Bylaws/Policies and Procedures Committee
Year End Report
2000-2001
The members of this committee are Sherry Pech, Chair; Cathy
Colony Bunnell, Co-Chair; Anne Tanner and Jun Tang.
The following projects were worked on during the last year
and several changes have been made to the bylaws.
The projects and revisions passed during this past year are
as follows:
The
Bylaws/Policies & Procedures Committee reviewed and recommended the
following changes and these were passed in the December 2000 meeting:
Bylaws
Changes Approved in December 2000
1) Revised description of Article XIV, University Relations Committee,
2) Moved Article X Section 7 in its entirety to become Article XV: Peer
Support Program,
3)
Renumbered Articles XV and XVI to Articles XVI and XVII respectively,
4) Established a Web Page Advisory Committee and added to Article XIV,
5)
Alphabetized Committees in Article XIV.
Changed University Relations
Committee to read as follows:
Purpose:
To foster communications of council activities to the University community, and
promote public relations between the Council and
the media.
Scope
of Concern:
a.
a.
Assist with public relations activities and reporting Staff Council
events
b. b. Coordinate
the nomination, election, selection and notification procedures of the
University of Iowa Staff Excellence and Board of Regents Staff Excellence
Awards.
c.
c.
Distribute information about the award winners. Notify Staff Benefits (for clock engraving)
and University Communications and Outreach and President’s Office of winners.
d. d. Support
Retirement Reception, as appropriate.
e.
e.
Use News & Views to announce elected Council representatives for
each category.
Membership: There are no restrictions on membership of
this committee.
2.
2.
Section 7 of Article 10, in entirety will
become Article XV: Peer Support Program.
3.
3.
Current Articles XV and XVI will be renumbered
accordingly.
4.
4.
Create a
new committee, as follows:
,
UI Staff Council Web Advisory Committee
Purpose: The UI SC Web Committee will provide web-ready
documents and files for the Staff Council Office Manager who will administer
the password and index page of the Staff Council Home Page. It is expected the SC committee members will
create the necessary html files, which the SCOM will then place on-line. This committee will work with the SCOM in
the design and ongoing updates of the SC web page.
Membership: There are no
restrictions on membership of this committee.
5.
5.
Alphabetize
the Committees in Article XIV: Staff Council Committees.
Bylaws
Changes in November 2000
The Staff Council Governmental Relations
Committee was formed and added to the bylaws.
Other
changes that were made during the past year:
·
·
Article VII, Elections, Section 1 states: Ballots shall be
prepared and sent through campus mail by Human Resources to all employees in
represented categories by February 25 with a deadline date for their return two
weeks later.
Human Resources were
changed to Elections Committee in the first sentence of the paragraph.
·
·
Article XIV Human Resources Committee, membership states:
Non-members are appointed to the committee by Human Resources Committee Staff
Council members. Article XIV also
states: Goals Committee shall appoint Council and Non-Council staff members to
the internal committees. This is stated
in the first paragraph under Article XIV and again under the Goals committee
scope of concern.
Bylaws recommended to delete the last line of the Human Resources Committee
membership statement that reads: Non-Council members are appointed to the
Committee by the Human Resources Committee Staff Council members.
The committee
has processed many successful changes in the last year and I would like to
thank each
member of this group as each person played a special part of this team. Anne,
Jun and a
special thanks to Cathy who did a fabulous job of co-chair of this committee
during
the last year.
Respectfully submitted by,
Sherry Pech, Chair
March 14, 2001
Committee on Committees
Annual Report 2000-01
Cheryl Carter, Chair
The accomplishments of the Committee on Committees (CoC) this year included the following:
Campus Planning Committee
Faculty-Staff Parking Appeals Committee
Funded Retirement and Insurance Committee
Human Rights Committee
Information and Technology Advisory Committee
Lectures Committee
University of Iowa Staff
Council Education Committee
Year-End Report
Committee Members: Darlene Blake, Jan Christensen, Tina Knutson, Bonnie McIntosh, Carlos Serrato, Xian Wu, Al Young, Liaison- Maureen McCormick
The Education Committee worked on several initiatives during the 2000-01 year:
Assisted with planning of Staff Council retreat in April 2000.
New Councilor Orientation—Early in the year the group decided that an orientation separate from the Staff Council retreat would be helpful for new councilors. We have worked to develop this orientation and will host a brown bag lunch for new councilors prior to the 2001-02 Staff Council retreat.
Revision of Staff Council scholarship program—Much committee time has been spent reviewing the existing scholarship selection process, and discussing potential improvements. A final proposal will be presented at the March 2001 Staff Council meeting and proposed changes will go into effect during the Fall 2001 selection process.
H:/users/bmcintos/word/staffcouncil/educmteyear-endreport
3/14/01
STAFF
COUNCIL HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE
Submitted
by Joy Kross Chair
Purpose: To refine and develop UI policy and procedure central to the HR needs and concerns of non-bargaining P&S and non-organized Merit staff in order that it may advise Central Administration in these matters.
Current Staff Council Committee Members: Pat Arkema, Jenniffer Carp, Andrew Fuhrmeister, Joy Kross (Chair), Donna Muller, Kathy Sayre, Becky Stamy, Jan Warren Non-Staff Council Members: Linda Bergquist, Jennifer Modestou Administrative Liaison: Sue Buckley
The Committee has had a busy and productive year. It began the year by crafting a Resolution Against Hate for the Council to put forward in order to affirm its unmitigated support of a diverse campus and welcoming environment, as a response to the racist emails and threats to the Dental School.
With the help of Sue Buckley’s thorough background history and the Domestic Partner Insurance Q&A, the Committee studied the issue regarding same-sex domestic partners insurance, and ultimately recommended that the Staff Council support the proposal to change policy. In relation to that, the Committee forwarded a request to Human Resources requesting that the administration propose and support a change to the benefits package currently available to Merit staff to include same-sex domestic partner insurance benefits.
After many months of consultation about and review of the P&S Grievance Policy, the Committee put forth its recommendations to modify the policy. The recommendations included changes to expand the scope of the policy, integrate related conflict resolution policies, address areas of concern that weren’t covered such as inclusion of informal dispute resolution process before the formal process and finally, to make the policy generally more “user-friendly”.
The issue of on-call compensation is one of on-going discussion for the Committee. We have conducted informal research and found that the manner in which this is routinely handled varies by department. There is continuing concern regarding on-call notification and compensation and the topic remains on the agenda for dialogue by the Committee.
The Committee continued to review and offer input on HR materials such as the PUSH documents, Orientation Checklists, and the revised Staff Handbook. Another topic of discussion, and one that we continue to discuss, is that of parental leave for adoptive parents or prospective adoptive parents. The committee is currently reviewing the Leave Policy Taskforce recommendations of July 1, 1999. We have yet to determine if the Committee will have any recommendations.
In closing, we would like to acknowledge and express our gratitude to Sue Buckley as the liaison from Central HR. Sue continues to keep the Committee informed of activities in HR and clarifies complicated issues. Clearly, the work of this Committee would be substantially more difficult without Sue’s presence. Similarly, we recognize and appreciate the time, effort and commitment of the non-council committee members, Jennifer Modestou and Linda Bergquist, in helping us carry out the charge of this Committee.
STAFF
COUNCIL
MERIT
SUPERVISORY EXEMPT/CONFIDENTIAL COMMITTEE
Submitted
by Karon Kolek, Chair, MSE/C Committee
Committee members: Karon Kolek, Chair; Steve Fulwider; Hazel Kerr; Kathy Klein; Joy Kross; Wanda Magruder; Christine Remmert; Billie Townsend; and Staff Council President, Pat Kenner.
At the
beginning of our Staff Council year, we lost Sherry Pech as a member, but
gained Steve Fulwider. Later in the
year, we added two additional members, Kathy Klein and Christine Remmert.
The MSE/C
committee members agreed that previously set goals have been successful and
should be supported and encouraged further.
They are defined as follows:
1. Meet with MSE/C staff at least twice per year. The MSE/C Committee will continue the commitment of educating MSE/C staff by continuing to present opportunities by hosting Brown Bags for staff to voice their questions and concerns and have interaction with our institutional administrators. Our committee hosted two MSE/C Brown Bags this year. Both were well attended and provided an opportunity for participants to present questions, issues and concerns and have them addressed by the appropriate Human Resources administrator.
2.
Continue the educational process for
MSE/C staff through Brown Bag lunches and Staff Development classes.
As a result of earlier Brown Bags and at the request of MSE/C staff,
three job skills workshops were established and are offered through Staff
Development and the Human Resources Department. The three workshops are focused on and are designed to assist
staff in their job search process, resume writing and interviewing skills.
3. Continue communication with MSE/C staff. A “database” of MSE/C constituencies has been established and is maintained by each member in order to forward appropriate communications to our constituency group
4. Continue to support mandatory annual evaluations for all MSE/C staff and encourage RISCAC members to support the evaluations at their respective institutions. Mandatory annual evaluations are becoming more apparent throughout the campus. We will continue to encourage having an annual performance evaluation completed for each and every employee. This issue has been discussed at our RISCAC meetings. Further discussions need to occur to see how each institution perceives and administers their evaluations.
5.
Continue the inclusion
of MSE/C staff on all recommendations from Staff Council where
appropriate. We will continue to
encourage Staff Council to include MSE/C staff in all recommendations where
appropriate on policies and procedures that may affect MSE/C employees.
6.
Encourage the use of extra-meritorious
bonus for MSE/C staff. Encourage the use of this bonus for
employees who demonstrate and provide an up and above exceptional job
performance.
7.
Maintain history of MSE/C through
inclusion of activities and minutes of meetings on Staff Council web page. Submit
minutes of meetings, Brown Bag announcements, and any other upcoming MSE/C
events to the Staff Council secretary for inclusion on agendas and on the web
page.
8. Consider name change to reflect change in title from Merit Supervisory Exempt/Confidential to Non-Bargaining Merit staff. It has been established through our Staff Council Bylaws Committee that we will be referred to as Merit Supervisory Exempt/Confidential staff.
9.
Continue researching
benefits for MSE, Confidential, and P&S. Maintain liaison with the University Benefits Office regarding
current benefits and any anticipated changes that might affect MSE/C staff.
Our statewide
RISCAC meetings have had some lively discussions regarding the possible
continuance of the retirement plans and escalating insurance costs. The two items will be on-going agenda items
as we work through implementing a revised retirement plan and researching why
insurance costs are escalating at such a rapid pace and more of the costs are
born by employees. Flex credits have
not been increased at the same pace as the increased premiums.
The MSE/C Committee has worked very hard this year to maintain these goals. I would like to extend my personal “thank you” to each committee member for their time, effort and support of our MSE/C committee goals. Each member’s continued input and participation has been a valuable tool in making our committee and educational process such a success.
Submitted by
Karon Kolek, Chair
MSE/C Committee
MSE/C
Annual Report 2000-01
UI STAFF
COUNCIL PEER SUPPORT PROGRAM
Annual Report 2000-2001
This was the first year in which the Peer Support Program was fully functional. Members included Diane Anderson (Chair), Wanda Magruder, Anne Tanner, and Michael Wichman.
In June, we met with Kevin Ward (Human Resources), Monique DiCarlo (Women’s Resource and Action Center), Maile Sagen (Ombuds Office), Jan Waterhouse and Susan Mask (Affirmative Action) to discuss various resources available to us and all staff on campus, and ways of dealing with a variety of possible scenarios and issues we might encounter from staff members seeking our assistance.
In September, we met with Sondra Zardus and Consuelo Garcia (Human Resources) to discuss the P&S reclassification process and compensation and classification issues.
One of our first tasks after educating ourselves was to make ourselves and our program known to staff around campus. We placed a note on the Staff Council web page, sent a notice on our Listserv to be passed on to others, and placed articles in both News and Views and fyi. Despite our efforts to make our services known, we have had few contacts this year.
Questions and issues included position reclassification process, early retirement, promised raise that failed to materialize, determining current classification, building construction effects on work environment, at-will employee status, lack of career ladder, and pay grades. None of these required extensive efforts on our part beyond giving appropriate information and directions as to where to get further help or more information.
It appears that the same issues continue to be seen as problematic among staff: classification and reclassification, compensation, and lack of information about HR issues or informed HR personnel within individual departments and units.
During the coming year, we will continue to attempt to make our program better known around campus. In April, we will present our program to the newly-elected Staff Councilors at their orientation.
Submitted 4/1/01
E. Diane Anderson
University Relations
2000-2001 Annual Report
The University Relations Committee started the year with the following members: Dave Martin, chair, Charles Eastham, Nick Peters, Linda Crowley, and Al Young. We participated in and helped with the Staff Retirement reception in June, 2000. We helped with the process of nominating and choosing the University of Iowa Staff Excellence Awards and the Board of Regents Staff Excellence Awards. Six winners in each category were chosen by a selection committee and the awards given out at the University Convocation in the Fall, 2000. The process for the 2001 award winners began in February, 2001. The committee's by-laws were revised to more accurately reflect current duties and responsibilities. Members of the committee made brief presentations about the staff council each month at the New Staff Orientations held in the Iowa Memorial Union and also at the new staff orientations held in University Hospitals. In addition, this committee is responsible for coordinating the gift of books to the University Libraries in recognition of deceased staff members. Linda Crowley and Nick Peters resigned from the committee during the year. Kathy Klein joined the committee during the year.
submitted by Dave Martin, Chair