Staff Senate Minutes
July 13, 2005
The Staff Senate met July 13, 2005 at 3pm in Reynolds 210. Those in attendance were Beth Scroggins, Kay Sawyer, Sarajane Telford, La’Tricia Davis, Gaye Calhoun, Wayne Garner, Rebecca Chiles, Kellye Ogle, Jill Bond, David Wingfield, Cledis Stuart, and Houston Taylor.
Approval of Minutes
The meeting was called to order. A motion to approve the minutes was made by Rebecca Chiles and seconded by David Wingfield. Motion passed.
Old Business
Earl Miller Memorial
A total of $470.00 has been collected. Houston Taylor is going to check with Art Horne in the Foundation department to see if there have been any other contributions designated for this memorial. By the next meeting, we should be ready to order a bench and pick a location for the memorial. Houston will contact the Physical Plant regarding approved locations.
Parking Appeals Committee
Beth contacted the Faculty Senate President, Dr. Marshall Horton about where faculty is on this issue. Dr Horton stated that the Faculty Senate would be interested in revisiting this issue. The next faculty senate meeting is in September.
Hiring Guidelines
Beth Scroggins and Mr. Roger Giles discussed a clarification to the hiring guidelines document regarding staff members being interviewed for positions. It was noted that staff members must meet the criteria for the position before being granted an interview. The hiring guidelines document is currently being reviewed by Dr. Rankin.
CLIP
Keli Honza reported through email that the committee has made final changes to the non-classified document. Once changes are completed, they will go to Mr. Roger Giles for a final review. Cledis Stuart questioned the CLIP bonus and if an employee would still be eligible to receive the bonus if the evaluation was not turned in on time. Having the evaluation turned in in a timely manner is only one criteria that must be met for the CLIP bonus. If the evaluation was not turned in on time by the supervisor, the supervisor in turn would not be eligible for the CLIP bonus. It was reported that money had been set aside for the CLIP bonus but the exact amount was not known. Beth Scroggins is to contact Mr. Roger Giles and ask him to include a brief presentation about the CLIP Program at the staff back to school meeting in August.
Faculty Senate Liaison
Cledis Stuart said they had not met since last reported.
Breakfast/Staff Awards
Beth Scroggins stated a need to have someone in place to work with Arvia on the policies and procedures for the awards portion of the Staff Breakfast. It was agreed that Linda Smith seemed the logical choice to replace Mary Ann Hand. Beth will contact Linda and she will also contact Bryce Harman to ask him to chair the breakfast committee. Latricia Davis made a suggestion that the committee from the previous year come up with an idea for the next year’s breakfast so that a lot of time is not spent on coming up with an idea.
New Business
Constitutional Review Committee
There seems to be enough interest in establishing a committee to review the Staff Senate Constitution on a regular basis. Beth Scroggins suggested we look over the Constitution and make a decision at our September meeting as to whether or not we think a committee should be formed.
Questions Submitted
“Why can we not have the hours SAU-Tech has?”
The hours listed on the SAU Tech website are student hours. A call was placed to SAU Tech and the hours for staff and students differ. The hours for each group are as follows:
Staff (summer) – 7-5:30, Monday-Thursday
Staff (fall and spring semester) – 8-5:30, Monday – Thursday; 8-12, Friday
Students (summer) – 7:30-5, Monday – Thursday
Students (fall and spring semesters) – 8-4, Monday – Thursday; 8-12, Friday
“What is the policy on candles in the buildings? It seems that there are different perceptions on what is allowed.”
The response from Mr. Giles is as follows: The policy on candles is that they are not permitted because of the fire hazard. Sometimes this has been overlooked as in the recent problem with skunks in Overstreet.
“If an employee works for x amount of years (say 10 years, for instance) and then the employee leaves, could their child still be eligible for some tuition break?”
This is a benefit of being a current employee of the University. Former SAU employees do not receive this benefit after leaving SAU.
Other
A question was brought before the Senate regarding cashing out an employee’s vacation and sick time while still employed at the University.
There is currently no policy in place to allow employees to cash out their accumulated vacation or sick time while they are still employed at the University. If an employee leaves the University they are paid for their remaining vacation time for up to 30 days. This question will be forwarded to the Administration for further clarification.
A question regarding position announcements was discussed. Several staff members had seen position announcements for different offices on campus and noticed very specific criteria associated with the positions. This matter was referred to the Hiring Guidelines Committee for further investigation.
Meeting Dates and Times
The 2nd Wednesday of each month seems to be a suitable day for most everyone’s schedule. The meeting time will be changed to 2pm due to conflicts.
The back-to-school meeting will serve as our Staff Assembly for August.
Adjournment
A motion was made by David Wingfield and seconded by LaTricia Davis. Motion passed. The next meeting is September 14, 2005 at 2 pm in Reynolds Center, Room 210.
