Staff Senate Meeting
November 12, 2008
The Staff Senate met on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. in Reynolds 205. Senators in attendance were Marcela Brunson, Gaye Calhoun, LaTricia Davis, Brenda Garrett, Roger Guevara, Charles Honza, Keli Honza, Mary Hubbard, Sarah Jennings, Pat King, Essie Moore, Becki Talley, Houston Taylor, and Shelly Whaley.
Approval of Minutes
The meeting was called to order by President Shelly Whaley. A motion to accept the minutes of October 8 was made by Gaye Calhoun and seconded by Charles Honza. The motion to approve the minutes passed.
Old Business
Website Committee
Shelly Whaley gave an update on the Staff Senate website. Gary Millican is still working to get the website up and running.
Communication Issues
Shelly noted that the Faculty/Staff bulletin had been printed in hard copy and handed out to the SAU campus.
Committee Reports
Gaye Calhoun reported on the Fringe Benefits Committee meeting
Becki Talley reported on the Academic Affairs and Research Committee meetings.
Houston Taylor reported on the Honor’s College committee meeting.
Brenda Garrett reported on the Staff Breakfast Committee meeting. The finance department will be in charge of the breakfast and Brenda Garrett, Essie Moore and Shawana Reed will be the chairs for the committee. The date for the Staff Breakfast will be March 23, 2009.
Keli Honza and Shelly Whaley reported on the Centennial Committee meetings. They both reported on the activities planned for the year long celebration. The committee hopes to have a brochure documenting the events in December.
New Business
Staff Senate Committees
Shelly Whaley noted that the Staff Senate Committees such as the Constitution Committee and the Election Committee were standing committees in the Staff Senate, but other committees are periodically formed to handle issues that may arise, such as the Website Committee. The members do not have to be comprised of staff senators but can include staff members not on the Staff Senate.
Staff Development Training
Shelly Whaley reported that the Human Resource Office is needing input on what types of staff development training would be beneficial to staff members on campus. Houston Taylor suggested that a survey could be sent out to all staff members with a broad list of subjects to get to a more specific list that could be sent to the Human Resources office.
Other
Questions from the Senate
Charles Honza asked if a staff member has more than the 240 vacation hours or 960 sick hours that can be carried over at the end of the year could be converted into a payment for the hours not used instead of losing the hours. It was noted that 40 hours could be sent to the catastrophic leave bank, but anything extra would be lost. Shelly Whaley said she would check with Roger Giles about this and report back.
Adjournment
The motion to adjourn was made by Roger Guevara and seconded by Keli Honza. The next scheduled meeting will be December 10, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. in Reynolds 205.
