CEPAC-Staff Senate

Roll Call

• Voting Members:
• Mary Engel, Chair
• Kevin Thane, Chair-elect
• Jeannette Radcliffe
• Kristine Mashaw
• Michelle Larsen
• Steven Beasley
• Rose Cain
• Gale Kinzie
• Bill van Horn (voting member as of 7/1/08)
• Ellen Hall (voting member as of 7/1/08)
• Non-voting Members:
• Ron Brekke
• Michael Dean
• Sherry Todd
• Carol Shannon
  Others present:
• Kurt Blunck and Robert Putzke (guest speakers)
• Mary Fulton
• Sara France

Apologies for Absence

Minutes of the Last Meeting

General Business

Mary Engel introduced and welcomed the newly-elected members: William van Horn and Ellen Hall. Donna Kelly could not attend today, and the fourth person elected to Staff Senate is Mary herself, commencing a second term; this time representing Technical Paraprofessional staff. Outgoing voting members were recognized and thanked: Michelle Larsen, Steve Burk, Kristine Mashaw. Mary Engel was presented with an engraved plaque in recognition of her contribution as Chair.
• Shared Governance - Shared governance partners come together once a month during summer and are working on formalizing the status of their meetings and function.
• MUSSA Activity - MUSSA has been conference calling and conferring with the Office of the Commissioner for Higher Education (OCHE) regarding Pooled Resources, following other critical discussions early this year. (Click here for further information). MUSSA will announce it's and OCHE's decisions on the future of the project to the Board of Regents tomorrow.
• Outreach Update - At last month's meeting Sara France was asked to inquire further into payroll processes with a view to finding ways to help improve delivery of both checks and stubs to those who don't use direct deposit or regularly access a computer. Sara discovered that this was being assessed through the Business Process Review procedure and she suggested Staff Senate give input and/or suggestion. Discussion of various ideas ensued and those present will send submissions to Sara by email.

  Sara had also been asked to look into how any CHOICES enrollment hitches were being rectified, as the process was running, and found that fixes were quick and utilized immediately.

  No new outreach had been conducted since the last meeting.

• Committee Representative Recruitment - New committee reps (terms commencing now, or over the coming weeks) are: Sheron McIlhattan (Debt Planning & Management); Michael Dean (OFSAC); Shana Wold (Marketing Advisory Council); Carol Shannon (MSU Benefits Committee); Donna Kelly and Irene Decker (Parking Appeals); Jean Koelzer and Merry Paceley (Personnel Board); Bill van Horn (Space Management); Kristine Mashaw (SPC); and Mandy Hansen (UFPB). Outgoing reps were acknowledged and thanked.
• Officer Elections - Kevin Thane was on the ballot for Chair FY09. No further names were placed on the ballot as a result of Nominating Committee efforts. However, nominations were taken from the floor and Jeannette Radcliffe was added, for Chair elect. A vote by paper ballot followed and both candidates were elected.
• Bylaws Review - Kevin Thane proposed to include this as part of the goals and projects process for FY09.
• Meeting Schedule FY09 - As requested, Sara France coordinated with the Office of Sponsored Programs and CEPAC-Staff Senate meetings will not coincide with OSP Roundtable in FY09. The CEPAC-Staff Senate schedule will remain 9-11 am on the fourth Wednesday of the month except in June and December when meetings will be held on the second Wednesday. Venues to be announced.
• CEPAC-Staff Senate's Name - It had originally been agreed (in August, 2007) that CEPAC's name change would transition through CEPAC-Staff Senate (in FY08) and Staff Senate-CEPAC (in FY09) to simply being called Staff Senate in FY10. In practice, the title Staff Senate has been introduced this year and Sara France suggested the FY09 transition may be moot. Kevin Thane moved that CEPAC-Staff Senate use only the title Staff Senate as of July 1, 2008. Bill van Horn seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Guest Speakers

Committee Reports

Benefits Committee - Latest committee notes are on-line. Ron Brekke was asked for an update on Awards Wellness and he reported that a program would commence in September in which participating employees and spouse/adult dependents can earn credits for wellness practices and receive $100 in cash.

Sherry Todd reported that CHOICES confirmation letters will go out soon. Amendments are only applicalbe in cases of error or mid-year change. The deadline for preference changes was May 5.

Parking Appeals Committee - Carol Shannon discussed the nature of recent parking violation appeals (stemming mostly from employees and students being unaware of parking rules; and removal of hangtags while driving - and forgetting to re-display them). Carol and Robert Putzke had a short discussion about university break time parking.

UPBAC - Sara France gave an overview of the May UPBAC meeting and answered questions about the parking budget, and sustainability, raised at the CEPAC-Staff Senate April meeting.

Bob Lashaway, Associate VP for University Services, gave a Parking Operations Budget presentation to UPBAC on May 6. He explained how parking must, by law, be self-funded and how income from permits, fines, pay lot revenue, and interest earnings is spent. Sara's understanding of the presentation was that almost half the 1.84 million FY08 budget goes in salaries. MSU operates a long term repair schedule (seal coating every 5, 10, 15 & 20 years; mill overlay every 15 years; and major reconstruction and further mill overlay every 30-45 years) and this year the Parking Operations Budget will contribute $386,506 to fund this. How much to set aside for this purpose is recalculated biannually, and maintenance cycles are determined by an external engineering consultant. Despite these regular recalculations, and due in part to some previous debt service, MSU carries a $2.8million shortfall in the reconstruction and repair (R&R) fund which must be made up. There are equipment and other costs which round out Parking Operations expenditure. The budget includes no contingency for making up the R&R shortfall, nor for unanticipated costs or new initiatives. However, this year, the budget will carry an annual reserve of about $190,000.

Bob had also sent an email at the end of April in response to Sara's sustainability questions. At that time, the Regents were working on a resolution supporting the Governor's 20x10 initiative and MPG standards. In addition, Bob expected MSU to put out an RFP for a resource conservation consultant contract to, among other things, establish an energy baseline for MSU against which to track progress. Bob anticipated that at least half of the mandated reduction in energy use will have to be accomplished through cultural change (behavioral changes in how we operate) and hopes to continue to implement energy-related maintenance projects to attempt to achieve the other half. A Campus Sustainability Advisory Committee is expected to be established on campus in the Fall.

Other Business

• President Gamble will attend next month's meeting and those present today were asked to email Sara France with suggestions for topics of conversation by June 3.

Public Comment

1. An article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, May 21: "Longer Days and Darker Nights as Colleges Adjust to Soaring Energy Costs" detailing carpooling, four-day-weeks, and other initiatives at colleges around the country. Sara France was asked to further investigate the online carpool program mentioned at WCU.
2. A staff member's report (and supported by current CEPAC-Staff Senate research) that a $9.25/hr wage is insufficient to qualify for even the cheaper Bozeman area apartment rents ($650/mo). Discussion ensued and some related ideas, perhaps for conversation with President Gamble next month, were raised.

Running over time, Mary Engel moved to adjourn. Michelle Larsen seconded, and the meeting closed at 11:30 am.

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