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Governance Minutes Archive

November 7, 1991

                  Classified Staff Affairs Committee Meeting

                              400-D Burruss Hall

                               November 7, 1991

 

 

 

  Present: J. Akers, W. Aliff, C. Alls, P. Ballard, L. Barroso, F. Blecher,

  J. Caldwell, R. Cole, J. Davis, J. Eaves, W. Garrison, B. Greene, T.

  Hergert, L. Jansen, V. Meadows, M. Mertz, E. Moccia, M. Moretz, L. Pearson,

  G. Pennington, B. Poe, C. Price, B. Shelor, S. Stone, C. Stott, V. Viers,

  B. Whitlock.

 

  Advisory:  G. Ritter

 

  Guests/Visitors: R. Ball, C. Cox, M. Hensley, L. Jones, R. Lovegrove, D.

  Margheim, V. Thompson.

 

  The meeting was called to order at 8:10 a.m. by R. Cole who introduced

  guests, R. Ball and D. Margheim.

 

  ANNOUNCEMENTS:  B. Greene will serve as a panel member on the Sexual

  Harrassment program to be presented in December by the Committee on Social

  Justice.  Flyers with additional information will be sent out at a later

  date.  L. Barroso and CSAC representatives from the College of Agriculture

  and Life Sciences will serve on the committee to interview candidates for

  the position of Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

 

  GUEST PRESENTATION:  D. Margheim, resident of Blacksburg and principal of

  Shawsville Elementary School, shared information about the need for his

  family to raise $75,000.00 by the end of December.  This amount is needed

  in order that Linda Margheim who has cancer might receive a bone marrow

  transplant in an effort to save her life.  A motion was made and amended by

  C. Stotts that CSAC distribute flyers to Va Tech employees and that E.

  Moccia (Alumni Association/0102, phone 1-6285) volunteered to collect funds

  for this cause. The motion was seconded by L. Barroso.  D. Margheim thanked

  the group for allowing him to speak in his wife's behalf.

 

  Minutes from the September 5, 1991 meeting of CSAC were corrected (The tem-

  porary officers of Staff Senate elected were: S. McConnell, President; E.

  Keeney, Secretary; L. Haney, Parliamentarian) and approved as corrected.

 

 

  SUB-COMMITTEE REPORTS

 

  Because of time committment restraints, "E Mail" can be used in lieu of

  frequent meetings.

 

       COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLICITY -- J. Akers reported that this committee

  will work up an information sheet to be included in the new employee

  packet.  The sheet would include information on CSAC, Staff Senate, Staff

  Associations, etc. The committee will also coordinate work on the final

  CSAC report.

 

       STAFF SENATE LIAISON -- T. Hergert reported that this committee will

  work toward keeping the Staff Senate aware of CSAC activities and vice

  versa by having committee members attend Staff Senate meetings.

 

       POLICIES & ISSUES -- W. Aliff reported that this committee will work

  toward developing guidelines for identifying issues for which policies

  might be required.  He asked that members provide him with a list and ex-

  planation of issues for which they had concerns.

 

       COUNCIL, COMMISSIONS, AND COMMITTEES -- L. Jansen reported that this

  committee will work toward insuring communication with staff reps on uni-

  versity governing councils, commissions and committees; will inform the

  policies/issues committee of issues that are discussed and develop training

  guidelines for staff representatives who will have voting privileges begin-

  ning in July 1992.

 

       R. Cole reported that as result of recommendations by the Management

  Leadership Development Committee, a list of Creative Leadership Institute

  seminars for Deans, Directors, and Department Heads has been proposed.

  CSAC and Staff Senate officers will also be invited to attend these semi-

  nars.

 

       L. Barroso reported that on December 3rd, a seminar on "Women in Lead-

  ership Roles" will be held.  She also reported that at their last meeting,

  the University Council announced that it had established a committee on In-

  tellectual Properties to deal with patents and copyrights.  The committee

  would consist of 12 members composed of faculty and staff.  Members of the

  faculty would be approached to serve on the committee.  L. Barroso advised

  the Council that the Staff Senate is now in place with contact people

  available. She added that Dr. G. Hooper said that he would pass that infor-

  mation along to the committee.

 

 

 

                                 OLD BUSINESS

 

 

     * Performance Evaluations: R. Ball of Personnel Services reported that

  all performance evaluations should have been completed by now with the ex-

  ception of those for new employees.  The results of the evaluations are in-

  put into the Va Tech system as well as the Richmond system. She explained

  that the immediate supervisor works up the evaluation, then passes it to

  the reviewer who has the final authority to make changes.  The evaluation

  is then shared with the employee who is requested to sign it. However, the

  signature does not indicate that the employee agrees or disagrees with the

  evaluation, but merely indicates that he/she has seen it. If the employee

  disagrees with the evaluation, he/she has ten work days from the date on

  the form to appeal.  The appeal must be written and must be specific. The

  reviewer must reply in writing to the employee within five work days of re-

  ceipt of the appeal letter. It is also advisable that the reviewer meet

  with the employee and his/her supervisor. Lack of response from the re-

  viewer becomes a grievable issue.  However, if the reviewer does respond

  and the employee still does not agree, the Department of Employee Relations

  Counselors in Richmond must determine if there is a grievable issue and

  designate the procedures to be followed.

 

  If the evaluation signifies "does not meet expectations," then the expecta-

  tions must be redone and shared with the employee within two weeks. A

  follow-up evaluation must be done no later that three months of sharing re-

  vised expectations with the employee. If the employee still does not meet

  expectations, he/she must be moved out of the position (resign or transfer)

  within two months.

 

  B. Aliff asked if Personnel Services had any guidelines regarding familiar-

  ity by the reviewer with the employee and what he/she does.  R. Ball an-

  swered that reporting authority goes up and documentation to support the

  rating must be given. B. Aliff suggested that Personnel provide guidelines

  to better designate reviewers. G. Ritter stated that any point of conflict

  with the reviewer or any unfair element could be contested through an ap-

  peal or grievance. B. Whitlock related that many have trouble with inter-

  pretation of "meets expectations." R. Ball indicated that it goes back to

  the job description and that some jobs may not lend to "exceptional or ex-

  ceeds." In those cases, the supervisor can still be very complimentary. R.

  Cole requested that the Policies and Issues Committee be advised of any in-

  cidences regarding evaluations.  L. Barroso made a motion to table the is-

  sue and that any problems arising be directed to the Policies and Issues

  Committee. C. Stott seconded the motion.

 

 

     * Health and Safety Issues: B. Aliff reported that in reference to the

  use of safety shoes, Dr. K. Furr will develop RFP standards for the depart-

  ments. The responsibility of then setting policies will be left to each de-

  partment.

 

  In reference to Owens Hall, Aliff reported that leaded graphite had been

  stored in the basement of Owens. Art students had been allowed to use the

  graphite as sculpting material. As a result, a number of the students had

  become ill with lead poisoning. The clean up of the area had also been mis-

  managed. Dr. K. Furr had assured B. Aliff that the Health and Safety Office

  would support medical follow up.

 

  Aliff reported that in the matter of air quality, a plan is under way to

  clean up areas contaminated by mold and yeast. Dr. K. Furr is supposed to

  provide a medical consultant to be available for anyone who has concerns

  about air quality in their area. Aliff also suggested that Health and

  Safety analyze and develop an environmental map of the university to iden-

  tify "trouble spots" for employees and students.  Aliff also announced that

  R. Alvarez had indicated that he will be hiring more staff.

 

     *Staff Release Time for Governance Activities: T. Hergert reported that

  he, C. Cox, and B. Aliff had met with G. Ritter about two weeks ago to dis-

  cuss guidelines for the revised memo. G. Ritter stated that he hoped to

  have a draft of the revised memo to C. Cox, B. Aliff and T. Hergert by the

  first part of next week and then have the revised letter out within the

  next month. C. Stott requested that in addition to the suggestions that had

  already been made, G. Ritter soften the language used to include such

  phrases as "can be allowed," "encouraged to allow," and that Deans, Direc-

  tors and Department Heads be encouraged to provide resources such as copy-

  ing and computer time.

 

     *Review of Staff Training Session: L. Barroso reported that the training

  session on October 29th was very successful.  She appreciated the valuable

  input of the staff members on the issues addressed.

 

 

 

                                 NEW BUSINESS

 

 

     *Special Project: R. Cole stated that the existence of the Classified

  Staff Affairs Committee will cease at June 30, 1992. The Classified Staff

  Affairs Commission, chaired by the Vice-President of the Staff Senate, will

  be effective July 1, 1992. In view of this fact, he presented a proposal

  that a final report be prepared by CSAC to document the contributions made

  by classified employees toward the development of the shared governance

  system, a profile of the collective staff and a call for continual, equita-

  ble policy-development and decision-making.  This professional-quality re-

  port to be presented to the University Council and the university community

  at large in the spring of 1992.  In addition to the printed report, a short

  video be prepared on shared governance from the staff point-of-view to also

  be presented to the University Council, as well as be used as a training

  tool for staff representatives on governing bodies and new Virginia Tech

  employees.  Cole proposed that an Ad Hoc Committee be appointed to conduct

  a feasibility study and report at the December meeting. B. Aliff agreed

  that the report is necessary and should reflect the areas listed in the

  proposal. L. Barroso made a motion to accept the proposal as outlined and

  that members volunteer to serve on the Ad Hoc Committee.  B. Aliff seconded

  the motion. T. Hergert expressed concern about the stated deadline. J.

  Akers added that the Ad Hoc Committee could address the end date in their

  study. R. Cole appointed G. Pennington as chair of the Ad Hoc Committee.

 

     *New Employees: G. Pennington expressed concerns of new employees being

  required to pay fees sometimes amounting to as much as $200 as a prerequi-

  site to employment. He suggested that allowing the fees to be payroll de-

  ducted would be extremely helpful in overcoming the problem.  During the

  ensuing discussion, R. Cole announced that the alloted time for the meeting

  had expired, but that a meeting could be reconvened to continue the dis-

  cussion.

 

     The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 a.m.

 

 

 

     The meeting was reconvened by R. Cole at 9:31 a.m. After much discussion

     about the impact of fees on new employees, G. Pennington made a motion

     that CSAC draft a letter to Personnel Services concerning the immediate

     fees faced by new employees and provide suggestions of ways to lessen

     the financial duress. The motion was seconded by L. Jansen. R. Cole re-

     quested that suggestions be given to him within the next few weeks so

     that a draft of the letter could be made available at the December meet-

     ing.

 

        The reconvened meeting was adjourned at 9:50 a.m.

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