06.03.2019 Meeting Minutes

by | Aug 7, 2019 | 2019, Minutes

ACU Staff Senate Minutes
Monday, June 3, 2019

8:30-9:30am am

In attendance: Mary Beth Strader, Amber Bunton, Berlin Fang, David Scott, Jason Groves, Jamie Bearden, Julie Goodenough, Karen Gililland, Karen Witemeyer, Krista Masci, Lauren Boyles, MC Jennings, Samantha Adkins, Sheila Barton, Susan Hardcastle, Titus Vesel, Tyson Alexander

  1. Call to Order
  2. Prayer – Mary Beth Strader
  3. Approval of Minutes – Motion to approve by J. Goodenough; seconded by Krista Masci; all in favor; motion passed. 
  4. Old Business 
    1. Committee Updates: 
      1. A brief description of each committee was given along with an invitation for new members to sign up for the committee they feel would best match their talents and interests.
    2. Get well cards, Sympathy cards, Birthday cards, etc.
      1. M. Strader – I would like for us to send cards to our ACU staff members who are celebrating or struggling. With a small portion of our budget from last year, I purchased some sympathy cards, get well cards, and birthday cards for us to use. Karen Witemeyer, as our corresponding secretary, will be in charge of this project. K. Witemeyer – I know many of you are much more connected on campus than I am, so please let me know when you hear of someone who might need a note of encouragement. J. Goodenough – I would like us to send encouragement cards and not just sympathy cards. Sometimes people are just going through really hard times that may or may not be health-related, and it would be good to encourage them. S. Adkins – I can get you a list of all the years of service award members so we can include them in our celebration list. K. Witemeyer – Great idea! I think that would actually be easier to keep up with than all the birthdays with staff leaving and new staff coming on who might be missed.
    3. Praying for ACU on campus staff
      1. M. Strader – I’ve heard about senators in the past who divided up the total number of ACU staff and each took a section and prayed for them during the year. I think that would be a great idea to re-implement this year. S. Adkins – We have roughly 500 staff members.
  5. New Business

a. Executive Officers – We are in need of some new Executive Officers:

    1. Chair – Mary Beth Strader
    2. Chair Elect – ______________________________
    3. Recording Secretary – ______________________________
    4. Corresponding Secretary – Karen Witemeyer
    5. Treasurer – Nuria Hall
    6. Past Chair – D’Angelo Sands

No one was ready to commit to serving as either Chair Elect of Recording Secretary at the time of the meeting, so we tabled the election of these positions for the time being. Anyone interested in serving in one of these roles should email Mary Beth and let her know. The roles need to be filled with new staff senators.

b. Committees – We are in need of people filling in the blank spaces for our Committees. Committees were fleshed out and chairs were assigned. B. Fang made a motion to accept the new committees and chairs; J. Goodenough seconded; all in favor; motion passed.

      1. Nominations and Elections:
        1. Jamie Bearden – Committee Chair
        2. Karen Witemeyer-Corresponding Secretary
        3. Lauren Boyles
        4. ____________To be filled by new Senate Chair-Elect
      2. Communication:
        1. David Moses
        2. Samantha Adkins – Committee Chair
        3. David Scott
        4. Jason Groves
      3. Benefits and Advocacy
        1. Nuria Hall
        2. Kody Goode
        3. Krista Masci
        4. Titus Vesel
        5. Karen Gililland – Committee Chair
      4. Service
        1. M. C. Jennings – Committee Chair
        2. Julie Goodenough
        3. Berlin Fang
        4. Amber Bunton
      5. Development and Recognition
        1. Susan Hardcastle – Committee Chair
        2. Sheila Barton
        3. Tyson Alexander
        4. __________________________

c. John C. Stevens award:  See attached paper for information. 

Strader – The John C Stevens award is given out at Staff Pre-Session, tentatively scheduled for August 15. Our Development and Recognition committee will need to get a jump-start on this in order to have it completed in time. Thankfully, it is an award that we decide upon within the Senate. K. Witemeyer – We might need to have email nominations and voting at our July online meeting in order to have a recipient chosen in time. S. Adkins – As long as we have the name by the first of August, we should be all right. A. Bunton – Not too late, though, because Creative Services needs time to prepare the certificate.

Discuss a plan that the current staff senate will work hard to achieve for next year.  I propose that we work on getting EVERY FRIDAY off during the month of July 2020.

Witemeyer – Wendy Jones was gracious enough to meet with us this past spring, and she let us throw ideas at her. One of the things that is important to the SLT is to have research that supports our ideas. What are other comparable schools doing? Is it successful there? – Several senators mentioned other Christian universities schools such as Oklahoma Christian and Lubbock Christian who have policies for extended time off, such as two weeks off at Christmas, Friday afternoons off in the summer, or campus shut downs at 11:00 a.m. every Friday. – K. Witemeyer – We do need to make sure we clarify what we are asking for. Are we asking for paid time off (i.e., Fridays off in July as vacation), or are we asking to have a more compressed schedule (i.e., working 10 hr days Mon-Thurs with Fridays off)? S. Adkins – I will have access to surveys from other colleges (Best Colleges to Work For) that might provide ideas. M.C. Jennings – The spirit behind our ideas last year was very much to help support morale, to help our staff feel valued and appreciated after so many job cuts and lack of raises. J. Groves – I think we should also ask how we can help SLT accomplish their goals. What is their focus for this year, and how can we help with that? M. Strader – I like that very much.