ACU Staff Senate Minutes
Thursday – December 14, 2017
9:00-10:00AM
In Attendance:
- Chris Ballard
- Dave Beard
- Eric Gumm
- Kathy Redman
- Will Wyatt
- Cindy Gravitt
- Grant Abston
- Steve Rowlands
- Curtis King
- Shannon Kaczmarek
- D’Angelo Sands
- Jill Forston
- Tina Chisolm
Welcome
Prayer
Craig Fisher – per bylaws, he did not qualify to be on the ballot for Staff Senate and he will now step back and remove himself from the senate.
III. Approval of Minutes – Minutes approved
Senator Resignation:
Carolyn Jeter has resigned due to workload in her office
She was second term
Craig Fisher’s role as chair elect must be replaced.
Executive Committee will choose from the list of the new senators this year.
Shannon: It makes sense not to replace Carolyn for a 6 month remainder of time.
CB: Does anyone feel differently?
EG: Language says an alternate must be appointed
Article 3 section 5
If the alternate serves ¾ of a term, will the alternate be eligible for a full 2 year term if re-elected in next year? Technically anyone who replaces Craig will serve a year and a half.
In precedent for Carolyn’s position, we have operated with a vacancy.
CB: Would vote to not replace Carolyn, replace Craig. We will look into this and discuss it in the January meeting
Curtis: It seems that it would help the senator to have this 6 months to acclimate to senate in the event that they get elected in the next term.
EG: If we decide not to replace Carolyn, we need a formal motion and vote in the minutes.
Steve: seems that we can make the decision re: Carolyn today.
Grant: I motion to vote on leaving Carolyn’s position vacant
Steve: I second that
EG: We have a quorum.
Vote: Unanimous
Chris: We will make an exception to the bylaws and not fill Carolyn’s position. We will replace Craig with the next
D’Angelo
Upward Bound – Federally funded program
I am responsible for recruitment
We serve Abilene, Cooper, and ATEMS
I am also responsible for tutoring, advertising,
I teach a class in the summer
During the school year, we provide academic support.
We pick them up from school, bring them to acu and
Three weeks on campus seniors and rising seniors
Been here since 1995
Responsible for feeding them in the summer
Think Tank style class – reach out to community to have speakers come in and speak to the students
Want them to see the benefits of college
We also travel, went to Boston last summer
Many of these students haven’t been out of Abilene
All of this is free for students
Many of the students are economically disadvantaged, some are failing classes, some are first generation
Challenges: when we change staff
We provide a safe environment, they love the rec center!
Serve 65 students, 40 usually show up consistently
Support: I would love to have someone to teach during the summer
Want to be a speaker? Encourage the kids! Internships?
We would welcome any collaboration from people among
ACU employees – the university invests in the program
Not allowed to recruit for ACU
TRiO day – allows for people to come to ACU to learn more about TRiO
A handful of kids do come to ACU because they have become so familiar with it.
Held compatible for high school completion and being enrolled in college the fall of their graduation year
100% graduated and enrolled in college this fall.
Outside challenges: We are a line item in the congressional budget, can be cut at any time
State and regional program – 5 year cycle
- Faculty/Staff Christmas Lunch Service Opportunity – December 19
We will serve as greeters, hand out silverware
Assisting with taking trays, etc.
Aubrey – we would like to do something for her from the senate
- Meeting with Dr. Schubert
Filled him on what we have done and are working on
He talked about his vision for the senate – we are helping the rest of campus maintain an accurate perspective. Would expect the senate to have positivity and communicate accurately. They are working on the Q&A document following the Staff Meeting
I will reach out to Stephanie to invite him to a meeting, hopefully January
We can clear up anything and be set for the Spring
Topics from the Fall
2 week pay cycle – start talking to Wendy
Campus Survey-
had a lengthy discussion regarding that last meeting.
Steve: It felt like it was poor timing to do the survey at this time. I think we need to do the survey every year at the same time so we can create a baseline of morale.
CB: how often do we do the best places in the world to work? When does that happen?
GA: When is a good time to send this out?
SR: We need a time that is consistent
CK: I am thinking September would be a great time, not sure we should even send it now
JF: Traditionally this would be a great time because cuts usually happen in April
DB: What do we do with the results?
SR: I think we look at them and see if there is a solution. I think we get to own the data completely and we get to distribute that information. And communication to senior leadership needs to be ours too.
This year may be the lowest score ever.
JF: We MUST assure people that it is confidential.
EG: Chronicle of Higher Ed is conducted in March
SR: I want to beat them with the survey
EG: I still think we get the results from the last survey. If we can’t we need to say that upfront.
Bereavement Leave – there are differences between departments, confusion re: policy. Talk to Wendy. May be beneficial to invite Wendy to a meeting.
Committee guidelines/purpose
CB: We need to clarify what we wanted here. The idea was to put things in concrete so they don’t fall off and there is consistency.
GA: Provide charges
EG: the nominations committee created a google drive, but it is a rough piece.
One of the requirements would be that each committee needs to submit a report to the google drive.
This way we’ll know from year to year what was done.
When the new committees are seated, access to the drive needs to be changed over
Tina: I think that is what Stephanie is trying to create
JF: The team drives would be better
EG; Make sure some folders are available only to required people and
CB: These documents will need to due in May from each committee
EG: We want to revisit the exempt/non-exempt status now that the DOL has stayed it
Steve: I think we should have Wendy here and schedule plenty of time
EG: seems that in the budget climate, it would be better to have set payments
Announcements
Next meeting: Thursday, January 11th
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