Randolph College Staff Advisory Committee Minutes
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
9:30 a.m., Darden
Present: Bob Lanning (Chair), Kathy Dupree (Co-chair), President Klein, Tina Hill,
Joy McGrath, Sharon Saunders, Barbara Thrasher, Donna Spychala,
and Bob Hefner (absent: Joan Smith)
I.
Call to order by Chair Bob Lanning at 9:30 a.m.
II.
Tina Johnson attended the meeting to discuss the Quality
Enhancement Plan that faculty, staff and students have been
drafting called Bridges Not Walls. There are several different
elements to the plan, including: attention to greater diversity within
international student recruitment goals, revisiting and possibly
revamping the Quillian Professor program, increased summer study
offerings (both domestically and abroad), focusing on languages
and the creation of a language house, additional support for the
American Culture program, and the development of a speaker
series or larger campus events that have an intercultural focus. It is
very important to note that one of main goals of the QEP is to
enhance student learning outcomes with regard to understanding
and approaching cultural difference. The definition of culture is
“the learned and shared values, beliefs, and behaviors of a group of
interacting people.” Therefore, “intercultural” in the case of the QEP
does not simply mean “international” but is really an emphasis on
students engaging successfully across difference, either within our
own diverse local communities or abroad. Dr. Janet Bennett
(executive director and co-founder of the Intercultural
Communication Institute) has provided one definition of
intercultural competence that pertains to what we hope to help
students achieve: the ability to communicate effectively and
appropriately in a variety of cultural contexts. Feedback provided
by the advisory committee will be shared with faculty developing
the QEP and a larger all staff/faculty meeting will be scheduled to
share more about the plan as it unfolds. Please direct any questions
to Gordon Steffey or Beth Schwartz (faculty co-chairs of the QEP
implementation group) or Tina Johnson, a staff member on the
committee.
III.
Announcements and Reminders

For retirees age 65 and over, Anthem notified the College in
September that they would be unable to renew our current
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Medicare Private Fee for Service Program on January 1, 2011
based on circumstances beyond their control. Anthem was
forced to make this decision based on a variety of factors,
but none greater than the fact that several large facilities
opted to leave the Anthem PFFS network in the Central
Virginia area. While Anthem continues to sell and market
these types of plans in other parts of the Commonwealth, a
new federal law effective January 1, 2011, placed a network
requirement on them that without the above mentioned
facilities participating in their network they would be unable
to continue to offer this product in our area. HR has been in
contact with retirees regarding this and are scheduled to
meet with them at Westminster Canterbury later this
afternoon. The College is looking at several options, one of
which is an Anthem Supplemental Plan F.

Human Resources will be sending out open enrollment
material for health, dental, and flex in early November.
Please be on the lookout for it. The federal government has
changed some of the rules for what is allowable under
flexible spending for the 2011 calendar year. We will have
group meetings in late November to help explain. There will
be no plan changes or deductible changes to our current
Coventry/Southern Health Plan for the 2011 calendar year.
 Two upcoming Admissions Open House days – October 23rd
and November 13th.
 Open Campus Day which is more personal and visitors can sit
in on classes, talk to coaches, etc. will be on November 2nd.
 Wednesday, October 20th is Moonlight Madness in the gym.
There will be games and prizes and lots of fun! Faculty and
staff are also invited.
IV.
Agenda Items

It was agreed that we would have a fun, dress-up-in-costume
day on Friday, October 29 (staff, faculty, and students are all
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welcome to participate). Aside from dressing in costumes,
the day will be “business as usual.” Costume guidelines
include: 1) no masks or costumes that obscure your face, 2)
no costumes that interfere with job responsibilities, and 3)
no revealing or socially inappropriate costumes. Hope you
will participate in Spooky Friday!

V.
VI.
Wear Jeans Day will be a fundraiser for the food bank and is
moved until next semester when the food bank is not as well
stocked as other times of the year.
Open Agenda

We are hoping to start the remodeling of the Student Center
right after Reunion in the spring. The work should take 18
months to complete.

The Chariot Race was great fun and more advertising in the
future may help increase participation.

The Disc Golf Course has been a great addition to our
Campus. It’s been a huge hit and we are having great
participation!
The next meeting will be Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 9:30
a.m. in Casner.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:43 a.m.
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