12-15-11

 

Staff Assembly Executive Council (SAEC) Meeting Minutes
1898 Room in College Hall
Thursday, 12/15/2011 11-12am

Attended:  Molly Ayers; Jeff Geldien; Beth Gordon; Connie Hickman; Carol Huston; Rudy Mondragon; Rodolfo Pagsanjan; Allison Sather; Wendy Thompson; Jill Royston; Ann Scott Ettinger

Absent: Toni Boggan; Daniel Bubb; Angela Ruff; Norm Leatha

SA VP Transition

Dan Bubb will be leaving Gonzaga University at the end of this semester after accepting a position with UNLV.  We wish him the best of luck in his new position.  This move creates a vacancy in the position of VP.  The By Laws Committee along with the Executive Council will be reviewing the By Laws as to how to best address the new vacancy.

By-Laws Committee

The By-Laws Committee is currently reviewing the Staff Assembly By-Laws.  Current By-Laws is a copy of a similar document from Santa Clara University.  The Committee has observed some disconnect with the document and written processes and how in reality Staff Assembly functions here at GU.  The desire is to make the document more in tune to what actually happens with Staff Assembly and its process and procedures.  Some proposed changes are:

  • Two year term for President to allow ability to get work accomplished.
  • Eliminate the office of Vice President since VP formerly inherited President position; with proposed 2yr Presidency this may lead to a potential 4yr commitment from a staff member!
  • Wording changes to reflect current practices - Council acts with executive powers but it is not clearly stated/defined in current By-Laws.
  • Quorum - as current By-Laws stand, it is impossible to ever achieve a quorum for any proposed measures, initiatives or amendments.
  • Revise Staff Assembly and Executive Council practices to be in alignment with current University policies and goals.
  • Improve ability to propose amendments by revising basis to quorum and how amendments can be proposed.
  • Embed periodic reviews into By-Laws as a regularly scheduled process.

Jeff will be posting the amended document to the web for review.  We want to offer on opportunity for review by entire community.  Perhaps some type of public forum.

SA Compensation Committee

  • The holiday closure policy is still under review.  HR has offered to assist a renewed review and potential proposal.
  • Day Care Proposal.  HR has been invited to assist the current commitment in reviewing and planning of a proposal.
  • Shift differential.  HR has offered to assist the committee in their work.

SA Sustainability Committee - Ann

To view changes go to Gonzaga's sustainability web page.  There are three main groups that the committee wishes to approach for input:  1) Plant Services 2) Administrative Assistants 3) Third group still yet to be determined.  They are looking into what avenues for input are available to groups who previously did not have access.

The plan is to have a survey later in the Spring to assess how the changes are working, better or worse?

Some ideas proposed by the SAEC are for centralized access for surplus items - file folders, etc.  Checking into the possibility of bulk purchases to receive greater bulk discounts.

View the sustainability article at www.gonzaga.edu\newsustainablepolicy

SA Community Outreach Committee - Beth

Plans for the Staff Assembly January Social will be an open house in the Globe Room on January 10th from 3:30 - 5:00.  The social coincides with National Oatmeal Month and thus have an "oatmeal" theme.  There will be tables set up for Staff Assembly committees, possible prizes, and handing out anniversary gifts.  The proposed budget for the meeting is $1000.  There was a motion from Jill to approve the expenditure, seconded by Jeff.  The measure was passed unanimously. 

The committee also wants to add additional members.  Options are to have current council members recommend possible candidates and ways to include new hires. 

SA Community Service Committee - Molly

The council has been given permission to have Cares initiative brochures in HR.  A small supply was decided upon to avoid waste if changes are made.  Allison asked to be notified when orders are placed in Faculty Services so she will be aware to deduct money from our account.

There will be a meeting regarding day care after the holidays.

New Staff Regent Representative

Rodolfo announced that President McCulloh has appointed Jill Royston as our new Staff Assembly Regent Representative which fills the current vacancy left by Janell Axtell.  Jill's appointment to officially begin in January. 

University Budget Committee

The Council members reviewed notes from the 12/6 meeting, provided by representatives Robin Guevara and Shannon Zaranski, which identified discussion topics including Gonzaga's undergraduate tuition rates and costs relative to West Coast schools, Jesuit schools, and other benchmark schools.   Law and graduation tuition are analyzed separately. The 2012 freshman target is between 1120-1160.  Tuition will increase from 4.25% to 4.5%.  Housing fees will increase 5%.  A model projecting revenue and expenses to 2016 was also discussed.   The next meet of the University Budget Committee is 2/13/12. 

Meeting was adjourned at 11:44