09-22-2011

Staff Assembly Executive Council Meeting Minutes
Thursday, 9/22/2011, 11am-12noon
1898 Rm College Hall

Attended: Ayers, Molly; Geldien, Jeff; Gordon, Elizabeth; Hickman, Connie; Huston, Carol; Leatha, Norm; Mondragon, Rudy; Pagsanjan, Rodolfo; Ruff, Angela; Thompson, Wendy

Absent: Boggan, Toni; Bubb, Dan; Sather, Allison

Called to order at 11:05a

Treasurer Report (Angela for Allison) – Current balance $21,382.79. Funds will be needed for the Fall and Spring Open Meetings and Heads Up Gonzaga.

Rebranding Committee (Norm) - Dan, Norm, Rudy, Toni, and Angela are working to develop a tag-line to identify Staff Assembly with a brand to facilitate community relationships and communications. Once the council agrees on the brand verbiage, perhaps a logo contest could engage the staff community, and the logo could be featured on future anniversary gifts and Staff Assembly materials.

Staff Assembly Committee and Representative Updates

  • SA Outreach Committee
    - Fall Kickoff Social (Beth) - attended by a steady stream of people who were glad to come get their anniversary gifts and appreciated the drop-in nature of the event. The photo contest winner will be announced via email. Fr. Case and Dr. McCulloh attended.
    - Archive Project (Angela) – The staff community will be invited to help create archive records relating to projects and proposals which will be stored in Foley.
  • SA Compensation Committee - 9-10 Month Vacation (Rodolfo and Connie) – Debby LaRocco sent an email to the 9- and 10-month employees about the policy change for these employees to accrue vacation as of September relative to job classification and years of service. Thanks to the compensation committee (Georgia Dunham, John Correia, Bill Kostelec, Steve Allen) for their efforts.
    - Pay Increase Problem (Jeff) - Law staff employees did not get their pay increase due to an administrative error. Information has yet to be shared with these employees about the resolution action.
    - Shift Differential Proposal – (Angela) Committee is studying research on the impact of working dark shifts and completing surveys of sister AJCU schools, and hopes to have a draft proposal to the council by early November.
  • SA Community Service Committee – Nancy Masingale is the project manager for the United Way campaign, and she asked for assistance in processing the pledge forms. Molly Ayers and Mary Ayers will provide this assistance.
  • GU Safety Committee (Angela for Toni) - The Hamilton flashing light program is a 3-year pilot. If successful, system may be implemented in more locations. The Hamilton pedestrian bridge has been delayed due to problems with maintaining an elevator. Traffic on Cataldo Way, between PACCAR and Herak continues to be a concern. New sandwich boards will be placed which remind people not to drive through. Two students were injured by a falling light pole. There is concern about ROTC using climbing ropes. The Safety committee recommends security be hired for dances and events on campus that risk being overcrowded, in order to avoid the issues that surface at the dance on September 2. Council discussion included wondering what is the status of reorganizing Sharp, as people are noticing it is hard to see students waiting to cross the street, especially during rain or dark.

Staff Assembly Activity/Project Updates

  • Employee Input (Norm and Rodolfo) - Mike Herzog informed Rodolfo that the climate survey will expand from a diversity focus to incorporate mission questions that were developed last year to serve an accreditation survey to all employees regarding mission. Norm announced that Dr. Pepper is nearly finished with the survey, and it will soon be made available to the community.
  • Regent Position (Carol and Jeff) – The Board and Regent positions are being moved to a calendar year appointment. We need to move forward on the currently open non-exempt position for a January start. The revised application and process is available on the website. Cathy Dieter’s term expires June 2012.
  • Professional Development Opportunity (Rudy) – Mark Gonzalez is willing to craft a workshop program for staff during his time on campus for a UMEC event. He requests a needs assessment to tailor the program. Council members discussed the value of addressing peer-to-peer impact among employees with different backgrounds as well as the impact on students in obtaining diversity knowledge.
  • By-Laws Commission (Rodolfo) – Dan Berryman provided information and models from AJCU schools for staff organizations. The commission will be convened in mid-October to review the information and reactivate their efforts.

Fall Open Meeting Plans (Rodolfo) – A committee needs to be formed for planning and implementing this event.

Next Meeting: October 6, 11am, Road to Bali in Crosby

Adjourned 11:58pm

Action Items
Toni investigate the status of the Sharp Avenue
Carol and Jeff implement a non-exempt Regent position recruiting effort
Rodolfo ask for volunteers to plan the Fall Open Meeting
Rebranding Committee bring a suggested brand tag line to the next meeting
Rudy develop an employee survey about diversity knowledge needs
Rodolfo call a By-Laws Commission meeting
Angela convene an Archive Project committee

Approved 9/23/11