Staff Assembly Minutes
February 5, 2002

Present:  Judy Alter, Jean Andrus, Victor Baeza, Ross Bailey, Karen Baker, Chris Briones, Elaine Brown, Emily Burgwyn, John Butler, Lela Cardona, Alice Carter, Nancy Carter, Carlene Coover, Kay Edmondson, Marilyn Eudaly, Laurie Fetter, Roger Fisher, Rebecca Glass, Julie Graver, Nancy Grieser, Sharon Hudson, Harriet Hunt, Roger Ivy, Donna Jackson, Pam James, Jacobo E. Juarez, Mary Kaszynski, Mary Lane, Joe Laster, Jennifer Lowrance, Debbie Mar, Jake Martinez, Dennis Odom, Milton Overton, Tara Pope,  Bob Seal, Kathy Smith, DeVonna Tinney, Esco Weatherspoon, John Weis

Guests: Chelsea Hudson, Carolyn Cagle

Absent: Chris Drake, Dorothy Holland, Jack Hesselbrock, Ida Hernandez, Terri Gartner, Rafael Chavez

The meeting was called to order at 3:40 P.M.

The agenda was reviewed and the Minutes were approved as written.

Updates

Chair’s report:

A.     Emergency fund proposal: Bob reported that he was notified that the IRS regulations prohibit an employee handling a fund of this type.  And due to the tax status of TCU as a non-profit school, we are unable to proceed with this proposal.  Karen Baker met with the Committee to discuss alternative ideas (such as a list of social services which would be able to fill these needs).

B. Incentive Awards: The final draft of this proposal was sent to the Chancellor and the Cabinet.

C. Volunteerism Time-off:  This proposal was also sent to the Chancellor and the Cabinet.

D. Executive Committee:  During this meeting resignations and attendance requirements were discussed.  Appropriate action was taken concerning missed meetings by sending out letters to members who had missed 2 or 3 meetings.  Also it was announced that changes to the Faculty-Staff Handbook will appear in the next printing of the handbook—including changes to instructions for appointments to University Committees.

Chancellor’s Report

Chancellor Ferrari announced the actions taken by the Trustees at the Winter meeting:  Approval of $8.00 minimum wage for employees; the Retirement contribution from TCU was increased by 1 % to 10.5 %, making the contribution  by the University only 1 % away from the goal of 11.5 %; an increase in tuition and fees for students  beginning in the fall semester; and a pool of $100,000 for salary adjustments for long term non-exempt staff.

Spring enrollment is good and applications for fall are up.  Approximately 1475 new students will be admitted in the fall.

SAC is moving along.  Reports on self-study are done.

Guests Carolyn Cagle, Chair of the Faculty Senate, and Chelsea Hudson, Chair of the Student Government Association gave brief reports on activities of their respective organizations. Mr. Seal noted an historic joint meeting of the three groups—Staff Assembly, Faculty Senate and the Student Government Association—is scheduled for March.

Did You Know?

Monica Kintigh from the TCU Counseling Center brought literature explaining what the Center does and urged Faculty and Staff to use the Center when needed.

Committee Reports

Community Service—Mary Lane reported that there will be a TCU READING FROG event on February 16 at Daniel Meyer Coliseum.  Also in the plans are a tree-planting for Arbor Day, and an Easter Egg hunt for the Rise School.  There will be a Habitat for Humanity work day on March 30.

Committee on Committees—Rebecca Glass reported that Julie Graver was approved to serve on the Compliance and Affirmative Action Committee of the University.  There is now a link to a Participation Interest form on the Assembly Website.  The committee will meet next week to choose 4 appointees for a Focus Group for a Paid-Time Off policy.

Policy Review—Sharon Hudson reported that the committee is waiting to hear results of their proposal on volunteer time-off.

Web-Site—Kathy Smith is still updating the site.  On the site now is Staff Award information and information concerning a new ListServ.

Professional Development—Jean Andrus announced that on February 19 there will be another Professional Development Brown Bag, this one on Time Management.

Election—Carlene Coover reported that the committee continues to work to get the Staff Assembly election on-line and to solve the problem of employees that have no access to a computer being able to vote.

TCU Compliance and Affirmative Action—Julie Graver reported that the committee hasn’t had a meeting since she was appointed.

Parking—Nance Grieser told us that        the committee is talking to The T about additional shuttle service on campus.

HR Update

John Weis reported that a focus group including four staff members appointed by the Staff Assembly will be reviewing the Sick Leave Pool and Paid Time Off Policy alternatives.

New Business

We were encouraged to let the Chancellor know how we appreciate his support of the increase in wages and retirement benefits.

The meeting was adjourned at 5 p.m.