Civil Service Committee Meeting
September
21, 2005
Crookston
Campus
9:00
a.m. – 12:00p.m.
Attendees: Mathew Bowers,
Brenda Boever, Joseph Jameson, Bonnie Marten, Cathy Marquardt, Lori Nicol,
Linda Olcott, Karen Tschida, Gary Willhite Peg Wolff
Regrets: Kenneth
Angwenyi, Sharon Beckford-Babu, Rick Densmore, John Felipe, Dorit Hafner,
Patricia Hara, Susan Cable, Sue Gustafson, Heather Powell, Katy Olson, Diane
Parker, and Sara Balick, U Senate
Absent: None
Guests:
Chancellor Chuck Casey
Greeting from Chancellor
Chuck Casey
·
The Chancellor greeted the committee and hoped that we would enjoy our
meeting in the new Student Center. The
dedication is scheduled for September 30.
The facility helps as a recruiting tool.
The support staff creates a wonderful experience for students by
maintaining a clean beautiful campus.
Crookston recently broke ground on a new student residence hall to be
opened next fall. The challenge to
filling residence halls is that it is less expensive to live off campus. About fifty percent of students live on
campus, and the majority of students live within a 100-mile radius of the
university.
·
The Crookston Strategic Positioning kick-off is scheduled for September
29 and 30. In addition to campus staff,
four community members have been asked to participate. The question to answer is how the Crookston
campus adds value to the University of Minnesota. A search for a new director of communications
is taking place and an admissions director was recently hired and a new
development director will be hired.
There is a sense of urgency to recruit more students to campus. Currently there are 1150 students on
campus. The target figure is 1500
students. There is also competition from
near-by institutions (enrollment figures are in parenthesis): University of
North Dakota (11,000), North Dakota State University (13,000), Moorehead State
(9000), and Bemidji State (6000) along with a private college, Concordia. Demographics predict 25% less students in
the future at Morris. Recruitment targets
are students from small high schools, transfer students, home-schooled
students, and international students.
Strategy is to provide a personal touch and new programs that attract
more students, such as a biology major and a psychology major. There is potential to partner with Duluth and
Morris to offer online courses in psychology.
Crookston offers majors in Hotel and Restaurant Management, Agriculture,
Natural Resources, Business, Horticulture, Early Childhood Development and an
online bachelor’s degree in applied health science.
Tour of Campus
·
A tour of the campus took the committee to the following buildings:
Student Center (offices for student organizations, Service Learning, Career
Counseling), Kiehle computer helpdesk, Skyberg Residence Hall, McCall Hall,
Gymnasium, cow barns, Equine facility, which houses a 200 seat arena and a
stall with a name plate dedicated to President Bruininks on June 10, 2002. Robertson Hall will be demolished this
spring.
·
Approximately 20 Civil Service staff work on the Crookston campus. The mascot is the Golden Eagle. Crookston began as an agricultural high
school.
Approval of Minutes
Approval
of Minutes – In August the secretary position transferred from Bonnie Marten
serving as secretary to this function being provided by the U Senate
Office. Bonnie was to review the August
minutes but received them from the Senate Office on Tuesday, which did not give
her enough time to review and prepare for this meeting. Therefore, minutes will be approved
electronically.
Chair’s Report - Matt Bowers
·
We need to have patience as we transition to support from the U Senate
office. This will be a valuable service for the committee, since it will free
committee members' time for other activities.
·
At a recent meeting Vicki Courtney stated that the 2006-2007 budget
process will be an accelerated process and we will be asked to submit our
budget in October. Matt Bowers, Peg
Wolff, and Pat Hara will be meeting regarding the budget. Matt would like to budget an amount for a Civil
Service forum in the January to March timeframe related to strategic
positioning and include information about career development and services
available from HR.
·
Matt expressed his disappointment with the Strategic Positioning
process and the lack of Civil Service staff representation. Cathy Marquardt was chosen to participate on
the People task force. Jacki Cottingham,
CAPA chair, had to solicit to get assigned to a task force. Communication is not forthcoming. In addition only faculty and administration
are serving on the Strategic Positioning Steering Committee.
·
The Civil Service Committee members have been good citizens in
supporting University initiatives such as the legislative network and Community
Fund Drive. We represent 4500 employees,
and to succeed, the strategic positioning initiative needs staff buy-in.
·
Owner representative
·
Matt Bowers met with Carol Carrier, Kathy Brown, Linda Bjornberg, and Susan Rafferty. At the meeting Matt communicated that
employees are told they have to follow policies, but administration likes to
use the words, “spirit of the law” when interpreting our Pay Plan and
Rules. Rules help provide uniformity
when working with Civil Service employees across the campus. But HR wants to maintain latitude for
interpretation.
·
One of the issues at the meeting was the communication Facilities
Management, Capital Planning and Project Management staff have received that they will need to
reapply for their positions. A large
reorganization of the Facilities Management area is taking place to change the
service model to faster service. Some
new positions are being created to implement this new model. People are being asked to apply for these new
jobs. There is a feeling that these new
jobs are being created to bypass seniority.
The new jobs have the same job code and almost identical job
descriptions. In the written
communication it was noted that staff should talk with their supervisor about career
and transition.
·
Matt and Peg meet monthly with Susan Rafferty and the issue discussed
at the last meeting was V-class abuses as they relate to on-call jobs, mostly
in the area of Facilities Management and information technology positions. Guidelines from OHR on these types of jobs
have been requested.
·
The first U Senate meeting is September 29. A Senate orientation will take place September
23 and a Governance 101 session was held September 19. A Civil Service U Senator will be asked to
attend the October meeting and give a brief summary of events.
·
Matt met informally over coffee with Mary Luther to let her know that
although we may have differences of opinion on some issues, we are working for
a fair and open environment for Civil Service staff.
·
At the October meeting, Matt will lead an informal discussion about the
elements of the Pay Plan, Rules, and Compensation Committee work.
·
The November or December meeting will include a merit task force
progress report.
Advocacy
·
Matt is working with the HR staff at AHC on a complex personnel
issue. In the process Matt has determined
that the Civil Service Committee needs more resources, so that we can help
others. He thinks the Conflict
Resolution Office could assist with those resources. Carolyn Chalmers would like to attend a CSC
meeting and discuss Conflict Resolution Office services. Since we have heard her presentation before,
Matt will ask Carolyn to address how her office could assist the CSC with
advocacy.
·
Kathy Brown will be asked to attend the October CSC meeting.
Vice Chair’s Report – Peg
Wolff
·
Peg thanked Katy Olson, Lori Nicol, and Cathy Marquardt for forwarding
their long-term goals and asked that other committee chairs forward their goals
for the year.
·
The new coordinator for the Legislative Network has not yet been hired.
·
The stadium issue is on hold unless a special legislative session is
called.
Sub Committee Reports
Communication
and Publications – Linda Olcott
·
The deadline for
e-In Touch is October 6 for publication on October 13.
·
The Senate Office
Staff met with Heather Powell in September to discuss the SC Web site and list
serve. The Communication Committee is currently responsible for updates to the
Web site. The Communication Committee is
working with the University Senate Office to update the format of the site. When
the site has been reformatted the Communication Committee will work with the
Senate Office to determine an efficient management strategy for the Web site.
The Senate Office is responsible for updating the CSC list serve and is
managing submissions to the list with Heather Powell and Linda Olcott, Communications Committee.
Benefits – Joe
Jameson
·
·
Ruth Rounds, Wellness Coordinator, has left the University and a search
for her replacement will take place.
Ruth had tried to involve Recreational Sports and Boynton in the
Wellness area. The University has chosen
Harris Health Trends Inc. to work
with employees on Wellness, since statistics show that it is successful. Part of the health plan includes two $65
incentives for filling out health questionnaires. The committee would like to see an incentive
for use of the recreational center by employees.
Compensation –Cathy
Marquardt
The committee will review
V-class data from
Professional
Development – Karen Tschida
·
Meetings have been set for the year and the committee is waiting for
the U Senate office to post the meetings and the revised Web form. Peg will talk with Becky Hippert about
getting these posted.
·
Three applications were received this month. One application was from the Morris campus,
but the department is contributing funds.
Karen made a motion to approve two applications, one from a medical tech
in Vet Medicine Center and an assistant scientist in the Environmental Health
Sciences. Pat Hara is working with Vicki
Courtney regarding the carryover of professional development funds from last
year’s budget.
Rules – Lori
Nicol
·
The Rules subcommittee is working on issues regarding the use and
possible abuse of extended work hours and on-call status. Carla Lien has been asked to be involved in
these discussions.
·
Lori asked Heather to help with producing postcards reminding staff
that Rules are available on-line, along with e-mail communications and
communications in stages throughout the year.
·
Lori is also working to get the new draft currently in review on the
Web.
·
The next meeting will involve Rules 4 &5, which include the JEQ
process and compensation, so Cathy Marquardt will be involved.
·
Blake Downs is a committee member and a great resource regarding Rules
history and interpretation.
·
Susan Rafferty attends all Rules meetings and will attend all CSC
meetings and present an HR update. Matt
and Peg meet with Susan before each CSC meeting.
Senate and
Assembly Subcommittee – Brenda Boever
All
positions are currently filled. Brenda
is waiting to hear whether representatives are attending meetings.
Adjourn
11:55 a.m.