Staff Assembly Meeting Minutes
April 6, 2004
Members: McLeod Baker, Lois Biege, Gay Boydston, Jonathan Brown, Emily Burgwyn, Alice Carter, Nancy Carter, Terri Chanlatte, Randy Cobb, Carlene Coover, Brad Davis, Dan Dehart, Kay Edmondson, Craig Elders, Marilyn Eudaly, Roger Fisher, Ervey Garcia, Rebecca Glass, Julie Graver, Mesina Gray, David Grebel, Nancy Grieser, Josh Harmon, Dorothy Holland, John Householder, Sharon Hudson, Pam Hughes, Mary Lane, Joe Laster, Tommy Love, Debbie Mar, Valeria McDougle, Kevin O’Connell, Gabriel Perez, Paula Perez, Tara Pope, Melinda Rubenkoenig, Barbara Savak, Emily Sullivan, Tracy Syler-Doctson, Hao Tran, Darron Turner, Robert Vann, Shawn Wagner, Esco Weatherspoon, Paula Work, and David Yale.
Guests: Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Carol Campbell, Skiff reporter Marco Lopez, and Associate Vice Chancellor of Human Resources John Weis.
Absent: Chris Arreguin, Ruben Ayala, Ross Bailey, Jackie Callanan, Rafael Chavez, Rocio Garcia, Kay Higgins, Mary Kaszynski, Maria Leyva, Amy McDurham, Donna Shepherd, DeVonna Tinney, Juan Varela, and Richard Yantis.
Welcome: Chair David Grebel called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m.
Minutes: The March minutes were approved as submitted.
Announcements:
Professional Development Program: Attitude Matters! Speaker Cheryl Nason offers a humorous look at how your attitude affects your life on Wednesday, April 21, from 12:00-1:00 p.m. in the Student Center Richardson Room (room 205-206). All employees are invited to attend the brown bag luncheon. Drinks will be provided. The event is hosted by the Staff Assembly Professional Development Committee and Human Resources.
Staff Assembly Elections: Online voting for Staff Assembly members begins next Friday, April 16. Those employees who do not vote online will receive a paper ballot.
Chancellor’s Staff Award: Nominations are being accepted for the Chancellor’s Staff Award. The deadline is May 1. You may send in the nomination form you received in the mail last week or make nominations online at www.chancellor.tcu.edu/nomform.asp. A copy of the nomination form also is available at www.staffassembly.tcu.edu. Please encourage your co-workers to nominate employees for this award. The winner will be announced at the opening luncheon in August.
Chancellor’s Inauguration Gift: The Staff Assembly presented a gift to Chancellor Boschini for his inauguration last week. It will be shown to Staff Assembly members at the May meeting. Thanks to Mesina Gray and Gay Boydston for preparing the gift. In return, the chancellor presented the Staff Assembly with a gavel. Members thanked chair David Grebel for his remarks at the inauguration ceremony on behalf of the Staff Assembly.
Committee
Reports:
Executive
Committee:
Budget Advisory Committee
Recommendation: As reported
last month, this committee already exists informally.
The Staff Assembly voted to recommend the establishment of a
permanent Budget Advisory Committee as a university committee.
Staff Compensation Task Force: The task force has just started meeting and will continue to meet weekly until they have created a long-term compensation philosophy, likely in the fall. Staff Assembly members Emily Burgwyn, David Grebel, Mary Lane, and Tara Pope are members of the task force. Send comments, questions, or concerns to the task force as they need input from staff members.
Community
Service Committee:
Easter Egg Hunt: Volunteers are needed for the KinderFrogs Easter Egg hunt this Thursday at 10:00.
Race for the Cure: About 25-30 TCU employees are expected at the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race for the Cure this Saturday.
Clothing Drive: The Women’s Resource Center needs women’s professional clothing to support the Attitudes and Attire program, which helps build self-esteem for economically disadvantaged women. Details will be announced later.
RAD Class for Children: This summer a RAD class for children ages 5-11 will be offered to help teach them self-defense. Details will be announced later.
Committee on Committees:
University Committees: Any TCU employee may serve on University Committees. To nominate someone, tell a member of the Committee on Committees, chaired by Nancy Greiser, as openings on some committees will be filled soon.
Officer Elections: Elections for Staff Assembly Chair-elect, Secretary, and Assistant Secretary will be held at the May meeting. Please nominate current members for officer positions by April 20. Nominations of newly elected members can be accepted as late as the May meeting.
By-Laws Review Committee: The committee, chaired by Josh Harmon, recommended three proposed by-laws changes. The Staff Assembly voted to recommend the following three changes: the addition of the office of past-chair to the executive committee; the addition of an annual financial statement to the duties of the chair; and the addition of a duty of the professional development committee to prepare a new member orientation session to occur prior to the first Staff Assembly meeting each fall. These recommended changes will now be forwarded to all staff for ratification and then to the chancellor’s office for final approval.
Health
Insurance Program Update:
John Weis told the Staff Assembly in March about TCU’s involvement in the possible creation of a consortium of Texas independent colleges and universities for the purpose of obtaining health care coverage. Weis and Vice Chancellor Carol Campbell presented an update about the status of this consortium. Campbell admitted her initial skepticism that such a consortium could work due to differences among the schools in plan design, eligibility criteria, third party administrators, and costs. However, she now believes this is a realistic opportunity.
The CARES Consortium—Collegiate Association Resource of the Southwest—will be a separate corporation consisting of representatives from the member schools, with Campbell on the board of directors. CARES is expected to stabilize health care insurance costs over the long term. TCU believes that we will have more control as part of a larger group. Costs for next year’s health insurance will rise an average of approximately 6% based on tentative rates if the consortium is created, as compared to a projected increase of 18% if we remain with United HealthCare. It was stated that these are tentative rate estimates and subject to change. To control costs over the long term, a disease management plan would be available to help employees monitor and care for their diseases. Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) would continue as before. The program would be administered by Corporate Benefit Services of America, which provides lower administrative costs than our current provider. (However, most health care expenses are the cost of claims.)
At this time, it is unclear if the CARES will exist. Final commitment is expected by April 22. If the university elects to participate, the new insurance plans would be effective January 1, 2005. The network provider, Texas True Choice, matches 99.8% of providers currently used by TCU employees, so there will be little disruption of employees having to change providers. A national network of providers can serve employees who are traveling and retirees who have moved away. There will be seven different plans available to member schools, three of which are very similar to TCU’s existing plans. Some co-payments and deductibles will be different, with some higher and some lower. No referral would be required in order to see a specialist.
The Retirement, Insurance and Benefits Committee has reviewed the CARES proposal and recommends that TCU pursue the consortium’s purchase of health care insurance. Their recommendation was forwarded to the Chancellor’s Cabinet, who will make a final decision by April 22.
Hao Tran and David Grebel expressed the hope that lessening the rise of health care costs will “free up” money to be used for staff compensation.
Adjournment: Grebel reminded members that the May meeting will include the election of new Staff Assembly officers and comments from Chancellor Boschini about his first year at TCU. The meeting adjourned at 4:48 p.m.