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Virginia Tech
Governance Minutes ArchiveFebruary 6, 1992
Classified Staff Affairs Committee Meeting Room 400 Burruss Hall February 6, 1992 Present: W. Aliff, L. Barroso, F. Blecher, J. Caldwell, R. Cole, D. Conner, L. Craighead, J. Davis, W. Garrison, B. Greene, T. Hergert, L. Jansen, V. Meadows, M. Mertz, E. Moccia, L. Pearson, G. Pennington, B. Poe, C. Price, J. Smith, C. Sokol, C. Stott, S. Wheeler, B. Whitlock. Advisory: G. Ritter Guests/Visitors: S. Foster, R. Lovegrove, R. Rigney, C. Shorter. The meeting was called to order at 8:10 a.m. by R. Cole. ANNOUNCEMENTS: * Governor Wilder has announced that effective January 1, 1992, a public school leave policy has gone into effect. This policy allows 8 hours of leave per year for volunteer services or children's activities. * A joint meeting of Staff Senate and CSAC executive committees was held to act and react to General Assembly legislation. * An open forum on Virginia Tech's budget was held on February 5th. Minutes from the January meeting of CSAC were approved. SUB-COMMITTEE REPORTS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLICITY -- L. Craighead reported that a rough draft of the final CSAC report will be ready next week. STAFF SENATE LIAISON -- T. Hergert reported that a joint executive committee meeting was held and that a letter writing campaign will be ini- tiated. AD HOC COMMITTEE ON LONG RANGE BUDGET PLANNING -- A meeting is being planned with Vice Presidents and Deans to solicit ideas. POLICIES & ISSUES -- W. Aliff reported that 6 issues are being ad- dressed: (1) Interface of Staff Senate/Faculty Senate and Staff/Faculty associations. (2) Health/Safety Resolution - A resolution has been pro- posed to be presented to the Staff Senate and Faculty and Staff associ- ations. (3) Tuition Aid - Recommendation to be made that financial aid for staff/ graduate students be included in departmental budgets. (4) Perform- ance Evaluations - Pay for performance. (5) Parking fees/fines - Seek in- formation on how funds from parking fines are utilized. (6) Promotions - Staff promotions across grades are not supported; G. Ritter advised that knowledge, skills and abilities are considered when making referrals and that one can expand on their abilities during an interview. COUNCIL, COMMISSIONS, AND COMMITTEES -- L. Jansen reported that: the committee is developing a set of guidelines and useful information for mem- bers of councils, commissions and committees; nominations for staff repre- sentatives for commissions and University Council are due in March - must be staff senator to serve on commissions and University Council, give name to Staff Senate if interested in serving on a committee; committee is ad- dressing the possibility of formation of mentoring program for staff; a W-5 form may be requested from the payroll office if eligible for Earned Income Credit - completion of the form allows for receiving credit now rather than waiting until the end of the year. University Council: L. Barroso reported that the Commission on Re- search has revised the policy regarding educational requirements for Re- search Associates. A Bachelors degree will be the minimum education requirement for the title of Research Associate. The final reading will take place at the next meeting. A committee has been appointed to review the admissions policy. An announcement has been made that C & P, Va Tech and Blacksburg are considering combining efforts to establish an Electronic Village. The big question at this time regards who will provide the fund- ing. Task Force on Educational Benefits - T. Hergert reported that a list of issues regarding leave, working on wages while on educational leave and the possibility of reciprocal arrangements with other colleges has been prepared. It will be sent out for review and comments. CSAC Final Report - L. Craighead reported that the cost for running the report in Spectrum will be around $125 - $135 and space must be re- served a month in advance. Information on volunteer work, memberships in professional associations, church work, etc. is needed and is vital for the demographic section of the final report. OLD BUSINESS Round 4 Budget Cuts - The Staff Senate and CSAC executive committees held a joint meeting and decided to initiate a letter-writing campaign to our State Senators and Delegates in the General Assembly. M. Murray will provide to the Staff Senate, CSAC and Staff Associations an information fact sheet which should be used in writing letters. Because of the February 12th deadline for committee recommendations and in order to promote some consistency, it was recommended that each staff association write a letter to be signed by the association members. The letters should stress that we recognize problems such as quality of service and heavier workloads, would like to be a part of the solution and feel that we can make worthwhile con- tributions. The Department Heads have been provided information which should be shared with the staff. If the Department Head has not offered to share the information, it is the responsibility of the staff association to invite him/her to meet and discuss budget and other issues. In the handout from the open forum on the budget which R. Cole will copy and distribute, it was noted that an amendment to restore 9.2% of the cut in Extension has been presented. This should bring the Extension share in line with cuts for 208 and Research. R. Cole also noted that SCHEV has recommended a 3% pay increase for faculty. Pay increases for faculty are approved by the Board of Visitors while increases for classified state employees must be mandated by the General Assembly. Expenses for New Employees - R. Cole advised that he had received a memo from A. Spencer reporting that a meeting had been held to explore the process to set the program of payroll deductions in place. M. Thompson and L. McCoy are heading a committee to work out the details. Vending Machine Prices - R. Cole reported that M. Carrow had acknowl- edged a slight increase in prices. R. Cole noted that candy and pastry prices are set by Auxiliary Services; drink machine prices are set by the supplier and there has been no increase in 5 or 6 years. R. Cole was asked to see if he could get information on how much the University receives from the vending machines, where it goes and could it be used to help offset budget cuts. NEW BUSINESS University Capital Campaign - L. Barroso, R. Cole and C. Stott an- nounced that a university-wide campaign to target outside groups and spe- cial interest groups is in the planning stage. A committee is preparing a needs assessmenmt to determine how the campaign will be approached. It was noted that it takes several years of planning before such a project can be set in place. Health and Safety - An inquiry regarding air quality in Burruss Hall is being addressed. The procedure is to follow up on the nature of the com- plaint, fill out an injury report and go to see a physician. Data should be documented and referred to the Office of Health and Safety. The resolution on Health and Safety was designed to set up guidelines for addressing such issues. It was also suggested that staff associations might use question- naires to assess problems concerning air quality. A motion was made, seconded, and passed to accept the resolution on Health and Safety and forward it to Minnis Ridenour; include a cover letter asking that W. Aliff and representatives from CSAC be permitted to meet with Mr. Ridenour to discuss the resolution, but leave open the question of where it should go from there. Use of Executive Search Firm - G. Ritter provided information concern- ing justification of the cost involved in using an executive search firm. In response to an inquiry by G. Ritter, A. Spencer had responded that the position had been vacant for two years. Because of that fact, salary savings were used to fund the search in order to find a person with high caliber qualifications to fill the vacancy. Since it would cut down on the time involved in wading through applications from 200-300 applicants, the administration felt that using the firm would be the most cost effective solution. It was also noted that CSAC member, G. Pennington, had served on the search committee. OTHER BUSINESS R. Cole asked that any other business be given to him for next months agenda. The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 a.m. The next meeting will be held on March 5, 1992 at 8:05 a.m. in the Pres- ident's Board Room.
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