|
|
|
|
|
COSSAC Meeting Minutes 1998-1999
COSSAC Meeting Minutes: August 11, 1998In attendance: Gene Levy and Linda Pace (Dean's Office), Eric Anderson and Margaret Judy (Astronomy), Nancy Emptage and Richard Nylund (Atmospheric Sciences), John Fitch (Biochemistry), Seth Ruskin (Chemistry), Suzanne Collier and Sandra Miller (Computer Science), Sharon Bouck (Geosciences), Brooke Zang and Bernadette Thomas (Mathematics), Ken Williams and Kaye Jay (MCB), Alaina Levine and Susan Arnold (Physics), Selina Johnson and Terry Bressi (Planetary Sciences), Lacy Enneking (Speech & Hearing). Departments not represented: EEB, Flandrau Science Center and Tree Ring Laboratory. Self-introduction of new and returning council members took place. Handouts were distributed that included the College of Science Staff Advisory Council (COSSAC) mission statement, list of current COSSAC members, and COSSAC By Laws. Approval to amend the current By Laws will take place at the next COSSAC meeting (September 8, 1998). The Council approved the minutes of the May 11, 1998 meeting with the following change: new council member Meg Watt (not Sharon Bouck) will replace Brian Auvine as chairperson of the Mentoring Committee. Dean Levy introduced himself and stated that the purpose of establishing the council is to give voice to important issues. He is willing to provide support in any way he can.
SUB-COMMITTEE REPORTSStaff Recognition Committee - Suzanne Collier (Co-chair)Tabled for next meeting. Mentoring Committee - Selina Johnson A brief overview of the mentoring committee was provided. The mentoring program was approved in April 1996 to serve as a resource for new UA CoS staff employees. From September 1997 through January 1998 there was 1 contact. Due to the lack of response, it was suggested at the February 1998, COSSAC meeting that council members check that the person designated to hand out the mentoring material to new employees in their respective departments is actually remembering to do so. Suggestions for increased participation: 1) mentoring fliers distributed at Staff Luncheon in May, 2) send a reminder by email to all classified staff, 3) ask mentors for their ideas, and 4) more publicity. The Mentoring Committee will continue to monitor the progress for another year beginning March 1, 1998. During open discussion, one of the new council members mentioned that they did not receive any information on mentoring when they were recently hired. There appear to be several ongoing issues: 1) is mentoring program needed in CoS, and 2) Human Resources has its own mentoring program; should we tag onto that program. The new mentoring committee will revisit problems with the existing mentoring system. PR Committee - Ken Williams The committee developed and distributed surveys to all CoS staff to find out concerns and if they feel a strong attachment to their department, college and/or the university. Results indicated that there wasn't a strong connection with the CoS. Issues: 1) Redesign survey to find out specific concerns, and 2) what is appropriate for CoS staff to deal with. Staff is interested in more training. Per Dean Levy, training workshops could be available. The College of Agriculture SAC had a big staff training day with extensive workshops all day. Perhaps we can determine what training needs staff want by possibly having a brown bag seminar. Web Page and Listserves - Sandy Miller Sandy has updated the COSSAC listserv [sci_sac@listserve.arizona.edu] and web site [http://www.cs.arizona.edu/cossac/]. If there are any revisions please notify her. Please note that when you reply to an email message from the listserv, the default is to reply to the entire list. Sometimes council members receive the same message twice. One message is from the listserv for the council members [sci_sac@listserv.arizona.edu] and the other is from the listserv for all staff in the College of Science [cossac@listserv.arizona.edu]. Sandy will group sub-committees together on a COSSAC web page in addition to listing committees under council member's name. Sandy is also responsible for keeping attendance. According to Article I, Section 2, of the By Laws, regular members and/or their alternates are expected to attend all General Meetings. Regular members are responsible for notifying another member of the Staff Council prior to an expected absence of both the regular and alternate member from a General Meeting. Regular members must not miss more than three meetings in a calendar year to preserve continuity. If a department has not been represented at three meetings in a calendar year, the department head will be notified to select a new member and alternate. Newsletter Committee - Alaina Levine Donna Swibold, a former council, member promoted the idea of having a COSSAC newsletter, which would contain news and critical issues regarding CoS staff. Donna no longer wishes to chair this sub-committee. A new committee will be formed. Advocacy Committee - Ken Williams The Council approved the creation of an advocacy group sub-committee to serve as a conduit for issues the COSSAC wishes to change/revise, such as policy-making processes. An example is the Soltero Bill. Council member Eric Anderson briefly described Conflict of Interest issues with the University of Arizona that he would like to have amended.
NEW BUSINESSDescription of COSSAC sub-committees will be provided via email by the end of the week. In addition to COSSAC council members, sub-committees are open to all CoS staff.Selina Johnson suggested tape-recording the council meetings in order to provide accurate minutes. A motion was made, seconded and approved to allow this.
COSSAC Meeting Minutes: September 8, 1998In attendance: Linda Pace (Dean's Office), Eric Anderson (Astronomy), Richard Nylund (Atmospheric Sciences), John Fitch (Biochemistry), Seth Ruskin and Fred Sawyer (Chemistry), Suzanne Collier and Sandra Miller (Computer Science), Nena Gray (EEB), Meg Watt and Sharon Bouck (Geosciences), Ken Williams and Kaye Jay (MCB), Alaina Levine (Physics), Selina Johnson and Terry Bressi (Planetary Sciences). Departments not represented: Flandrau Science Center, Mathematics, and Tree Ring Laboratory. The Council approved the minutes of the August 11, 1998 meeting with the following change under Sub-Committee Reports - Webpage and listservs: Sometimes council members receive the same message twice. One message is from the listserv for the council members [sci_sac@listserv.arizona.edu] and the other is from the listserv for all staff in the College of Science [cossac@listserv.arizona.edu].
SUB-COMMITTEE REPORTSStaff Recognition Committee - Suzanne Collier, Co-ChairThe general overall consensus from evaluations of the staff recognition nomination process and the College of Science Staff Luncheon was "Good". Door prizes were especially appreciated. Some concerns included the nomination process and the time spent by the Staff Recognition Committee revisiting the nomination process after having concerns about last year's process. Suggestions for future process included: 1) having just a few outstanding awards in lieu of having a recipient from each department (i.e. 2-4 really outstanding CoS classified staff); 2) each department have their own internal staff recognition award program (Physics already has their own internal award program); 3) Faculty and students should be encouraged to participate in the nomination process; currently, there appears to be some confusion as to who can actually nominate. CoS departments will be polled to obtain input regarding the current nomination process and suggestions for future awards. Amount spent on luncheon totaled $4,706.64. The inclusion of academic professionals at the College of Science Staff Luncheon was briefly discussed. Linda Pace stated that they have their own council.
UA/SAC meets once a month for 2 hours. Those interested in joining UA/SAC can contact Alaina Levine @ 621-4969 or [alaina@physics.arizona.edu]. The Emily Krauz Staff Endowment offers a scholarship to staff members wishing to take classes at the UofA and University of Phoenix. You can apply on line by accessing the UA/SAC webpage, [http://w3.arizona.edu/~sac/]. They received 72 applications this year, which is significantly higher than last year. They award approximately 20 scholarships each semester and applications are reviewed every semester. There appears to be some confusion over who receives COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment/Allowance) vs. Merit Raises. According to UA/SAC, merit raises do not seem to work very well. People were receiving them even when they didn't deserve it and some departments are posting what percentage each person received, which created a lot of bitterness among the staff. Classified Salary Adjustment (CSA) typically refers to faculty and appointed personnel. Eric and Alaina will continue researching this topic and report back next time. UA/SAC has many active sub-committees one of them being Human Resources, which seems most relevant to COSSAC. They address issues such as child care, salary, training, etc. The committee reports directly to Dr. Saundra Taylor, VP for Student Life and Human Resources. They meet once a month to discuss important issues during the lunch hour. One of the issues they are currently working on is the collaboration of a Career Development Day (all staff are allowed 16 hours/year of job-related professional development time (i.e. training, workshops). Eric Anderson volunteered to serve on this sub-committee to gain information and to provide input. Next meeting is scheduled for September 15. Jack Roberts is chair. The U of A is hosting a 1-day workshop on October 8, 1998, on "Unlearning Racism," sponsored by The Diversity Action Council, Division of Campus Life and the Office of the Presient. Selina Johnson volunteered to attend as COSSAC rep. "The Staff Connection" is published 2-3 times/year by staff in the Lo Que Pasa. Deadline is September 21, 1998 for the next issue. Since no one volunteered to work on PR sub-committee, we are looking for someone to write a paragraph for the next issue about what we have in store for the upcoming year. Sandy Miller volunteered to write an article for next publication. With the increase of campus burglaries it was suggested that we invite someone from the UA Campus Police Department to provide us with some campus burglary statistics and ideas on how to prevent further thefts.
COSSAC Meeting Minutes: October 13, 1998In attendance: Linda Pace (Dean's Office), Eric Anderson and Margaret Judy (Astronomy/Steward), Richard Nylund (Atmospheric Sciences), John Fitch (Biochemistry), Seth Ruskin and Fred Sawyer (Chemistry), Suzanne Collier (Computer Science), Meg Watt and Sharon Bouck (Geosciences), Bernadette Thomas (Mathematics), Ken Williams (MCB), Alaina Levine (Physics), Linda Hickcox (Planetary Sciences), Lacy Enneking (Speech & Hearing), Paul Sheppard (Tree Ring Lab). Departments not represented: EEB and Flandrau Science Center. Guest Speaker: Lt. Brian Seastone, University of Arizona Police Dept. The Council approved the minutes of September 8, 1998.
SUB-COMMITTEE REPORTSAdvocacy Committee - Eric Anderson (Chair)Eric distributed and reviewed the proposed structure of the Advocacy Committee. The purpose is to provide an avenue by which staff may investigate and/or appeal to policy and procedure issues that affect them. The Advocacy Committee consists of the following members: Eric Anderson, Chair (Astronomy), Terry Bressi (Planetary Sciences), John Fitch (Biochemistry), John Hughes (Astronomy), Margaret Judy (Astronomy), Seth Ruskin (Chemistry) and Ken Williams (MCB). Since most of these issues will go beyond COSSAC, it would be appropriate to work with SAC. Eric contacted Senator Ruth Soloman regarding the Conflict of Interest Policy and has not heard back from her. Issues for Advocacy consideration are as follows: 1) Policy creation; 2) Conflict of Interest Policy; 3) Intellectual Property Policy; 4) Bear Down Weight Room; 5) Procedural issues relating to Confidentiality Agreements; and 6) Involvement & Recruitment. Additional issues or concerns for consideration can be submitted to any member of the Advocacy Committee. The proposed structure of the Advocacy Committee will be posted on COSSAC's web page [http://www.cs.arizona.edu/cossac/]. Newsletter Committee - Alaina Levine Selina Johnson is soliciting newsletter articles and photos from each department for the next COSSAC newsletter to be distributed in mid-November (i.e. research, staff events) that other CoS staff would be interested in knowing about. Articles/photos should be submitted by Friday, October 30, 1998. Please contact Selina if you have any questions.
NEW BUSINESSSAC Human Resources Committee (Eric Anderson)The meeting was spent discussing the committee goals, basically concluding that the HRC exists to advocate opportunities to provide staff input into all Human Resources issues. Alonzo Williams is the HR representative on the committee and will attend most of the SAC HR meetings. HR goals are similar to the Advocacy council goals. The primary goals of the Advocacy Committee will go beyond HR issues but the two committees will work together to complement rather than duplicate efforts. Minor changes were made to the wording in the Probation Period Policy. Regarding merit raises, the Classified Salary Adjustments (CSA) have been completed for this year. Jack Roberts (HR) will be working on getting more staff involvement for next year. Flu Shots (Linda Hickcox) Flu Shot Day has been scheduled by some College of Science departments (i.e. Astronomy, Biochemistry, Computer Science, Planetary Sciences). If anyone is unable to make an appointment on their department's scheduled day, walk-in hours for the Campus Student Health Center are 8am-11am and 1pm-4pm Monday through Friday. No appointment is necessary. Go to the Immunizations Counter of Student Health. Voting by email (Eric Anderson) Tabled until next meeting.
OLD BUSINESSBy Laws (Alaina Levine)Final and approved changes to the COSSAC By Laws are as follows: ARTICLE I. - Formation of Council
COSSAC Meeting Minutes: November 10, 1998In attendance: Linda Pace (Dean's Office), Eric Anderson (Astronomy), Richard Nylund (Atmospheric Sciences), John Fitch (Biochemistry), Seth Ruskin and Fred Sawyer (Chemistry), Suzanne Collier and Sandy Miller (Computer Science), Nena Gray (EEB), Christy Clow (Flandrau), Meg Watt and Sharon Bouck (Geosciences), Selina Johnson and Terry Bressi (LPL), Brooke Zang and Bernadette Thomas (Mathematics), Ken Williams (MCB), Alaina Levine (Physics), Lacy Enneking (Speech & Hearing), and Ana Martinez (Tree Ring Lab). All departments were represented. The Council approved the minutes of the October 13, 1998 meeting.
The committee met once, but cannot proceed until they get feedback from the Dean about what he wants for the awards luncheon. Suzanne spoke to Dean Levy briefly and he does not see a problem with doing awards and suggested maybe there be only three awards. If it is decided that awards will be done, the nomination process needs to be started as soon as possible. There were problems with the nominations last year. Some examples given were: some people were upset when the person they nominated was not selected for the award, the nominations for some staff made them seem really great when they were actually only doing what was in their job description and not going beyond that, and some deserving staff were not even nominated for an award. Suggestions given for this year were: do away with the awards and concentrate on door prizes only at the luncheon, give each department the option of doing their own awards and forwarding the recipient's name to the committee for verbal recognition at the luncheon, or have each willing department submit one nominee who would go into a pool for a COS award (the number of COS awards would have to be decided in this case). The Staff Recognition Award options are as follows:
Mentoring Committee - Sharon Bouck and Meg Watt A handout was given to everyone listing the current mentors for each department. Sharon and Meg would like each member to look over the list for their department and update any phone numbers and addresses, and cross out any individuals, who no longer work in that department. Then they would like everyone to write down any individuals, who would be interested in mentoring along with their phone number and email address. In addition, they would especially like people familiar with travel procedures and software for the list. They will contact these people themselves about getting involved in the program. Their goal is to make this program better known and simpler to utilize. A final list of the mentors will be given to the person in charge of payroll at each department to be passed out with paychecks. A question was raised on the need for mentoring. Various members said this gives people an option of who to turn to when they have questions, and makes someone more accessible for answering questions. Sometimes people have to wait for an answer or they get referred around to various people for an answer. There will be a reevaluation of the Mentor Program in May 1999. Until then, the Mentoring Program will continue to be available to new and existing College of Science staff. Newsletter Committee - Selina Johnson Selina passed around a draft of the newsletter. She wanted verification that the logo is COSSAC's official logo so she can use it in the newsletter. The logo was voted on and accepted. So far, articles have been received from Astronomy, Biochemistry, Physics, Speech and Hearing, and Tree Ring Lab. Selina mentioned that there is time to accept additional articles. The committee decided each article should include the name of the individual who wrote it. Reprints of articles from department newsletters could be also used. She also expressed the need for more people to be on the newsletter committee to help out with collecting articles and scanning. Christy Clow expressed an interest in helping out. For the cost of the newsletter, Selina was referred to Ted Davis. Advocacy Committee - Eric Anderson, Chair Eric received back an opinion from the state Attorney General's Office concerning Conflict of Interest. The opinion states that the AG's Office "does not disagree with the UA policy." This opinion does not answer the question that was asked, which was to clear up the perceived ambiguity of the law itself--upon which the UA policy is based. In fact, the opinion itself was contradictory and only reinforced the ambiguity. Eric will continue to work on his own with Senator Solomon until a more coherent decision is reached. Human Resources Committee Report - Eric Anderson Jerry Ford, the director of compensation, spoke to the committee on a number of compensation issues. He expressed his support of merit raises over cost of living raises, since Arizona experiences little in cost of living increases. He also expressed his disappointment in the level of funding for merit raises (2 1/2% is a small spread between a lousy rating and a great rating). Jerry also talked about Classified Salary Adjustment (CSA). This is a four-year program funded by the Arizona legislature. Unless more funding comes through there will be no more CSAs. The reason for CSAs is to bring salaries in line with industry standards from various sources. The three state universities must work together to approach the legislature for this funding and they are not showing money is being put to good use. Jerry will try to work with the other universities to try to get more CSA funding. Eric said to read the email he sent out on this.
NEW BUSINESSVoting by Email - Eric AndersonEric stated that voting my email would be appropriate for issues of timeliness that could get approved by the committee by email. A question was raised as to what constitutes a quorum by email. Another question raised was to what kind of deadline would be set to vote my email. Some problems raised were: what happens when someone misses a vote, how can you get only one vote per department, and what if the deadline was too short. It was suggested that a draft be drawn up for guidelines on voting by email. Appeal Process for Merit Raises - Selina Johnson Selina raised the question of when the revised deadline is for merit raise appeals. The original deadline was November 13th, and Dean Levy extended it to November 16th. A notice was sent to some departments, but not all the departments received it. The committee members were encouraged to ask their business managers about the memo and get the ball rolling in their departments to get the appeals in on time. It was stated that the appeal could not be made on the dollar amount awarded, but rather on the process of awarding the raise. Shared Governance - Alaina Levine The UA and different councils under the auspices of the Faculty Senate decided that they want to see more involvement across the different councils (faculty, students, staff, administrators), so they created a committee on shared governance. They have distributed a questionnaire for the different groups to fill out. A quote was read from the Memorandum of Understanding entered unto the faculty and administration and passed by the Faculty Senate in 1997. It is a guideline for shared governance. It states, "Shared governance involves mutual participation in the development of policy decisions by both faculty and administration, and requires shared confidence between faculty members and administrators. This confidence extends to short and long range financial parties for the universities, the creation and elimination of programs and units, and a shared understanding that faculty representatives and administrators have the support of the faculty." The committee suggested that Alaina fill out the questionnaire and forward to the committee to look over and will await feedback before turning it in. She will also look into who the governance is talking about when they say "administrators", since the question was raised by a committee member.
COSSAC Meeting Minutes: December 8, 1998In attendance: Linda Pace (Dean's Office), Eric Anderson (Astronomy), Richard Nylund (Atmospheric Sciences), John Fitch (Biochemistry), Seth Ruskin (Chemistry), Suzanne Collier and Sandy Miller (Computer Science), Nena Gray (EEB), Christy Clow (Flandrau), Meg Watt and Sharon Bouck (Geosciences), Selina Johnson and Terry Bressi (LPL), Brooke Zang and Bernadette Thomas (Mathematics), Ken Williams and Kaye Jay (MCB), Alaina Levine (Physics), and Ana Martinez (Tree Ring Lab). Departments not represented: Speech & Hearing Sciences. The Council approved the minutes of the November 10, 1998 meeting with the revised paragraph regarding the report on the Advocacy Committee by Eric Anderson.
Suzanne reported that after tallying up the votes regarding the next College of Science Staff Luncheon, the majority voted for a staff luncheon with awardees/recipients selected at the department level rather than at the College of Science level (Option #3). Those awardees, who are selected by their respective departments, will possibly be verbally recognized at the staff luncheon and listed in the luncheon brochure; no formal presentation will be provided at the luncheon as it has been in the past. The SRC has yet to decide the program format. Those, who already have a department nomination process in place, should share that information with other departments, who wish to recognize outstanding classified staff within their department. The 1999 staff luncheon date possibilities zna.edu]. Mentoring Committee - Meg Watt Tabled until the next meeting. Newsletter Committee - Alaina Levine If a council member requests a specific issue to be voted on, it should be forwarded to an executive board member, who then will send the question to the COSSAC listserv in the following format: approval or denial, or the choice of specific options with answers listed as choices. If an urgent issue arises outside a council meeting, a separate council meeting should be scheduled. One vote per department (14 total). If a department representative is unavailable, the alternate would have full voting power. If a particular department has not voted within 2 days of the deadline (5 business days) and a quorum has not been reached, the member and/or alternate should be contacted directly to determine their vote. If a quorum has not been reached within the deadline, it shall be tabled or resubmitted for the next regular council meeting. E-mail votes would need to be carefully counted to make sure the department representative's vote overrides the department alternate. Votes by email should be reported in the minutes for the following meeting that includes the council members who voted with their respective departments and the dates of each vote. The council meeting agenda format would include approval of the minutes and any email voting that took place prior to the subsequent meeting. Since the minutes currently include motions and department representatives and their alternates, it is not necessary to keep track of department votes. Staff Salaries - Alaina Levine Alaina reported that Paul Sypherd, senior vice-president for academic affairs and provost, cleared up any ambiguous questions that came up after an article was printed in the Dec. 3, Arizona Daily Wildcat, "UA's Top Faculty Recruits Deterred by Low Salaries." Sypherd responded with an article in the Dec. 4 issue of the Wildcat by clarifying that he was not in any way suggesting that they have used staff money for faculty salaries. COSSAC Listserv - Selina Johnson Out of approximately 520 College of Science staff, there are currently 91 staff receiving the minutes and any relevant UA staff information via the COSSAC listserv. The COSSAC listserv is voluntary and each staff member is allowed to add or remove themselves by emailing [listserv@listserv.arizona.edu]. Only three individuals are allowed to post to the COSSAC listserv, the COSSAC President, Secretary and listserv manager. Each department reppresentative should notify their department staff to inform them of the COSSAC listserve.
COSSAC Meeting Minutes: February 9, 1999In attendance: Linda Pace (Dean's Office), Eric Anderson (Astronomy), Richard Nylund (Atmospheric Sciences), Seth Ruskin (Chemistry), Suzanne Collier and Sandy Miller (Computer Science), Christy Clow (Flandrau), Meg Watt and Sharon Bouck (Geosciences), Brook Zang and Bernadette Thomas (Mathematics), Ken Williams and Kaye Jay (MCB), Alaina Levine (Physics), Selina Johnson (LPL), and Lacy Enneking (Speech & Hearing). Departments not represented: Biochemistry, EEB and Tree Ring Lab. The Council approved the minutes of December 8, 1998.
SUB-COMMITTEE REPORTSAdvocacy Committee- Eric Anderson, ChairWe have won a round with the Conflict of Interest issue. The first week of January, Senator Soloman submitted requests for an opinion to both the State Legislative Council and to Janet Napolitano, our new attorney general. We have received a response from Kenneth Berringer. He basically agreed with my feeling that the Conflict of Interest statutes do not apply to relatives. He said that community property laws were taken into account by making the penalty a felony for a knowing violation of the conflict of interest laws. (UA attorneys have stated community property laws as the primary basis for applying the competitive bid provision to relatives.) We are still expecting an opinion back from Janet Napolitano. This time the Senator submitted the request personally, thus (it's my understanding) obligating the AG to provide a legal opinion. Last time it took 5 months to get a response. I have already talked to our HR department regarding the procedure for changing the policy and probably what will actually happen, SAC will write up a recommendation for the policy to be changed. That will go through to the UA/SAC which will then go to the HR department to amend the policy. Human Resources Committee - Eric Anderson, Chair Questions have come up from individuals in Eric's department regarding the different retirement plans for classified staff and appointed personnel/faculty. Eric contacted Jack Roberts, president of United Staff Advisory. Email was sent to Leslie Porter, director of benefits and compensation, regarding why we don't have the same options. According to state law, we are required to be enrolled in a state retirement plan and that decision is made by the Arizona Board of Regents or the individual's state agencies. It's the Board of Regents Policy that dictates that classified staff be in the State Retirement Plan. Appointed Personnel and Faculty have the additional option of enrolling in TIAA-CREF, AETNA, FIDELITY etc. The main difference is the contribution rate that each plan deducts that is matched by the State. Classified Staff have a 2.85% contribution rate, which the state matches. The other plans for faculty and appointed personnel can contribute up to 7% and the State will match those funds up to 7%. It seems there is an inequity issue that most people are upset about. Leslie Porter responded to Eric stating that the issue is very complex. The matching funds from the State are what are at stake. If all Classified Staff opted to have the 7% deduction, it would mean a lot more money would be needed from the state to match funds. This policy has been in effect since the early 70's. Prior to that time, classified staff did have an option. Leslie Porter will probably talk to the HR Committee to see if it's an issue worth pursuing. To have the Board of Regents Policy changed could take years. Eric also asked Leslie Porter about incentives for taking early retirement. Alaina will address this when she discusses the United Staff Council Meeting. The HR Committee is also considering investigating the possibility of promoting employee health and wellness, by offering free recreation center membership to all classified staff. Staff Recognition Committee - Suzanne Collier and Brooke Zang, Co-Chairs A memo was hand delivered from the Dean to all CoS department heads, to be passed on to all department supervisors and staff, regarding the change in the selection process for outstanding CoS staff. We cannot have a staff luncheon without a purpose (i.e., award presentations). In order to make our luncheon "legal", we will be presenting certificates to staff chosen in individual departments that have their own staff awards. Human Resources is trying to set up a database to track what departments have done in the past to recognize staff so that all departments can access this information. Alaina passed out a sample of her department's (Physics) recognition award procedures. In the past, anyone could nominate any staff member. The two Physics department heads then decided, who would receive the award. In Speech and Hearing sciences, a memo is sent out to all department employees requesting written nominations of those individuals, who have performed above and beyond the call of duty. The memo also indicates, who is eligible to receive an award. A committee is formed of those, who have received department staff awards in the past. A monetary award of $150.00 is provided to the selected staff member. Currently, there are four CoS departments that have a system in place to recognize classified staff. Names of those individuals whose departments have decided to recognize should be given to CoS/SAC by April 11th. All of the free door prizes that were obtained last year could have fallen under the Conflict of Interest category. Consequently, all of the door prizes this year will be obtained from the university campus. Flandrau Science Center has offered 20 free passes. SRC will look into possible discounts on parking, Centennial Hall performances and UA sporting events. SRC is trying to avoid taxable awards to eliminate the paperwork involved in getting this through the system. Sample flyers and invitations were distributed. Meg Watt offered to provide staff nametags for the luncheon. Mentoring Committee - Meg Watt, Chair Meg was able to make a few phone calls to random classified staff and the majority are in favor of dissolving the Mentoring Program. It appears that each department has their own resources for providing assistance to those in need. It was suggested that a welcome letter from the College of Science be sent to all new College of Science Classified Staff, indicating the resources available to them for assistance with technical problems, the various UA forms, etc. It was decided and approved by the Council to maintain the existing mentoring list via our website and not go through the extensive efforts that was done in the past of providing mentoring info to all CoS departments.
Breast Cancer Awareness - Alaina Levine Employee Wellness will arrange to come to each department with their mobile mammography unit to provide a mammogram to all those who are interested. Employee Wellness requires a minimum number of 40 UA employees before they will consider providing this free benefit. Each department rep should take a random poll in his or her department to see if this is of interest to anyone. We will discuss it again at our next meeting. Joint SACs - Alaina Levine There will be a joint meeting of the Staff Advisory Council and all the college SACs on March 2nd from 3:00-5:00pm. Alaina will be attending and will be advising them of the changes with the Staff Recognition Process and the creation of the Advocacy group and the strides that the committee has made. She will also mention the changes with the Mentoring Program and the creation of the CoS/SAC newsletter. Staff Connection - Alaina Levine Staff Connection is published 4 times a year in Lo Que Pasa; it is specifically for UA classified staff. Submissions for the next issue are due approximately at the end of March. Sandy Miller volunteered to write an article for the next issue regarding our luncheon. Retirement Window Update -Alaina Levine Alaina forwarded an email from Patricia Hutton, director of HR, to all council members discussing Retirement Bill HB 2014. The question, "To what exactly is this retirement bill referring?" was brought to Alaina's attention. The temporary retirement window that HR is referring to is the following: As an incentive to get people to retire, they will raise the retirement benefits to 2.5% from the time the bill passes, if it does pass, to September 3. UA employees, who have at least 77 points would have 3-5 months to retire and get a higher benefit package. February 19th is the deadline for the committee to decide whether or not the bill will even be heard. If the bill fails for lack of hearing, the bill language could be amended and be introduced under another bill before it reaches the house for a vote. Alaina will keep us informed as she hears more about this bill. There is a website that can be accessed for information on this bill. The website address is [http://www.azleg.state.az.us]. Click on Bills and type in the appropriate bill number, indicated above.
OTHER NEWSAt the end of each meeting, if there is time, it was suggested that we could talk about the interesting things that are occurring in our departments.Ken Williams talked about what is happening in his department. Ken is associated with the Development Group in MCB and they have a website called The Biology Project, which is an online educational resource for learning about biology. The Biology Project website is up for a Webbie. The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences puts out Webbie awards, the Oscars of the internet. There's been a lot of publicity in the New York Times, The Tucson Citizen and Lo Que Pasa. They have been nominated as one of the 110 best websites in the world and one of the five best science sites in competition with NASA, Scientific American and the Exploratorium. There are 2 awards: a panel of judges hands out the Webbies, and a Peoples Voice award that is determined by voting at [www.webbieawards.com]. The deadline for voting has been extended to February 28 and the awards will be given in March. David Bowie is on the panel of judges. Meg Watt in the Geosciences Department reported a computer virus called autostartworm. The virus specifically targets Macintosh database files. CCIT does not have the software to eradicate this virus, but VIREX software is able to eradicate the virus. Christy Clow announced that The Southern Arizona Regional Science Fair is coming up in March. Due to the increase in science fair projects, the location has been changed from Bear Down to the Student Union to accommodate 1500 projects and 3000 students. Christy has forms for those interested in helping out with the science fair such as judging.
COSSAC Meeting Minutes: March 9, 1999In attendance: Eric Anderson (Astronomy), Richard Nylund (Atmospheric Sciences), John Fitch (Biochemistry), Seth Ruskin (Chemistry), Linda Pace (College of Science), Suzanne Collier and Sandy Miller (Computer Science), Nena Gray (EEB), Christy Clow (Flandrau), Meg Watt and Sharon Bouck, (Geosciences), Selina Johnson and Terry Bressi (LPL/Planetary Sciences), Brooke Zang and Bernadette Thomas (Mathematics), Ken Williams (MCB), Alaina Levine (Physics), Lacy Enneking (Speech & Hearing), and Ana Martinez (Tree Ring Lab). Due to the late distribution of the February 9, 1999 minutes, the Council decided to wait to approve the minutes until the next meeting on April 13, 1999.
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTSAdvocacy Committee (Eric Anderson)Eric and other members of the committee participated in a review process of the State vs. University Authority referring to the whistleblower policy as granted in the Arizona Revised Statutes 38-533 & 38-534. Issues of concern were applicability and confidentiality. If this policy is passed, it will probably be the only policy about whistleblowing that will apply to all employees; classified staff, faculty, student employees, appointed personnel, and administrators. The point was made that whenever possible the policy should apply to all employee groups, rather than having individual policies for each group, which creates a lot of confusion. The UA whistleblower policy includes a procedure for independent hearings. If you don't like the ruling that the University of Arizona Human Resources Contracts Arbitrator provides, you can go to an independent hearing and they will oversee a hearing and make a ruling. This is if you've blown the whistle and feel you've been retaliated against for having done so. Another issue of concern is confidentiality. The policy did not provide confidentiality for the whistleblower. There were guidelines to follow when initially blowing the whistle, such as taking the issue to a public body, which could be a University official (the Provost, the President, etc.), but it did not mention anything about confidentiality. Eric talked to Betty Atwater, and she said that it was assumed to be a confidential process, but it had not been spelled out in the policy. Hopefully, the committee will get them to add that wording. Regarding adverse personnel action, it essentially gives them the option to retaliate during a layoff. They could pick you to lay off instead of someone else, because you blew the whistle. It was suggested by the committee to consider that aspect. There was no mention of legal fees. If you choose to go into an independent hearing, you can hire an attorney to advise you but they can't represent you during the hearing. The policy did state that if you choose not to hire an attorney, the UA would not have an attorney present to argue their side of the case. That didn't mean that they could not advise otherwise. It was not clear that if you hired an attorney and you won your hearing, you could then file for reimbursement for legal fees and/or damages. The state law allows state employees to do that. The place where the policy differs with the law is with the independent hearing, which the UA is authorized to use. The State has a State Personnel Board. If you're a State employee and you go to the State Personnel Board and you win your case, you can then file for your fees and your damages, which may mean going through a lawsuit. It's unclear whether they will address that issue. In summary, UA employees are currently covered under HR Policy Manual 400.1, which is the existing whistleblower policy for UA classified staff. The UA drafted an interim policy last year that appeared to have been tabled until recently, when it was resurrected as a result of a push from the State Legislature to override the UA HR Policy, which the legislature felt was inadequate. The policy that Eric was reviewing was a revision of that interim policy. The State Legislature put in a similar bill last year that forced the UA to act on revising the current whistleblower policy which authorizes the UA to draft its own policy. A new item that this committee would like to look into is the use of social security numbers, due to the unauthorized release of social security numbers of UA employees that took place last year. Currently, there's a bill moving through the state legislature, that would prohibit the use of social security numbers as a primary identifier for students. The committee would like to look into this bill and discuss some misconceptions that take place with the current bill for students. We may look at advocating for a similar bill that applies to staff, or finding out if already is one proceeding through the legislature. Currently, our social security numbers are the primary identifiers in computer systems throughout campus. The UA is supposedly moving toward using a separate identifier number for students and employees. The Council approved the idea of the Advocacy Committee looking into a more secure primary identifier for UA staff.
NEW BUSINESSJoint SAC Meeting (Alaina Levine)After attending the meeting on March 2, 1999, it was discovered that the College of Fine Arts recognizes and awards their staff by giving them personal days. The question of legality came up, and it is unclear whether this would be acceptable to all departments. The Council decided that it would be up to the individual departments to determine whether that can be a viable option as an award. It was suggested that a list of legal and viable options be compiled to provide to CoS departments. In regards to mentoring, Patricia Hutton, head of HR, liked the idea of the CoS Mentoring Committee providing information initially to new UA employees but not inundating them with mentoring information thereafter. Another topic at the meeting was the Staff Performance Appraisal Form. It appears that the appraisal process varies from department to department. Alaina announced that the week of April 19th is employee recognition week. There are several activities planned for the month of April. The university-wide employee recognition ceremony will take place on Wednesday, April 21st in the Student Union Arizona Ballroom. It was suggested that posters from the various colleges and departments be provided to recognize the various department programs that are currently in place. Alaina offered to update and resubmit the poster with photos that was submitted last year. Alaina is soliciting photos from CoS departments participating in staff recognition ceremonies that will be taking place prior to the UA wide ceremony. The photo should include the date of the event and the name of the staff award recipient. Classified staff and appointed personnel are invited to participate in an art exhibition called "On Our Own Time", to be displayed in the Union Gallery of the Student Union from April 13 through April 23rd. Entry forms are available from the Union Gallery, the Joseph Gross Gallery or the Art Department. The deadline for the College of Science Staff Newsletter is March 31, 1999. Please submit articles and/or photos to any of the newsletter committee members. Articles and photos are encouraged to be submitted by departments, especially those that were not represented in the last newsletter.
OLD BUSINESSExciting News and Events in CoS DepartmentsChristy announced that The Flandrau Science Center is hosting The Southern Arizona Science and Engineering Fair that will take place March 14-20. Approximately 1100 exhibits will be on display in Bear Down Gym and the Student Union. Christy applauded those individuals, who volunteered themselves or others for judging as they have met their quota. Solar telescope viewing will be on display at Flandrau all week. Due to the lack of available space, the Chemistry Department recently relocated some of their newly recruited staff to the Science and Technology Park. The Chemistry Department now resides in six different buildings: The Old Chemistry Building, The Carl Marvel Building, CBS Teaching Building, the 8th floor of the Gould-Simpson Building, rooms at Bio Sciences East to house T.A.s, and a 1100 square foot lab at STP. Ken Williams announced that the webbie voting was extended until March 10, 1999.
COSSAC Meeting Minutes: April 13, 1999In attendance: Eric Anderson (Astronomy), John Fitch (Biochemistry), Seth Ruskin, Fred Sawyer (Chemistry), Linda Pace (College of Science), Suzanne Collier, Sandy Miller (Computer Science), Christy Clow (Flandrau), Meg Watt, Sharon Bouck, (Geosciences), Selina Johnson, Terry Bressi (LPL/Planetary Sciences), Brooke Zang, Bernadette Thomas (Mathematics), Ken Williams, Kaye Jay (MCB), Alaina Levine (Physics), Lacy Enneking (Speech & Hearing Sciences) and Paul Sheppard (Tree Ring Lab). Departments not represented: Atmospheric Sciences and EEB.
MINUTESThe February 9, 1999 minutes were approved with the following revisions: Advocacy Report: Replace the first paragraph, with "The first week of January, Senator Soloman submitted requests for an opinion to both the State Legislative Council and to Janet Napolitano, our new attorney general. We have received a response from Kenneth Berringer. He basically agreed with my feeling that the Conflict of Interest statutes do not apply to relatives. He said that community property laws were taken into account by making the penalty a felony for a knowing violation of the conflict of interest laws. (UA attorneys have sited community property laws as the primary basis for applying the competitive bid provision to relatives). We're still expecting an opinion back from Janet Napolitano. This time the Senator submitted the request personally, thus (it's my understanding) obligating the AG to provide a legal opinion. Last time it took 5 months to get a response. I've already talked to our HR department regarding the procedure for changing the policy and probably what will actually happen, SAC will write up a recommendation for the policy to be changed. That will go through to the UA/SAC which will then go to the HR department to amend the policy." SRC Report: Delete sentence, "At the next meeting, SRC will provide HR documentation regarding rules and regulation for providing department awards..." Retirement Window Update, paragraph 2, first sentence: Replace the word "waive" with "raise". The March 9, 1999 minutes were approved without any revisions.
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTSStaff Recognition Committee (Suzanne Collier) The last day to RSVP for the College of Science Staff Appreciation Luncheon is Monday, April 26, 1999. It is not legitimate to give door prizes to state employees at the luncheon, but Human Resources will allow us to do it this time, as long as Suzanne submits a justification memo stating why we wish to give away door prizes. Some of the door prizes this year include: passes to Flandrau Science Center, passes for events sponsored by the UA Drama department, and football tickets. To date, EEB, MCB and Flandrau have not submitted staff award recipient names, and they need to be submitted ASAP. Brooke has the appropriate forms for departments to fill out and submit to Human Resources if a monetary award will be given. Entertainment for this year's luncheon is guitarist Evan Hirschelman, a University of Arizona undergraduate student from the School of Music in the College of Fine Arts. Culinary delights include a Mexican buffet. Newsletter Committee (Selina Johnson) Selina distributed a rough draft of the Spring '99 newsletter and asked that revisions be submitted no later than the end of the day since it will be going to press this evening. The next issue will be distributed in Fall '99. Advocacy Committee (Eric Anderson) Regarding social security numbers, the committee has been watching a number of bills that have already been submitted to the legislature. Senator Peterson is advocating an amendment to the social security number bills (SB 1399 and HB 2564) that would protect staff and faculty as well as students. These are very similar bills in the house that have been passed initially by both houses and are also working their way through the committees. Both bills have majority support in their respective houses so they should pass. The bills are not perfect. When the bills were submitted, fact sheets were written up that address only the issue of having the social security number on the face of the cat card as the primary identification, which the cat card does not have. The social security number is embedded in the magnetic strip. The fact sheet does not address the fact that the UA widely distributed without permission social security numbers in the magnetic strip as a primary identifier. The HR Committee did not meet, but will be meeting next Monday with Leslie Porter, director of compensation benefits to discuss staff retirement option issues: AZ state retirement versus TIAA-CREF. This will be the first information-gathering meeting to see if there's any hope to change the current retirement system in place for staff. It changed back in 1971. Prior to that time, staff had the opportunity to enroll in other plans and the Arizona Board of Regents changed it. And at that time, the state withholding for retirement was at 7% and that is why faculty and appointed personnel get matching funds up to 7%. Since then, the state legislature has reduced the staff withholding to less than 3%. They will also talk to her about the Recreation Center. Staff pay twice as much as students pay. Possibly it could be lowered to $25/semester. The meeting with Leslie Porter will take place on Monday, April 26, 3:00pm, in the University Services Bldg. Everyone is invited.
NEW BUSINESSElections (Alaina Levine)The elections for new officers will take place at the next meeting for year '99-'00. Alaina will be stepping down as chairperson and depending on the guidelines for electing a new chairperson, Ken Williams may be moving up to replace Alaina. Selina will also be stepping down as Secretary. Time commitments typically involve 4-5 hrs/month for chairperson and 1-2 hrs/month as Secretary. Alaina will look up the guidelines for electing new officers. Recruiting for department replacements should take place now if you haven't already started recruiting and your replacement is invited to attend next month's meeting.
OLD BUSINESSKen Williams announced that The Biology Project did not win the Webbie Award but rather the Exploratorium won the People's Voice Award and Scientific American won the Science category. The council congratulated them for being in the company of the more notable rich and famous.Exciting News and Events in CoS Departments Christy announced that The Flandrau Science Center is participating in the Daughters on Campus Day, which is April 22nd. Flandrau is offering free admission to those who take a daughter. An on-line registration form can be found at [http://w3.arizona.edu/~csw/doc]. This is the first year that pre-registration is being implemented, which should make it easier to sign up. Flandrau is also celebrating Science and Technology week at the end of the month. The grand opening of The Biology Center is taking place the weekend of April 24th. Alaina announced that April 15th and 16th is the Annual Physics Phun Nite that includes all kinds of different demos - 7:00pm, in PAS Room 201. If you log onto the UA website, you'll see a photo taken by Eric Anderson that was submitted for a photo contest.
COSSAC Meeting Minutes: May 4, 1999In attendance: Linda Pace (College of Science), Eric Anderson (Astronomy), John Fitch (Biochemistry), Fred Sawyer (Chemistry), Sandy Miller (Computer Science), Nena Gray (EEB), Sharon Bouck (Geosciences), Brooke Zang (Math), Ken Williams and Kaye Jay (MCB), Alaina Levine (Physics), Selina Johnson (Planetary Sciences), and Ana Martinez (Tree Ring Lab). New department reps and alternates: Sue Drexel (Computer Science), Janet Lange (Math), Dave Reines (Physics), and Heather Enos (Planetary Sciences). Departments not represented: Atmospheric Sciences, Flandrau, and Speech & Hearing Sciences. The April 13, 1999 Minutes were approved.
Plans for next year include the following: formalizing the committee a little better. That includes organizing advocacy efforts. Eric will chair the committee again next year. Staff Recognition Committee (Brooke Zang) The nameplates for the departments that participated in this year's staff recognition nomination were mistakenly printed with the wrong year. The plates will be corrected and mailed to the appropriate departments at a later date. The (4) football tickets that were raffled off as door prizes at the luncheon will be available after July 1. The winners should contact Brooke Zang in Math, at 621-4344, so she can contact them when the tickets become available. Overall, the luncheon went well. One individual expressed dismay that the lines were too long. Receipts will be compiled soon in order to determine how much was spent. This information will be provided at the next meeting in August. HR Representative (Eric Anderson) The HR committee met with Leslie Porter last month. Eric handed out information about UA Benefit plans, programs and discounts. This information was compiled during the transition from when Leslie Porter took over in July '98, which includes priorities that she would like to address for the next year. It also includes all the benefits that are available at the UA. The HR committee asked her about the retirement option plans, specifically TIAA-CREF, AETNA, etc., which are available to appointed personnel and faculty. The classified staff are held at 2.85%, which is significantly lower than the faculty and appointed personnel contribution of 7%, with matching funds up to 7%. Under the Arizona State Retirement System, the benefit that we receive has essentially nothing to do with the amount that we contribute to our retirement plan. In that regard, it is similar to Social Security. If we put more money in it doesn't mean we would get more money back. That's what would have to be weighed, if we choose to go with the options of TIA-CREF or AETNA, etc. One of the problems with not having the TIAA-CREF option actually falls under recruitment. People coming from NOAO, for example, which is a federal organization, have the TIAA-CREF option. But if they come to work for the UA as classified staff, the TIAA-CREF retirement plan cannot transfer, and that can be an issue when trying to hire people. However, because of Y2K and other concerns in the benefits department, there will be no change in the next couple of years. After that, it could possibly be changed. The Arizona Board of Regents' Policy currently states specifically that classified staff will be under the Arizona State Retirement System. Appointed Personnel and Faculty have 4 other options that they can enroll in. The Recreation Center was also discussed with Leslie Porter. She suggested that perhaps they could provide staff with free access to the Recreation Center from 6:00 - 8:00 am. Students typically do not use the Center until 8:00 am. She will check into letting staff have a free benefit for limited hours such as early morning hours, late day hours, and possibly during the breaks, to promote employee wellness. Eric will continue to be a member of the committee next year.
NEW BUSINESSElections (Alaina Levine)Three Executive Board Positions are available-Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary. To run for any of these positions you must have been on the council for at least one year. The Vice-Chair, Ken Williams, was elected as chair. Eric Anderson, John Fitch and Seth Ruskin were nominated for Vice-Chair. Eric declined the nomination. With the absence of Seth Ruskin, John Fitch was approved to serve as Vice-Chair. Meg Watt was nominated for Secretary. With the absence of Meg Watt and no one else being nominated, it was decided that Meg Watt was tentatively approved as Secretary unless she declines to accept the position. Voting for Secretary will be tabled until the next meeting in August. The new officers were welcomed. The Council applauded the Alaina's dedication in chairing the council. The Council also applauded Ken's and Selina's efforts. Exciting News and Events in CoS Departments Selina announced that the Science and Mathematics Education Center, which is currently housed in Planetary Sciences, will become more involved in teacher preparation, specifically secondary science teacher certification. It is currently scheduled to be in place in the Fall of 2000. Fred Sawyer announced that within the last quarter the research faculty in Chemistry received $2.4 million in research grants. Alaina announced that one of the Physics Department alumni, Andre Bormanis, spoke at a UA Physics Department lecture on April 8th entitled "The Science and Secrets of Star Trek." He is a science consultant for Star Trek. He will return in the fall when the department will hold a big physics conference. All the four corner states will be hosting the conference here at the UA. They are hoping for a good turnout from the high school science teacher community. The Physics Department might be having another outreach program this summer similar to last year's. Last year's was entitled "Science and Star Wars", where each of the trilogy's was shown on each consecutive Friday that included a Physics demos relating to it. It was mostly for UA faculty and staff, but this year they hope to have the shows on Saturdays so more people can attend. "Science and Star Wars" won't be showing again but maybe "Back to the Future." Eric announced that the MMT Observatory's 6.5M mirror was installed into its telescope on Mount Hopkins last month. This marks a milestone for the astronomy department's mirror lab, as it is the first of the "giant" mirrors cast there to be installed into a telescope. The casting and polishing of the mirror began 7 years ago and took 2 years to complete. Currently, the mirror lab is casting a blank for a prototype for the next generation space telescope. The department received a $5 million grant to develop a proposal for the next generation space telescope. Ultimately, NASA would like an 8M space telescope. All the designs are focusing on mirrors that will unfold like a flower petal.
|
|
