WCU Staff Forum Meeting Minutes
Hinds University Center – Cardinal Room
August 18, 2004, 8:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Present:
Dawne Coward, Linda Beja, Terry Riouff, Marvin Bumgarner, Ronnie
Deitz, Michele Sutton, Bill Studenc, Lisa Frady, William Frady, Debbie Justice, Keith Ashe, Ronnie
Amster, Julie Walters-Steele, Alicia Estes, Irene Welch, Larry Hammer
Non-Members Present:
Jeanne Kovin, Gloria Rogers, Kathy Wong
Absent:
Cory Causby, Clifton Fisher, Glenna Young, Scott Powell
Guest:
Tom Franke
Members and guests were welcomed and the meeting was called to order by Keith Ashe.
Approval of Agenda: The agenda for today’s meeting was approved.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes from July 8, 2004, meeting were approved.
Guest Speaker: Keith introduced Dr. Tom Franke, University CIO, as today’s guest speaker.
Dr. Franke distributed a handout highlighting IT Division initiatives for Fall 2004. He briefly
reviewed several of these that in some way directly impact the staff.

Student messaging and email password expiration plan – The sending emails to students
will now be handled by Donna Welch in the Office of Student Affairs (this was previously
handled by IT Services personnel). The option now exists to send emails to certain
groups when the need arises, i.e. emails can be sent to graduate students only,
undergraduate students only, freshmen only, etc.

New account creation process for faculty and staff – A system has been developed
whereby new employees can request an email account over the web using a form that
can be downloaded. New employees’ supervisors will approve email access and the
account will be created within two days. FRS, SIS, etc. will still need to be channeled
through the normal process as these accounts require approval at various departmental
levels. The idea is to have this in effect by the beginning of Fall semester.

Firewall – The firewall is a hardware device that will protect our network by
blocking malicious data from entering the system. This will be in effect as soon after the
start of Fall semester as possible.

Pay for Print – Currently, several locations exist where students may print documents at
no charge; however, beginning October 18 students will be required to pay for printing
their documents.

Banner – A new fee was authorized by the UNC Board of Governors providing for the
implementation of Banner, a software package that will replace our current SCT
software. Banner will go on-line in the Advancement Office sometime this Fall and will
go on-line for the financial systems next Summer.

Safe Access for ResNet – Last year we experienced major problems with viruses in the
ResNet system, and these viruses caused problems for everyone across campus. During
the past year, Dr. Franke has issue a challenge to the IT Networking Department to have
a system in place by Fall 2004 that will prevent this problem from happening again. The
product chosen to tackle this issue is “Safe Access”.

IT Advisory Councils – Three new councils have been formed within the Division of IT.
The Educational Technologies Advisory Council will oversee the planning, etc. for
computer labs. The Administrative Systems Advisory Council will deal with issues related
to business systems and the addition of new systems. Finally, the University IT Advisory
Council will deal with issues that are campus-wide, i.e. policies, etc.

MERLOT – A consortium of universities has combined efforts to collect computer-based
instructional systems. The MERLOT software, however, actually resides on our campus.

WIMBA – This is a tool within WebCT that allows folks to communicate by voice. As an
example, an instructor would have the option to teach a lesson that can be heard all over
the world.
Information Items: The next Staff Forum meeting will be held on Thursday, September 9,
2004, 8:30-10:30 a.m., in the Cardinal Room of the UC.
Kathy Wong from the office of Human Resources reviewed the Chancellor’s email about pay
increases. These increases will take effect in the August paychecks, retroactive to July 1. This is
an across-the-board raise. EPA increases will be included in September paychecks. An additional
round of pay increases will be given to EPA employees in September due to local tuition. Kathy
said there will be no changes in benefits this time, i.e. health insurance, etc. Our retirement
system contributions increased somewhat this year. Optional retirement contributions did not
change, however.
Kathy said that the secondary employment policy is in effect and the sole purpose is to ensure
there are no conflicts with employees’ duties at the University. More information on this matter is
forthcoming. She also reported on some changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Human
Resources personnel will have a meeting with University Legal Counsel next week to coordinate
this. There will be minimal changes in SPA positions but several changes in EPA positions.
Finally, Kathy said that we have hired 74 additional faculty for the Fall semester, 52 of which are
new hires.
Chancellor’s Office Report: No report.
Campus Committee Reports: University Advisory Council – Has not met. Calendar – Has not
met.
SF Committee Reports: Human Resources: Irene Welch reported that the HR Committee met
and came up with a proposal to be sent to the Chancellor since SPA employees were denied
increases from local tuition monies. Irene distributed a rough draft of the proposal from the HR
Committee to go to the Chancellor. The entire group agreed this is a good proposal. Following a
couple of suggestions for changes, Keith asked for a motion to send this proposal to the
Chancellor once it has been edited and put into final form. The HR Committee made the motion,
the motion was seconded and it carried unanimously.
Resources and Environment: Mountain Heritage Day: This committee was asked to contact
members of the Mountain Heritage Day Committee to determine whether or not we can have a
cake walk in addition to serving muffins, pastries, etc. The committee will report back at the
September meeting.
Governance: Julie Walters-Steele reported that Phyllis Bolick, a former member of the
Governance Committee, has resigned her position on the Staff Forum. Lisa Frady has agreed to
complete Phyllis’ term as well as serve on the Governance Committee.
Public Relations: Bill Studenc reported that this committee met recently. They discussed getting
increased visibility for the Staff Forum. Bill said that Debi Connelly has graciously agreed to allow
the Staff Forum space in “The Reporter” on an as-needed basis for announcements, etc. Also, Bill
stated that William Frady has agreed to help update our website and keep it updated on a
continual basis. This committee will try to formulate some guidelines for updating the site so that
future Staff Forum members who serve on this committee will have a clear set of instructions to
follow. With regard to Employee Appreciation Day, scheduled for September 14, 2004, Bill says
the Staff Forum will have a booth for this event. Brochures, and maybe a few other items, will be
available at that booth. At the September meeting, sign-up sheets will be distributed to get
volunteers to work 15 minute time periods during this event.
Scholarship: Michele Sutton said this committee met and discussed the possibility of including
information about our Staff Forum scholarship on the web site. In addition, she said they
discussed asking local vendors, alumni and retired staff for contributions to the scholarship.
Issues Status Report: No changes to report at this meeting.
Old Business: Keith asked each committee to forward their goals to him within the next few
days and he will try to prioritize these for review at our September meeting.
New Business: Flex schedules – this matter was placed in the hands of the HR Committee.
Town Hall Meeting – This was tabled for discussion under “Old Business” at our next meeting.
Bulletin Board – This was also tabled for discussion under “Old Business” at our next meeting.
Staff Forum members were asked to poll their co-workers to see if they would be interested in
having such a bulletin board. Debbie Justice stated that Dr. Franke currently has also been
questioned about having a bulletin board on the website, but there are some legal issues that
need to be discussed with our University attorney.
Other New Business/Open Comments: Julie Walters-Steele said that students want staff
involvement in events that occur at the UC. One such upcoming event is the Valley Ballyhoo.
She encouraged everyone to attend this event and to bring their children with them.
The meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m.
Respectfully submitted: Dawne Coward