barbara Forrest opened the meeting with a welcome and extended a special thank you
to Angela Harrill and the Birmingham Southern team for their hospitality.
Board members were introduced and special recognition was given to Leanne Fuller
and Chris Thompson with Auburn University for their past and current roles with our
chapter both locally and regionally.
Barbara shared information about the recent ALP conference she and Angela attended
highlighting some startling statistics regarding membership. She shared that our
chapter will continue that focus. Chris Thompson agreed to lead our membership drive
effort to get more schools on the roster and participating.
Another topic from the ALP was a question that surfaced: “What keeps members of the
AGB (Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges) up at night?” Their
answer was, “HR”. And the group agreed that we need to do our part to combat that
image.
The next topic was to announce the Recipients of the Barons Bucks. Note: The first
twenty to register for the August 18th meeting received $20.00 in Barons Bucks. This
was great fun and also one of the ways the chapter re-cooped some of the funds
invested for the summer conference that was cancelled.
First Speaker
Angela Harrill introduced the first speaker - Lisa Atkins with Ogletree Deakins to
present the Legal Update. Her area(s) of focus included:
Transgender, Sexual Orientation, Criminal Background Investigations, and Adverse
Action Requirements
-BreakBusiness Meeting
Business Meeting was called to order at 11:15.
Old Business
At the February meeting the membership approved the motion to move officer roles to
two year terms and moved to change the by-laws to reflect this change.
Status: The by-laws were changed and approved.
Angela Harrill provided an update to the November 2nd Conference to be held in
Birmingham at the Medical Forum Room (part of the Sheraton).
She shared that the majority of speakers on the original slate for the June conference
that was cancelled had agreed to keep their money and their time with our conference
in November. Those speakers and sponsors include Balch and Bingham, Abby Kohut,
Ogletree Deakins, and TIAA.
Questions that surfaced about the conference included:
Will there be a November 1 Social?
Will there be a speaker or speaker(s) addressing FLSA issues?
Is the cost set for the conference?
Will there be re-certification credits?
Angela stated that information would be shared with the membership once all of the
details were firm.
New Business
Leanne Fuller circulated a current roster and invited each school represented to update
their data.
Barbara invited volunteers for Webmaster for the Chapter website and Arlene Brown
with Auburn University volunteered for the role.
The invoicing process was discussed and it was decided that Brenda would wait until
after the fiscal year to bill institutions.
Barbara brought up the topic of House Bill 39 for discussion and to find out what other
schools are doing to prepare. This bill states that Benefits information must be shared
with every employee in specific detail due to the Truth in Salary Act. Members added to
the discussion and Barbara invited schools to send their questions to her and she would
forward them to the appropriate parties. Those parties might be Beverly Hughes for the
template used, Ann Shore, and Kathy Golden for information on how TIAA is
responding to this bill.
Barbara invited hosts for the spring meeting and discussed having Chris Lee as a
possible speaker.
Officer Reports
-Brenda Adams provided copies of the current financial report to the group and
described the future look of the report with the group.
She shared that she would email receipts for those paying today.
She shared that she missed some payments in February due to the unexpected early
ending of the meeting due to weather. She is working to balance that information
-Teresa Faulkner shared the February minutes at each table.
A motion was made to approve the Secretary’s Report/February 20, 2015 Minutes.
Leanne seconded the motion. Secretary’s Report was passed.
A motion was made to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Chris seconded the motion.
The Treasurer’s Report was passed.
The Business Meeting was adjourned at 11:55 and the group broke for lunch.
Round Tables
Topics were wide and varied but several themes surfaced including:
FLSA, ACA, Growing pains by several schools experiencing major changes and
turnover within their departments, new presidents, newly created positions and new vice
presidents for advancement for several schools, People Admin, merit pay, comp
studies, FLSA audits and grandfathering benefits, background checks and the Ban the
Box move, moving from a two year school/community college system to a four year
institution, how to pay adjuncts, and much more.
Second Speaker
Kathy Golden - TIAA CREF, The Important Role of Employee Resource Groups
-BreakThird Speaker
Leanne Fuller – Director of Employment Services, Auburn University - Knowledge
is Power…Available Resources from CUPA-HR
-Knowledge Center
-HR Connect
*Members were invited to update their national information with Knowledge Center
Announcements
Building on the Knowledge Center resources, Barbara and Angela briefly discussed the
idea of accessing webinars for the group through CUPA HR.
Brenda thanked Kathy Golden for TIAA’s generous sponsorship.
Upcoming conferences were announced: Annual HR Management Conference at The
Club in Birmingham on October 6-7 and the November 2 ALACUPA-HR Conference.
Barbara thanked everyone – speakers, members, BSC team and the meeting closed.