CIVIL SERVICE COMMITTEE MEETING

Thursday, December 17, 2009

9:00 ~ 11:30 a.m.

Morrill Hall, room 300

 

[In these minutes: OfficerÕs report, ÒFinancing the FutureÓ President Robert Bruininks, CAPA guest speaker Will Craig, subcommittee updates, Office of Human Resources update, bylaws overview]

 

Present:  Karen Lovro (chair), Frank Strahan, Susan Cable-Morrison, Carolyn Davidson, Karen Ellis, Nancy Fulton, Gary Willhite, Susan Rafferty, Don Cavalier, Josette Barseness, Rick Densmore, Susan Rose

 

Regrets:  Roxy McCann

 

Absent:  None

 

Guests: President Robert H. Bruininks (speaking on financing the future);

Will Craig, vice chair, CAPA; James Gregory, constituent

 

Others Present: Katie Stuckert, associate to the Office of the President

 

The meeting was called to order at 9:05 a.m.

 

A motion was made to approve the November meeting minutes.  The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.

 

ChairÕs Report ~ Karen Lovro

 

Chair Lovro reported on the first University Senate meeting of the academic year, which was held December 3, 2009.  President Bruininks spoke about the UniversityÕs financial future and the challenges they face throughout the next two biennia.  Lovro said the President would speak more to the UniversityÕs financial issues during his visit at todayÕs meeting.  She said for those interested in reading the financial future task force report, it can be found on the web at http://www1.umn.edu/usenate/usen/financialtfreport.pdf. 

 

Lovro reported that she attended the University Student Senate meeting on December 3, 2009.  The students were interested in hearing about the Civil Service CommitteeÕs priorities and concerns for the 2009-10 academic year.  LovroÕs address reflected the committeeÕs concern in relation to participation and area representation of constituents willing to serve on the committee.  In addition, she commented on the initial concern the committee had on recent layoff numbers in comparison to new hires reported from the results of the November New Employee Orientation. 

 

Lovro reported that the Professional Development Fair subcommittee met in November to share ideas for the second annual event, taking place in the spring. As a result, based on feedback from several CSC members, conversation generated new and innovative ideas. For example, one event suggestion made was to offer a program supporting individuals dealing with internal, personal strife. Challenges could relate to situations dealing with aging parents or spouses (or children) with terminal medical conditions.

 

Lovro received an email message from a recently laid off constituent. This individual was a long-time, dedicated Civil Service employee of the University. In addition, this individual served as a Civil Service representative on a University Senate Committee. Her concerns related to a significant drop in Civil Service employee representation and employment numbers.  Her concerns have been forwarded to Central Human Resources for a response to the CSC. What struck Lovro most about the constituentÕs email was that the message was not about her but about the concern she had for her constituents.

 

Vice Chair Report ~ Frank Strahan

 

Vice Chair Strahan said that his workload has doubled and because of that, he did not have the time to produce an official vice chairÕs report.  He did report that there were 16 new employees and 11 returning employees present at the last new employee orientation.  He also said that he would check on the number of information binders remaining for new Civil Service employees and order more as needed. 

 

Strahan met with Gavin Watt, chair of the Benefits Advisory Committee (BAC), regarding the current Duluth Civil Service BAC representative or the lack there of.  There have been several attempts to connect with the currently elected representative with no success.  Duluth constituents are calling for an immediate replacement.

 

TreasurerÕs Report ~ Alex Jokela

 

Mr. Jokela reported that as of this date, $18,500 of the committeeÕs 2009-2010 budget has been spent, leaving a remainder of $8,994.  There is $1,700 left for professional development.  Jokela thinks the availability of professional development funds should be publicized.  Mr. Strahan said he would put a mention in the next issue of the eIn Touch Newsletter.

 

Benefits & Compensation ~ Susan Rose

 

Notes for the December 10, 2009 Benefits & Compensation Subcommittee meeting have been extracted directly from the minutes distributed to CSC members via email and are as follows:

 

Pay Plan wording clarification - OHR Compensation Director – Mary Luther

                                               i.     Outstanding Service Awards Guidelines

                                             ii.     U of M In-Range Adjustment Policy

 

Rules ~ Susan Cable-Morrison

 

The December Rules Subcommittee meeting was cancelled due to Chair Cable-MorrisonÕs illness.

 

Delegations ~ Karen Ellis

 

Ms. Ellis informed members that there is still an open seat on the Social Concerns Committee.  She will keep members abreast of any applicants that come in for that seat.

 

Financing the Future ~ President Robert Bruininks

 

President Bruininks premised his conversation with the committee by stating that not all of the future financial facts are present or available at this time.  He said that he would know more about the UniversityÕs financial status at the end of February when the details of the State budget are released.  Bruininks stated that there is a slight possibility that the StateÕs financial forecast could improve slightly but even so, that would not help the University very much.  Currently, the University is working with an 11% reduction in State aid, most of which would be absorbed within this academic yearÕs budget.

 

President Bruininks is expecting another $36 million reduction of state funding next year, which is more than 5%, and there is no current financial solution in place to cover the loss.  He said administration still needs to come up with a solution to the 27th pay period situation as well as covering the 2% pay increase that he intends to honor.  He said it is time to get creative with the budget.  Administration is looking at the amount of money spent on fringe benefits and that may need to be managed in another way.  The University needs to manage space usage better and Bruininks said by reducing the space needed, there could be a .5 million in savings.  He said they would need to look at how the University is organized and change the business model to coincide with the changes in spending.  Bruininks said administration is still considering closing the University during the holidays and that people may need to take unpaid days off in order to meet the demands of the budget cuts.  He said he plans to have an outline of strategies for the University community by March and he will keep everyone informed of any spatial restructuring.  The President is looking to the University community for their suggestions and input.

 

CAPA Vice Chair ~ Will Craig

 

Mr. Craig gave members a background overview of CAPA, (Council of Academic Professionals and Administrators), as a committee and said members are investigating what it would mean for CAPA to become a senate within the University governance structure.   He said the possibility of this move peaked his interest upon discovering that CAPA was being excluded from specific governance conversations wherein decisions are being made because they are not a senate.  Therefore, he thinks CAPA is not being consulted on University issues at the level they desire.  He thinks it is worth the time and effort to review the pros and cons of becoming a senate and anticipates that CAPA would have more say in decisions being made for the University community if they were to become a senate.  He said there are a few things they still need to look into before making a decision, including the structure of CAPAÕs  subcommittees; will they remain as is.  He said he would keep Civil Service abreast of their findings and decision. 

 

 Office of Human Resources ~ Susan Rafferty

 

 Ms. Rafferty addressed members about the perception of new employees being hired at the University while others have been laid off.   She said she is gathering information from various sources to try and provide an accurate picture to the committee and address some of the concerns.  She said employee data is pulled during the month of October; that is the month employee numbers are the most reliable.   Rafferty stated that the number of Civil Service employees was down 4% in October 2009 as compared to October 2008.  She said the number of Civil Service employees that are down is on par with the number of other employee groups, with a few exceptions.  She said the issue of deployment is a harder issue to define at this time.  She said she would continue to keep members updated with any new information regarding Civil Service employee deployment.

 

James Gregory ~ Constituent

 

Mr. Gregory is a constituent whose spouse is terminally ill and has questions about the language of Rule 11.5.10., which dictates sick leave rules to care for ill family members.  Ms. Rafferty relayed the Rule as saying that Civil Service employees are allowed to take five paid sick leave days per incident to care for a family member who is not a dependent child.  One of GregoryÕs questions is what is the definition of per incident?  He said that he has witnessed a fair amount of discrepancy concerning the Rule.  Ms Rafferty said Ôper incidentÕ is understood by Human Resources to mean per diagnosis.  Mr. Gregory clarified that because of his longevity at the University, he does have three months each of vacation and sick leave but his concern is for other employees that may not have that luxury.   He said that the rules are interpreted differently across campus, allowing some employees more lenience, depending on who their supervisor is whereas other employees are held to the five-day stipulation.  He thinks the differential treatment is unfair and Òsloppy.Ó   Rafferty said she is unfamiliar with the history of Rule 11 and will be interested to see what the Rules Subcommittee discovers in their search for accuracy and consistency across campus.  She said Rule 11 should not be confused with the FMLA federal law that gives employees 12 workweeks of unpaid time off to care for ill family members.  Mr. Gregory stated that the FMLA rule is the same as Rule 11 in that it is Òper incidentÓ but that an employee can apply for the time in increments throughout one illness such as the first being diagnosis, the second, radiation, the third, recovery and so on.  His question is who is in charge to see that the rules are consistent and the same for everyone across campus.  He speculates that Human Resources is using the Rule as a convenient way to refrain from spending money on sick leave, as it would be in the best financial interest of the University to retain those funds on the books.  Rafferty is concerned about the advice Gregory has received from his department because it is inaccurate.  She said there should be no interconnection with the FMLA and the sick leave rule.  Members suggested clarification of the Rule from Patti Dion.  Gregory said he was told that there were examples of the Rule that were thought to be uniformly applied across the University but the examples have been lost over the years and he was told there would be an effort made to recover and review them. 

 

New Business

 

Nancy FultonÕs committee membership has transitioned from an At Large member to the representative of Academic Affairs.

 

Hearing no further business, the meeting adjourned at 11:30 a.m.

 

Lisa Towry

University Senate Office