Staff Senate Minutes - (approved - 10/28/09)

A regular meeting of the Staff Senate was held on Wednesday, September 23,  2009 at Strand Union Building, room #236 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.  The following, marked with an X, were present.

Elected Members:

Attendance Code Key:  X = Attended     A=Apologies for Absence       Staff, Joan Ford, was in attendance.

Appointed Committee Members:  Ron Brekke, Shari Curtis, Sandy Tetro, Beth Littlefield, Shana Wold, Kristine Mashaw, Sheron McIlhattan, Kathy Sobrepena and Deb Harrison via the phone, were in attendance.

A motion, made by Bill and seconded by Donna, to approve the August 19, 2009 minutes, was unanimously approved. 

Business:
VEBA, no further steps have been taken.  Kevin noted that the Human Resource focus group was stimulated by the VEBA committee and is currently offering a series of seminars on “Solid Finances in Shaky Economic Times”.  Members who attended the first session stated that it was very good with timely information.

Dependent Premium Waiver(DPW), no further steps need to be taken.  However, it is unsure if the Board of Regents has taken steps to head off this issue in the future.

Temporary Chemistry Labs, MSU has submitted the grant.  Discussion was held.

Elections are underway.  New candidates will attend the next Staff Senate meeting.  Kevin will appoint a nominating committee for officers.  Officer elections will be held at the next meeting as well.

UPBAC Workgroup, an email was sent to classified employees soliciting input for cost saving ideas.  All are encouraged to respond and share their ideas with this group. 

Shared Governance:
MSU Presidents Search, the three final candidates will be visiting campus over the next week or so.  A meeting time of 10:15 to 11:00 a.m. has been scheduled for Staff Senate and Professional Council representatives to meet the candidates.   MSU Today will post information on the day each of the candidates is on campus.

Association of Shared Governance Leaders (ASGL), Kevin reported the main topic of discussion was the Presidential candidates and cost saving proposals to the UPBAC Workgroup.

Board of Regents, the main topic of the September 23 through 25 meeting will be budgets with campus by campus reporting. 

Outreach: 
Kevin and Jeannette did outreach to the night time custodial group.  Joan did new employee orientation to 23 new employees.

Committee Reports:

• MSU Benefits and IUBC, met September 3, present were Mathre, Johnston, Haynes, Brekke, Curtis, Wheeler, Shannon, Hapner, Mitchell, Oudshoorn, Alt, Young.  Membership: Brekke has been reappointed.   The upcoming IUBC meeting Oct 8-9 and invitation for Bozeman people to attend was noted.  MSU Meeting schedule (revised): Oct 1: Room TBD, Oct 29: SUB 232, (Fall Wellcheck Nov 4-5), and Dec 3: SUB 232.  Digital Mammography: Carol and Barb trying to document whether BZN charges are higher than other cities in Montana, via data review by Bernard at MAHCP.  Hapner reported on progress of URx.  Hapner reviewed the August meeting of the Retiree task force. 

• Provost Luncheon Steering Committee, the luncheon is scheduled for October 22 per Beth. 

• Recreational Sports Advisory Board, no meeting per Kathy.

• Marketing, no meeting per Shana.

• Space Management, met September 4 per Bill. There were two main topics of discussion: the progress of the Gaines Hall renovation project, including the announcement that the building should be completed by summer 2010, and the large lecture hall possibly before that (March was mentioned); and an update on the Animal Bioscience Building. There was also brief mention of the plans for the first and second floors of Hamilton Hall, which is currently being renovated. Gaines Hall took up most of the time, with some questions being raised about the increase in space being given to Earth Science.

• Strategic Planning and Budget Committee, Kristine reported the committee has a new chair, Chris Fastnow.   The Vision and Strategic Plan is about finalized and will be added to the web soon see http://www.montana.edu/vision/.

• University Planning, Budget and Analysis Committee (UPBAC), Kevin reported a survey was emailed to classified staff requesting ideas for reinventing the University System.  He encouraged all to participate in this survey.

Other Business:
Several members requested that Staff Senate post when committees meet.  Joan will email committees with their upcoming meeting scheduled and share this with all members. 

A motion, made by Bill and seconded by Gale, to adjourn the meeting at 10:45 a.m., was unanimously approved.

Next meeting:  Wednesday, October 28, 2009 Strand Union Building SUB #236 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.