MSU PROFESSIONAL COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
                          November 19, 2003
                                   
Members Present: Glenn Puffer, Sandy Rahn-Gibson, Jim Mitchell, Becky
               Ward, Leslie Schmidt, Jim Manning.
Members Absent: None.

The meeting was called to order at 2:10 PM.  A quorum was present.
The minutes of the October 22, 2003, meeting were approved as
distributed.

Chair's report - Glenn Puffer.
     - Professional Council sent a memo to the Board of Regents
     requesting that all employees at MSU who meet the stated criteria
     be eligible for tuition waivers for dependents.  Sue Hill from
     the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education responded that
     the intent of the Board of Regents proposal is to cover all
     employees meeting the criteria.  It is anticipated the proposal
     will be approved at the November 20-21 Regents meeting.
     - Chair Puffer will prepare a memo to send to constituents by
     e-mail outlining issues discussed by Professional Council this
     semester.

Nominations for committee members - TIP (To Improve Productivity)
Incentive Award Program.
     - The TIP program is designed to recognize and reward employees
     who come up with cost savings innovations.
     - Two nominations from various campus constituencies are to be
     forwarded to the President.  One individual from each will be
     appointed to serve on a committee to make an initial
     determination regarding the worthiness of each proposal and to
     decide if it should be forwarded for further review by the
     department it involves.
     - Sandy Rahn-Gibson was nominated for the committee.
     - Professional Council members are to solicit additional
     potential nominees.  These individuals will forward a paragraph
     explaining why they are interested in the committee to Chair
     Puffer.  He will make the final determination of the second
     nominee and forward that name, along with Sandy's, to
     Professional Council members and to the President.

Amendments to Professional Council By-Laws.
     - Amendments to the Professional Council By-Laws that bring
     practice into line with policy have been discussed during the
     semester.
     - Council members voted unanimously to approve the following
     changes:
          -- Article One, Section Two: Election Dates - change "The
          elected representatives will assume office at the last
          regular meeting in the spring semester" to "The elected
          representatives will assume office at the first regular
          meeting fall semester."
          - Article Three, Section Two: Duties and Responsibilities of
          the Chair, B. 2.  - change "The newly-elected Chair will
          take office immediately." to "The newly-elected Chair will
          take office at the first regular meeting fall semester."
          - Jim Mitchell moved that Article Three, Section Three:
          Duties and Responsibilities of the Chair-Elect, B. 2. be
          changed from "The newly-elected Chair-Elect will take office
          immediately." to The newly-elected Chair-Elect will take
          office at the first regular meeting fall semester."  The
          motion was seconded and carried unanimously.

Report from UPBAC - Jim Mitchell.
     - The committee has been working on a 3-5 year vision plan.
     - A one-half day retreat was held in September to brainstorm what
     MSU should be like in five years.  The committee then heard the
     President's and Provost's vision.  An initial document was
     written from this discussion and review by UPBAC in October.
     - The committee will meet the first week in December to discuss
     the latest iteration of the document.  It will then be available
     for public comment.
     - Faculty have presented a benchmarking proposal for salaries.
     Jim recommends classified and professionals be added to the
     proposal.  There would have to be work done to provide the
     benchmarks for positions so there is a way to compare salaries at
     MSU with similar positions elsewhere.
     - The latest version of the vision plan should be available for
     discussion by Professional Council at its December 18 meeting.

Distribution of Professional Council members.
     - To reach a reasonable degree of equal representation among the
     three constituent groups, it appears two members should be added.
     - Professional Council, then, would use the following
     distribution of members:
          - Academic Affairs - 4 members
          - Administrative Offices - 2 members- Student Affairs - 2
          members
          - An appropriate time to add the members would be during the
          next election cycle, which takes place Spring Semester.
     - Jim Manning moved that Professional Council membership be
     increased to 8, using the distribution identified and adding the
     two members during the next election cycle.  The motion was
     seconded and carried unanimously.

As there was no further discussion, the meeting adjourned at 3:00 PM.