Staff Senate Meeting
May 14, 2008
The Staff Senate met on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. in Reynolds 205. Senators in attendance were Wendy Burge, Gaye Calhoun, Brenda Garrett, Roger Guevara, Charles Honza, Mary Hubbard, Pat King, Essie Moore, Eric Plummer, Shawana Reed, Becki Talley, Donald Wray, and Shelley Whaley. Visitors were Wilma Williams and Darrell Morrison. Donald Wray held Houston Taylor’s proxy.
Approval of Minutes
The meeting was called to order by President Shelley Whaley. A motion to accept the minutes of April 9, 2008 with the following amendment was made by Donald Wray and seconded by Pat King. The minutes should have included a note about the educational leave benefits program. This issue was brought up at the April meeting and will be addressed at a later meeting. Roger Giles will discuss the issue at the Vice Presidents Council. The motion to approve the minutes with this amendment passed. Shelley Whaley welcomed new senators, Eric Plummer and Shawana Reed. She also noted that LaTricia Davis and Sarah Jennings were elected to serve on the Staff Senate. Brenda Garrett and Pat King were re-elected as senators.
Old Business
Student Representatives
Shelley Whaley discussed the opportunity that the staff senate has to work with the student representatives, such as Mary McMillan who spoke to the senate in April, to help them with their efforts to bring about change on the SAU campus. She announced that Sandra Smith from Student Activities would speak to Mary McMillan to see what could be done campus wide with other organizations to come together and work on the issues that the student’s had brought before the senate in April.
Liaisons for Arkansas Staff Senates
Shelley Whaley suggested that the Staff Senate use their website to have chat boards so that we can communicate with other campuses in Arkansas and begin to exchange ideas with other staff senates.
Survey for Work Hours
It was discussed again about doing a survey on the summer schedule of 4 ten-hour days and also the schedule at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Committee Reports
Shelley Whaley advised that a website committee needed to be formed to help Gary Millican with the new senate website. Shawana Reed and Eric Plummer agreed to be on the website committee.
Becki Talley gave a report on the Faculty/Staff Parking Appeals Committee.
Shelley Whaley asked the Constitution Committee to look over the constitution and decide what should be done if a senator who is only serving a one-year term is elected to an office.
New Business
Reminder
Eric Plummer reminded everyone about the handicap spots on campus. These parking spaces are enforced everyday all day.
Staff Senate Elections
Elections were held for Vice President/President Elect. Eric Plummer was elected to this position. Becki Talley was re-elected as Secretary and Houston Taylor was elected to serve as Faculty Senate representative.
Other
Faculty/Staff Profiles
Shelley Whaley announced that she had spoken to Aaron Street in the Communications Center about having a faculty/staff employee spotlight in the bulletin to introduce the new people that have been hired on campus.
Updates from Staff Senate President
Shelley Whaley gave a campus update. The Science & Tech building was approved by the Board of Trustees and the SAU-Tech campus also was approved to make improvements on their campus. She indicated that there would be new e-mail addresses for faculty and staff that would include whole names instead of just the initials. There will also be a new student e-mail service that will be more student friendly. A new Blackboard update called Enterprise will be available in September. Also, she announced that Dr. Tollett and Dr. Christensen would be retiring at the end of the semester.
Staff Development
Shelley Whaley suggested that as a part of staff development, she would like to invite Dr. Ashby to give a presentation about retirement and financial management. She also asked that we think about other staff development ideas and we would discuss it at the next meeting.
Update from Vice President for Finance
Darrell Morrison, vice president for finance, gave an update on the budget. This budget year, the state revenue will be down about $500,000. He reported that student credit hours were down so tuition and fees were down. Mr. Morrison announced that tuition and fees would be increased for the 08-09 year. Salaries would be increased by 2%. There will be a decrease in funds for travel and supplies & services. On July 24, minimum wage for student workers will increase from $6.10 to $6.25. He reported that there will be a change in the enrollment period for insurance and that it will be open enrollment beginning in the fall. He announced that money would be designated for a new rec center and also renovations for Wilson and Overstreet.
Microsoft 2007
Dr. Roger Guevara mentioned that the computer center was upgrading computers to Microsoft 2007 and encouraged everyone to consider upgrading their computers.
Faculty/Staff Picnic
Shelley Whaley reported that this year’s faculty/staff picnic was a success and that there would be one next year with more time for planning.
Adjournment
The motion to adjourn was made by Brenda Garrett and seconded by Donald Wray. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 2:00 p.m.
