PROFESSIONAL COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
                          February 19, 2003
                                   
Members Present: Leslie Schmidt, Glenn Puffer, Jim Mitchell, Jim
Manning, Becky Ward, Clyde Carroll.

Members Absent: None.

The regularly-scheduled meeting was called to order at 2:00 PM by
Chair Leslie Schmidt.  The minutes of the January 15, 2003, meeting
were approved as distributed.

Chair's report - Leslie Schmidt.

     - As requested at the January 15 meeting, Leslie contacted the
     Ombudsman, Nancy Dodd, to gather information about the use of
     this mediation process.
          - A small number of visitors has come to the Ombudsman.
          - One-third of them have been professional employees.
          - The Ombudsman is attending faculty meetings within
          academic departments to make them aware of the service.
          Professionals have been invited to the first part of the
          meetings to hear discussion by the Ombudsman.
          - During discussion by the Council, it was suggested other
          divisions of the university, such as Student Affairs and
          Services, ask the Ombudsman to come to one of their staff
          meetings to publicize the process.
     - Leslie met with Faculty Council Chair Rich Howard to discuss a
     web site.  Possibilities include working with faculty on a site,
     developing a site independently, or piggy-backing on the Faculty
     Council site.
          - During discussion by the Council, there was consensus that
          a Professional Council site should be developed with a
          format similar to Faculty Council's.
          - Leslie will contact Terry Dysart, who is working on the
          Faculty Council web site.
     - University Governance Council Steering Committee met with
     President Gamble on February 13.  Topics discussed included the
     legislative session and probable effects on the university's
     budget.  Enrollments and other related issues were discussed as
     well.

UPBAC update - Jim Mitchell.
     - The vice presidents have submitted budget amendments, but the
     amendments are still to be prioritized.
     - A matrix has been developed for academic departments.  However,
     in Jim's opinion, it may be too late to be useful for FY 04.

Health benefit issue.
     - A proposal has been submitted to the Inter-unit Benefits
     Committee that employees making more than $50,000 subsidize
     employees making less than $25,000.
     - There was not much support for the proposal by Professional
     Council.  Although members were sympathetic to the issue of low
     pay and rising health insurance costs, it would be very difficult
     to administer the program in a way that is fair to everyone.
     Combined family income, number of dependents and other factors
     influence the ability of low-paid staff to pay the premiums.

Nomination and election procedures for new Professional Council
members.
     - The terms of Clyde Carroll (Academic Affairs) and Jim Mitchell
     (Student Affairs) end September, 2003.  Jim Mitchell is eligible
     for re-election.
     - The following schedule for elections was agreed upon.
          - By the end of February, solicit nominations from the two
          constituencies by e-mail.  A reminder will be sent before
          the nomination deadline of March 12.
          - Ballots will be distributed to the two constituencies by
          March 19.
          - Ballots are to be returned to the Faculty
          Council/Professional Council Office by April 3.
     - It was agreed professionals outside a particular constituency
     may nominate an individual within that constituency.

Other.
     - There continue to be problems with MAP, particularly in the
     area of progression pay.
     - During discussion of issues that may require legal advice, it
     was pointed out that MSU Legal Counsel Leslie Taylor represents
     professional employees.
     - A discussion was held regarding regular attendance by PC
     members at the UGC Steering Committee meetings.  It was agreed
     that our presence was important even if PC business was not
     always a topic of conversation.   Becky Ward, Leslie Schmidt and
     Glenn Puffer will share this responsibility.

As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:10.