Staff Council Executive Committee Meeting with President Coleman
Wednesday, January 23, 2002, 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Present: Pat Arkema, Ella Born, Dave Martin, Bonnie McIntosh, Janice Simmons-Welburn, Xian Wu
Absent: Pat Kenner, Cathy Colony Bunnell
Administrative Liaison: Sue Buckley, Interim Associate Vice President of Human Resources
1. President Coleman’s Comments.
a. Opening of the Legislative Session. Given the state of the economy, President Coleman is pleased with Governor Vilsack's budget recommendation.
1. Again our top priority is full funding of salaries and the Governor supports this. There was some discussion about health care costs. Sue Buckley stated it is a possibility that there will be increases again this year, particularly for merit staff.
2. The operating budget will most likely remain flat, but this is certainly better than having another cut. Under this budget recommendation, the funds for the Journalism and the Art & Art History projects will continue.
3. We have asked the Governor to support a bill that would allow the University to issue bonds for construction at the hospital. Legislative approval is required even though it does not involve any state funds. The Governor does seem willing to support us in this effort.
4. Likely, there will not be a whole lot of budget action until after the Revenue Estimating Conference in March. Right now there will be more policy-type work. Mark Braun is overlooking the legislative progress in Des Moines.
b. Report of the MGT Audit. This report was discussed at the Board of Regents (BOR) meeting in January. The report is available for viewing at the BOR web site. There are 18 areas requiring investigation. The Board office will take the lead on addressing most of the 18 issues. Reports will go to the BOR. There are three areas that the University of Iowa will most likely need to address.
1. Reallocation of funds: deferred maintenance and classrooms.
2. Operations such as food services, laundry, and printing: whether it is better to do ourselves or to outsource. This issue can prove to be quite controversial.
3. Healthcare benefits for P&S staff and faculty: cost containment, focus, and documentation. We will be asked what we have done in the past and what we plan to do in the future. The Funded Retirement and Insurance Charter Committee (FRIC) will be involved with this issue.
2. Staff Council President's Comments.
a. Staff Council officers met recently with the Faculty Council officers. Dr. Bhattacharjee, Faculty Council President, has agreed to a global ethics statement. He has asked Pat Arkema to draft the statement and he will present it to the Faculty Council and Faculty Senate. This led to discussion of the conflict resolution documents and Pat asked Sue Buckley to let us know where things stand with the documents.
1. Sue said that the Board of Regents approved the revisions to the P&S grievance policy. The effective date is tentatively set at 3/1/02.
2. Sue said that they plan to send two emails: one from President Coleman and a second from Human Resources.
3. Sue also said that there likely will be initial memos going to DEOs and HR unit representatives. There will be training sessions for unit reps. Dean Kelch requested one more meeting with the Vice Presidents.
b. Pat Arkema asked President Coleman about the date when membership of the President's Council on Strategic Implementation (PCSI) will turn over. President Coleman said that she wasn't sure, but that she would find out.
c. Staff Council's Budget Committee will be meeting with VP Doug True on Friday this week. Pat also said that the committee has received another request from Jane Holland for an additional $4,000.
3. Updates and discussion topics.
c. Pat Arkema said that the Budgetary and Planning Advisory Committee (BPAC) met last Friday. There were a few suggestions for revisions to the report. Jon Carlson will refine the report and hopes to get it out within a week or so.
d. Pat Arkema also mentioned that we are gearing up for Staff Council elections. Nomination forms have been sent out.
4. Comments by Sue Buckley:
a. There is a new feature on the HR Self-Service Center web page. It allows staff to provide emergency contact information. Only those people with Level IV access will have the ability to retrieve this information.
b. The search for the Director of Affirmative Action has started again, with the position being advertised nationally. The search committee is the same as last time except that there is one new member, Grainne Martin, Associate Counsel, from the Office of the General Counsel. They are hoping to have on-campus visits in April and to have someone hired for the position by the end of the semester.
c. President Coleman asked if a Registrar has been hired. Sue said that an offer might be made soon.
d. Sue also said that VP Doug True wants to move forward on the Director of Human Resources position, again targeting the end of the semester as a deadline.
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Future Executive
Committee Meetings: |
Future Meetings
with President Coleman: |
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Friday, February 15, 2002* |
Tuesday, February 19, 2002** |
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Friday, March 22, 2002 |
Monday, March 25, 2002 |
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Tuesday, April 30, 2002 |
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Tuesday, May 21, 2002 |
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Tuesday, June 18, 2002 |
*All SC Executive Committee meetings are 8:30 – 10:30 a.m.
**All meetings with President Coleman are 8:00 – 9:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,