COSW Minutes
October 22, 2010
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Present: Nancy Barr, Sam Connally, Susan Duncan, Pamela Feldhoff, Andrea Gobin, Bob Goldstein,
Jeanne Guerrero, Shirley Hardy, Brenda Hart, Dawn Heinecken, Sharon Kerrick, Nancy Knadler, Ann
Larson, Sharon LaRue, Kimberly Maffet, David Owen, Mary Karen Powers, Gale Rhodes, Mordean TaylorArcher, Nancy Theriot, Tammi A. Thomas, Martyna Warren, Barbara Wheeler, Linda Wilson, Georgette
Moore and Donna Russell Guest(s): Tony Belak (Ombudsman Office), Karen Porter (Ombudsman
Office)
Absent: Valerie Casey, Barbara Hanger, Marcia Hern, Casia Horseman, M. Cynthia Logsdon
Chair Update: The COSW membership introduced themselves to new members: Nancy Barr, Andrea
Gobin, Nancy Knadler and Martyna Warren. Also introduced was Mr. Tony Belak, new University
Ombudsman. There were no minutes to approve from September. Rather than convene the COSW
general meeting on September 24, members present used the time to hold a retreat for committees.
Because there were not enough members present to represent a majority, voting on the approval of the
minutes from August 2010 meeting was postponed. Although August minutes had been sent to
commissioners, Georgette was requested to resubmit them.

Congratulations Barbara: Susan congratulated Commissioner Barbara Wheeler for receiving the
Distinguished Faculty Award in Service at the President’s 2010 Celebration of Faculty Excellence
on October 13.

JCPS Fall Break: UofL will overlap with JCPS fall break.

Parental Leave: Parental leave has been approved, extending the time from 3 weeks to six
weeks effective January 1, 2011.

Lactation Rooms: Susan reported that we are in the process of identifying the rooms with Ken
Deats and Michael Mardis. A list will be published soon and scheduled. The information will be
published in UofL Today.

Purdue Conference: At the September meeting, Susan was at the Pre-Tenure Women
Conference at Purdue University. She expressed pride that the COSW was able to sponsor
registration for several, including two department chairs. Thought that it was well worth going.
Pamela Feldhoff and Susan will meet with Dean Eells and Dean Ferrer at HSC to talk about
female faculty becoming full professors—how to help these women go forward. She reported
that the COSW EC discussed coordinating workshops to help women and who should take the
lead—departmental units or the COSW.

DPS Training: The COSW EC discussed the recent incident of an armed female student on
campus. From that discussion it was decided that the Department of Public Safety be invited to
present their "Shots Fired on Campus" Active Shooter Training for the COSW. The training has
been scheduled for Friday, January 28, 2011 at noon at the COSW general meeting.

COSW Communication Committee: The EC discussed developing a newsletter that could be
posted quarterly. Jeanne Guerrero, Chair of the Communication committee will talk with her
group today about getting this done.

Campus Climate Survey: Tammi A. Thomas has agreed to be COSW representative on this
committee and will report back to the Commission.
University Ombudsman: Anthony “Tony” Belak introduced himself and Karen Porter to the COSW.
Belak joined the UofL as ombudsman earlier this month. The Ombuds Office offers informal and
confidential dispute resolution services for faculty and staff, advises employees about policies and
procedures and can recommend steps to resolve disputes. He noted that he feels that his background
will serve him well as he helps faculty and staff work through conflicts. Belak cited previous
employment experiences as executive director of the International Center for Collaborative Solutions at
Sullivan University, where he also taught in the Master of Science in conflict management program. He
also served as senior dispute resolution counsel for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and as
founder and past president of the Federal ADR Council Inc.
HR Update: Sam Connally reported that the Office of Human Resources has completed a public,
competitive bid process for the University’s health plan administrator. The University selected United
Health Care to administrator our health plan beginning January 1. While UofL has enjoyed a productive
relationship with Humana for the past several years, United Health Care (UHC) submitted the most
competitive proposal. There will continue to be no co-pays for UofL Primary Care Physicians in any plan.
This includes the EPO, PPO, PCA, and OOA plans, as well as Cardinal Care.
Sam talked about encouraging more of UofL employees to our signature plan, Cardinal Care and that we
have added incentives this year. A $100 gift card will be given to the first 500 employees who enroll in
Cardinal Care and who convert from another plan option for 2011, when our on-line open enrollment
opens November 1.
Sharon Larue is COSW’s HRAC representative. This group is the first-line for vetting new ideas. The
President and Provost solicited ideas to save money and reduce costs across the university. There are
no changes to the tuition/remission policy. Sharon also briefly talked about getting an update on BIRT
(Bias Incident Response Team). BIRT now has a logo: “100% Hate Free”. Also, there are now about five
people who handle phone calls regarding incidents. Lastly noted, a website will be up in a week or so.
The general meeting adjourned to committee sessions.
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