Staff Council Executive Committee Meeting with President Coleman
Tuesday, February 19, 2002, 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Present: Pat Arkema, Ella Born, Cathy Colony Bunnell, Pat Kenner, Dave Martin,
Janice Simmons-Welburn
Absent: Bonnie McIntosh, Xian Wu
1. President Coleman’s Comments regarding proposed budget cuts:
a. Governor Vilsack has proposed a 2.6% across the board cut to make up a $120 million deficit. President Coleman urges staff to write letters to their legislators letting them know of the devastating effects this would have on higher education.
b. The suggestion of a furlough plan at this time is just a proposal. President Coleman has always backed away from this method of cutting costs and reducing the budget due to the complexity of the way university personnel are paid. Sue Buckley also mentioned that this represents a non-recurring savings. Besides being difficult to implement, this method effects morale and does not achieve long-term savings.
c. Students have asked what has been done to cut costs. President Coleman mentioned that the university has had a 3% reduction in force. She also shared with the Executive Committee a list of “University of Iowa Examples of Efficiencies – Savings.”
2. Staff Council President's Comments.
Pat Arkema discussed a recent meeting with Faculty Senate officers, Dr. Amitava Bhattacharjee, President, and Dr. Jeffrey Cox, Vice President/President Elect. The faculty are considering whether to request having a faculty representative on the Board of Regents. Pat asked President Coleman for her comments. President Coleman is trying to remain neutral because in the past she has served as a faculty representative on a Board of Trustees. Pat said that her impression is that the faculty seem to be inclined to pursue the issue.
3. Updates and discussion topics.
c. Dave Martin mentioned a concern that Executive Committee has had regarding various university searches to fill vacant higher level positions. It seems that Staff Council officers are not being included in the process of selecting committee members. Specifically, they have not been asked to recommend staff to serve on the search committees. Sue Buckley suggested that when we hear of a search committee forming, we should consider sending a formal request to the department asking to have the Staff Council President submit names of staff to serve on the committee. President Coleman said that with the UIHC CEO search, no group was asked to offer names of people to participate on the committee. President Coleman also said that in some circumstances there are very good reasons why certain groups might not be asked to offer names of people to participate in the search process.
d. There was a very brief discussion regarding Faculty Senate’s survey of interest in forming a Political Action Committee (PAC). The Executive Committee is debating whether to pursue a similar survey of Staff Council and/or all staff.
e. Cathy Colony Bunnell mentioned that the Bylaws Committee is finishing up their work for this term of Council. Most of the work this year has been to clarify the roles of Staff Council officers.
4. Comments by Sue Buckley:
a. Thus far, the search committee for Director of Affirmative Action has received 48 applications. The last search had approximately 50-60 applicants. The committee plans to begin screening applicants at the end of March.
b. Human Resources (HR) staff had a meeting yesterday and discussed the possibility of forming a campus-wide study group to consider the feasibility of centralizing support for P & S employment. Types of services that would be provided include: recruitment, screening, workplace planning and analysis, succession planning, and career counseling.
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Future Executive
Committee Meetings: |
Future Meetings
with President Coleman: |
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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,