Staff Senate Minutes
February 14, 2007
The Staff Senate met on February 14, 2007 at 3:00 p.m. in Reynolds 210. Senators in attendance were La’Tricia Davis, David Wingfield, Diane Johnson, Pat King, Jill Bond, Kellye Ogle, Beth Scroggins, Donald Wray, Cledis Stuart, Wilma Williams, Mary Hubbard, Linda Smith, Roger Guevara, Houston Taylor, Art Horne, and Brenda Garrett.
Approval of Minutes
The meeting was called to order by President Houston Taylor. There were two corrections to the minutes: the last meeting was on December 13 not December 15 and a “y” needed to be added to the name of Gaytha Edwards. With these corrections, Art Horne made a motion to accept the minutes, seconded by La’Tricia Davis.
It was stated that the monthly staff senate meeting times would be moved back to 2 p.m. instead of 3 p.m.
Old Business
Houston read a memo dated January 2, 2007, which he sent to Mr. Darrell Morrison, Vice President of Finance, concerning the staff senate recommendation to eliminate tuition waiver refunds in order to facilitate funding of a 100 percent tuition waiver for SAU employee dependents. He then read a return memo from Mr. Morrison, dated January 4, which stated he would take the recommendation to the next Vice President’s Council meeting. Houston’s January 2 memo was also sent to Brad Herzog, President of the Faculty Senate.
Committee Reports
Staff Awards Breakfast
Houston, serving as a proxy for co-chair Lynn Disotell, gave an update for the staff awards breakfast committee. The Staff Awards Breakfast is scheduled for Monday, March 26, 2007 at 7:30 a.m. The theme for the breakfast will be a sports theme and invitations should be sent out soon.
New Business
Houston passed around copies of a memo from Mr. Giles of the “Holidays and Specified Vacation Days for the 2007-2008 Fiscal Year”. One senator suggested we consider changing the Thanksgiving holiday schedule in the following manner: staff would work ten-hour days on Monday and Tuesday and take four hours of mandatory vacation in order to be off work on Wednesday. This would allow more travel time for those who travel and preparation time for Thanksgiving. Houston suggested that we send a memo out to all staff concerning the issue. A recommendation was made to send the proposal to Mr. Giles, and to include this issue in the senate meeting minutes in order for all staff to be aware of the recommendation, so that if they had comments regarding the recommendation, they could address them. Houston asked that if any staff member had comments or feedback on the issue, to please contact him.
Cledis Stuart presented the Senate with an idea for a program be would like to see us support. The program is called “Grow Your Own” and encourages students to proceed with obtaining post-graduate degrees. In this program, qualified applicants would seek post-graduate degrees with SAU paying their tuition. In exchange, the student would agree to work for SAU for a pre-determined amount of time, usually a year of service for a year of tuition paid. Cledis would like to see this opportunity extended to the faculty and staff. The senate expressed concern with funding such a program and asked for more information, such as program guidelines.
Cledis addressed the Senate regarding feedback he had received concerning the Black Students’ Association’s (BSA) black faculty/staff appreciation ceremony. As the sponsor of the BSA, he wanted to make sure that everyone understood that the members of the BSA, while recognizing the accomplishments of African-American leaders through history and on a national level, also wanted to recognize the local African-American leaders on the SAU campus. The students of the BSA had no intention of offending anyone, and wanted to make sure, as the initial memo of the program stated, that everyone on campus was invited to attend the ceremony.
Other
Houston reminded us that Monday, February 19, 2007, is the deadline for nominations for the Staff Excellence Awards to be presented at the Staff Breakfast in March.
Houston related information in regard to the university’s stance as far as the Murphy Oil Company’s “El Dorado Promise” scholarship program. If students who have a Murphy scholarship enroll at SAU and are eligible for SAU scholarships, then they can use the Murphy funds to cover other expenses. A question also arose about criteria that students must meet to receive the Murphy scholarship. Another question regarded if a student receives the Murphy scholarship, but has below a 16 ACT score, would they be admitted into the university? There was much discussion on this matter, and about admission standards here and at other universities as far as Murphy scholarship recipients were concerned.
Art reminded everyone that the beautiful fountain installed outside of the north entrance of the Business Agri-Business Building will soon be dedicated and stressed the importance that as many SAU employees as possible should plan to attend the dedication ceremony to show appreciation for the donation. Art stated that he would send a notice of when the actual ceremony will take place.
La’Tricia stated that J. Kay Sawyer has been coming in and working as she’s able, and stressed how thankful she was to the SAU family.
Houston reminded everyone that Steve Goodheart’s father, Dale, had passed away and to remember to keep Steve and his family in their thoughts.
Adjournment
The motion to adjourn was made by Kellye Ogle and seconded by La’Tricia. The next meeting of the Staff Senate will be hold on Wednesday, March 14, 2007, at 2:00 p.m.
