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Virginia Tech
Governance Minutes ArchiveOctober 9, 1990
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Faculty Senate October 9, 1990 32 Pamplin Hall 7:30 p.m. PRESENT Senators Batie, Baumgartner, Brown, Hess for Bunce, Canestaro, Clowes, deWolf, Diesenroth, Eng, Etgen, Falkinham, Farkas, Feret, Geyer, Hillison, Kingston, Kriz, Landen, Marriott, McDaniels, Miller, Murray, O'Neil, Parsons, Saunders, Scanlon, Simmons, Snoke, Thompson, Wade for Ventre, Walker, Wang, Webster. ABSENT Senators Barker, Crittenden, Eiss, Flick, Rakes, Sorrentino. VISITORS Mr. John Ashby (Spectrum), Ms. Pamela Orcutt (Classified Staff Affairs Committee), Mr. Roy Jones (Extension), and Dr. Carl Polan (Parking Transportation Advisory Committee). 1. President Eng called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. and welcomed guests and Senators. 2. Announcements Senate cabinet to meet after senate meeting to discuss Ad Hoc Committee on Recycling and Faculty Support Survey. Senators are urged to read through the proposed University Plan 1991-1996 and identify areas which still need discussion. These items should be forwarded to Secretary Geyer or a Cabinet member. The plan will be an agenda item for the November 13 Senate meeting. The Sen- ate's official response will then be sent to Phil Sheldon on or about November 15. The Cabinet minutes of Sept 28, item 3 Faculty Ethics Committee to be corrected as follows. 1) Michael Furey, Engineering; Roy Jones, Exten- sion Division; and James Woods, Architecture: Woods has agreed to chair. The first item of business for the Faculty Ethics Committee will be the drafting of operating rules/guidelines which will come to the Senate for approval in the future. The Senators from the College of Engineering have apportioned their constituencies among themselves for purposes of obtaining input on mat- ters that come, or which their faculty think should come, before the Senate. This is an approach towards representation which some colleges have practiced with some success in the past, and I commend it to the other colleges for consideration. A number of corrections to the Senate roster have been sent in. We hope to have a final revision sent out with the next Senate mailing. Art Snoke described the current plans regarding the plans for the 2 percent pay raise which was originally to take effect December 1. In essence, the 40 percent of the pay raise will be given on December 1. Immediately however, a .0196078 percent (2 percent) cut will be insti- tuted across the board. For those who did not receive a 5 percent raise for the year (i.e., most new hires), this will mean an actual de- crease in salary. Faculty and Staff were given their salary increase in two installments. Sixty percent (60 percent) of the increase in July or August and forty percent (40 percent) of the increase was to be granted in December. The salary freeze--as it was originally envisioned--meant that the December increase would be canceled. As of the first of December, the salary will be increased to the previously agreed level and then the governor will cut the state employee salaries by 2 percent. If the original raise had been intended to be a total of 5 percent, the December gross would have been the same as the November gross. The December will be less or more than the November gross de- pending upon whether or not the raise was to be less or greater than 5 percent. For graduate students on assistantships, the December gross will be a 2 percent drop from the November gross. (Assistantship increases were given in one installment starting with the first paycheck of the aca- demic year.) Students on assistantships will not have to give any money back, but they will indeed get a pay cut starting in December. The surcharge coming in Spring Semester simply changes the total tuition. Hence, if a student qualifies as in-state for regular tuition payments, that student qualifies as in-state for the augmented tuition including the surcharge. Dean Hooper confirms that a tuition fee scholarship for the Spring semester will cover the total tuition cost. Dean Eaton notes that the minimum stipend total for a student to qualify for in- state status has been increased from $2,000 to $4,000 for the calendar year. (One semester of a half-time assistantship is no longer suffi- cient.) A description of the pay increase/decrease in December follows: OFFICE OF BUDGET AND FINANCIAL PLANNING MEMORANDUM TO: Tom Bell FROM: Katherine M. Johnston DATE: October 9, 1990 SUBJECT: Salary Adjustment in December Minnis forwarded your recent Profs note to me and asked that I respond to you. The transactions that will occur in December are described be- low. 1. Faculty received 60 percent of the salary increase approved for 1990-91 effective July 1 (for CY) or August 16 (for AY). The remainder of the scheduled 1990-91 salary increase will be released on December 1 (as originally planned). At that time, the salary in the payroll system for all faculty will be the full 1990-91 salary as approved by the BOV in April. 2. Classified staff received a 3 percent increase on July 1. A second increase of 2 percent is scheduled for December 1. These increases are cumulative, not additive. 3. After all of the transactions (described above) are complete, the reduction process will begin. The intention is to remove the 2 percent raise so the final 1990-91 salary will be multiplied by .0196078 to compute the actual reduction. That amount will be subtracted from the final salary amount. An illustration of the entire process follows: Classified Salary on June 30, 1990 $30,000 Transactions July 1 -- add first increment of raise $30,000 X .03 900 Salary on August 16 through November 30 $30,900 December 1 -- add second increment X .02 618 Salary December 1 $31,518 December 1 -- remove 2 percent increment X.0196078 Amount to be removed $ 618 Final Salary for December through June $30,900 Faculty Senate Secretary's calculation based on follow up phone call with Ms. Johnston. If $60,000 faculty member received a salary in- crease of $5,000 (60 percent or $3,000 in July and 40 percent or $2,000 in December), then they would receive a new base salary of $63,725.49 - [$65,000 - (65,000 X .0196078)]. If another Faculty member had received a $2,500 raise on the $60,000 salary, their calculation would be as follows. Sixty percent or $1,500 in July and 40 percent or $1,000 in December for a total salary of $62,500. They would then receive a salary of $61,274.51 - [$62500 -(62,500 X .0196078)]. The $4,000 minimum for a student to get to qualify for in-state status must be during that calendar year. Hence summer can count. A first- year student with only a half TA may not earn enough to qualify for that first semester. (Ms. Johnston said that most graduate students on Tech stipends are greater than $4,000 and therefore the 2 percent cut would not effect most of them.) Senator Eng informed the Senate that Acts of the Assembly 1990, Ch. 972, 4-1.04 Approprian Reductions, allows for a reduction in expendi- tures if there is a reduction in state revenues. The Governor may not reduce the appropriation nor reduce any state agency to less than 75 percent of the original appropriation nor reduce the "salary of any of- ficer or employee by more than 15 percent" without legislative action. Dues are payable now. Reports should be electronically and by hard copy sent to the Secretary. 3. Agenda The agenda was adopted with additional items added to new business. Correction of the Agenda to reflect next Senate meeting on November 13. 4. Minutes The minutes of the Faculty Senate meeting of September 11, 1990 were approved as amended. The minutes of the Faculty Senate Cabinet meeting were accepted with changes. In addition to the corrections noted above in the announcements, the members of the Task Force on University Coun- cil Constitution were added to the Senate Cabinet minutes. Members of the Task Force are James Riddle, Rosemary Blieszner (former Senator), Dan Farkas (Senator), David Lush, Larry Moore, Richard Sorenson, and Pat Scanlan (Senator). Reminder to senators: when minutes of commissions, committees, and senate are approved, they are available on line on INFO. 5. Council, Commission, and Committee Reports o UNIVERSITY COUNCIL--Senator Hillison--9 Sept 90, 1 Oct 90 The process used for approving the Black Studies concentration was revisited. The program was approved last spring. Both faculty and administrators participated in the process and the Commission on Undergraduate Studies approved it. There was also a great deal of discussion on the budget. David Bousquet, Director of Admissions, reported on special admis- sions practices. Last year, exceptions were asked for 29 rejected undergraduate applicants. Of the 29, a total of 19 were subse- quently admitted by a committee composed of three faculty members, the director of admissions, and a representative of the department requesting the exception. Of the 29 requests, 19 were athletes and 10 were in the performing arts. Senator Scanlon brought up the question of what is the appropriate interpretation of "Department" which is to serve on the special ad- missions committee. Is it academic or not? It was his understand- ing that it was to be academic. This would exclude the Athletic Department from serving on the special Admissions Committee. o COMMISSION ON EXTENSION--Senator Marriott--5 Oct 90 Associate Provost, Jim Wolfe reported that no action had been taken on the Evaluation of Faculty Effort in Extension and Public Ser- vice. A response would be provided by the next meeting. The pro- posed Academy of Public Service Excellence was discussed. Charles Steger will discuss this proposal with the Provost to determine support of top administration for this activity prior to further action. Charles Steger reported that personnel involved with convention ac- tivities outside of the University recently reviewed the potential of VPI & SU to provide continuing education with existing facili- ties and a renovated Hotel Roanoke. A sub-committee chaired by Jim Buffer was formed to take a fresh look at the fee structure for continuing education. Phil Sheldon's draft on response to the University Plan for 1991-1996 was distributed to the Commission members for their in- formation. A mission statement on the role of the Commission on Extension and Public Service will be prepared by Jim Johnson, Charles Steger and another person. The Commission plans to develop a resolution related to a name change. Future agenda items such as the mission of continuing education and definition of scholarly ac- tivity in Public Service were identified. The next meeting is scheduled for November 13, 1990. The Commis- sion has invited Ray Smoot to discuss plans for Hotel Roanoke. o COMMISSION ON FACULTY AFFAIRS--Senator Falkinham--5 Oct 90 Revision of Grievance Procedure: Professor Eng reviewed the changes in the Grievance Procedure. Changes include: (1) shorten- ing the investigatory phase and (2) the presentation and acceptance of evidence. The Commission suggested changes which Professor Eng will take back to the committee developing the revised grievance procedure. Learning Disabled Students: Discussion of conflicts over "reason- able accommodation" of disabled students established that the Uni- versity's proposed Grievance Procedures may cover these situations; namely, Section 2.11.5, No. 8. In addition, it was suggested that the phrase (or a modification) "encroachments upon faculty class- room responsibility with respect to enforcement of other University policies" be added to the first paragraph of Section 2.11.1. Those suggestions were turned over to the Professors Geyer and deWolf for review. Involuntary Transfer of Tenured Faculty: Background discussion es- tablished that last year this same issue had been raised but was not pursued because it was rare. However, (1) there is a large fi- nancial burden placed upon a faculty member and (2) the Universi- ty's commitment to off-campus instruction and (3) current financial limitations may lead to increases in such involuntary transfers. It was felt that workload changes are an administrative responsi- bility. The Commission will request the University administration to initiate an involuntary transfer policy. o COMMISSION ON GRADUATE STUDIES--Senator Snoke--19 Sept 90 There was a discussion about the possibility of awarding a posthumous graduate degree to a student who had not completed all the degree requirements but who had contributed significantly to the program and the field. It was decided to postpone action until we knew what precedents existed for presenting such awards. The University took action to reduce the number of required hours in the M.S. in Architecture without going through the normal committee/commission approvals because of a State Council of Higher Education deadline over the summer. While no-one took issue with the action taken, the opinion was expressed that more normal proce- dures could have been followed by calling special meetings and/or polling members. See Senator Snoke's comments under Announcements for a discussion of Graduate Student -- in-state status and the salary freeze. This discussion was outside the Commission September 19 meeting. o COMMISSION ON RESEARCH--Senator Bunce (Senator Scanlon for Senator Bunce)--12 Sept 90 Announcements: Indirect costs have been negotiated with the De- partment of Health and Human Services. A 4-year agreement has been made. Indirect costs will be FY91, 50 percent; FY92, 53 percent; FY93, 54 percent; FY94, 54 percent. The new fringe rates are 27 percent for faculty and 33 percent for classified for this fiscal year. Budget Update: Dr. Stout reported that Round 1 budget reductions amounted to 6.5 percent for colleges and centers. Round 2 was 4 percent for a total of 10.5 percent in FY91. Commission Goals for the Coming Year: a. To establish a Centers document describing how a center is es- tablished, why, what are the criteria, what are its missions, evaluation of progress, governance, funding, administrative support and termination. b. To develop a Misconduct in Science policy and procedures docu- ment. c. To review the Industrial Affiliates Program. d. To review the definitions of Research Associates, Research Sci- entists and Senior Research Scientists. o COMMISSION ON STUDENT AFFAIRS--Senator Miller--20 Sept 90, 4 Oct 90 Squires Student Center is on course for reopening in Fall, 1991. The new Johnston Center is partially open now and will be com- pletely open, including a Burger King and This Can't Be Yogurt, be- fore the end of the semester. A new dormitory will be constructed behind Memorial Gym, replacing one of the Upper Quad dorms, which will be converted to academic space. Substantial remodeling is be- ing done in Pritchard Hall and Owens dining hall, and electrical upgrades are underway in many dormitories. Bond authority will be requested soon for a Recreation/Fitness cen- ter to be located below the field house where the track used to be. This is a very large project, with a price tag of $24 million. Oc- cupancy target is Fall, 1993. As many as fifteen more fraternity or sorority houses (special purpose housing) may be constructed near the present ten units. The university intends to lease family housing in Blacksburg, primarily for graduate students. The goal is 100 units, beginning in Fall, 1991. First round budget reductions cost Student Affairs about $133,000. About eight positions were lost or frozen at this point. Second round reductions had not yet been released at the time of the meet- ing. A debit card system for students will take effect by Fall next year or earlier. The cards will enable students to charge services and products around the campus against an individual account estab- lished by depositing funds. Mr. Kapalko of the Parking Auxiliary solicited additional student members for the overburdened Parking Appeals Board, reported the paving of the 'cage' lot, the establishment of a new lot by the Duck Pond (replacing the coal pile), and parking structure plans. The total cost of paving gravel lots is estimated at $7 million. Parking structure plans are being slowed by both geology and eco- nomics. A study is under way on long-term plans for the Upper Quad. Eventu- ally all those dormitories may be converted to academic buildings and Shultz dining room converted to something else. The future of East Eggleston once Squires reopens is not yet determined. There have been at least three more reported incidents of harassment on ethnic or sexual preference grounds. A University AIDS policy statement was introduced on first reading. A statement on harassment, derived from existing policy and in- cluded in the current University Policies for Student Life, was presented. This statement makes no reference to harassment based on sexual preference. This issue will be addressed later. Total Fall enrollment was 23,675, up about 400. Graduate student numbers are up 300. Possibility of lodging allowances to student groups travelling away from the campus was referred back to the Student Budget Board. A subcommittee was appointed to examine the practice of paying stipends to certain student leaders in return for their remaining in Blacksburg during the summer. The last topic of the meeting concerned transition problems for elected student members of CSA. Newly elected student members sometimes find their predecessors reluctant to give up the seat and sometimes are unable to find their predecessors at all and so are completely 'cold' on issues of concern to their constituents. The issue was referred to the governance subcommittee. Vice President Goodale reported the approval of the Spring tuition surcharge ($108 for in-state students, $360 for out-of-state under- graduates, and $324 for out-of-state graduates). He also reported that the university was seeking to join the SouthEastern Athletic Conference. The Black Organizations Council registered its objections to racist and sexist lines in last Spring's gag issue of the Collegiate Times--The Collegiate Slime. Discussion of the method of selection of the student member of the Board of Visitors resulted in the appointment of an ad hoc committee to bring a recommendation back to CSA. The Elections Committee as a subcommittee of the CSA was abolished. The Committee will continue as an independent and voluntary coali- tion of those groups that conduct campus-wide elections. Phil Sheldon of Institutional Research made a presentation on the University Planning Process. In Round 3 Commissions and other groups, student, faculty, and staff, will be asked to react to the latest draft planning document. o COMMISSION ON UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES--Senator Etgen (Senator Geyer for Etgen)--24 Sept 90 CUS Resolution 90-91 on Residency Requirement was approved. The resolution follows: "An undergraduate student is permitted to complete a maximum of 18 of their last 45 semester hours in absentia and to transfer those hours to complete their graduation requirements, so long as the re- quest to transfer these credits meets all the current requirements in effect (transcript required and approval of student's Academic Dean). Also the credits as long as prior approval has been ob- tained from the student's Academic Dean to transfer any required credits." Minimum criteria towards making satisfactory progress towards a de- gree was reviewed (policy memorandum #91). o UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATION RESOURCE COMM.--J.G. Tront--no report o COMPUTER COMMITTEE--Senator Webster--3 Oct 90 User Services maintains tools for identifying and fighting micro- computer viruses. IBM has announced a contest with a $25,000 prize to encourage use of the 3090 vector facility. Fastline, the Computing Center's weekly newsletter, will be pub- lished only on-line. Some adjustments (reductions) have been made to the delivery of computer output on the weekend midnight shift. The Computing Center is improving both internal and external access to Internet. Some people have been having trouble accessing the mainframe in the evening. This is caused by a shortage of trunks and modems. This problem will be communicated to the Communications Resources Com- mittee. A major task of the Committee this year will be to prepare a pro- posal for medium-range plans for the University's computing sys- tems. o EMPLOYEE BENEFITS COMMITTEE--Senator Thompson--28 Sept 90 * The Wellness Program: Although the likelihood of the University staffing the second stage of a complete program is diminished by the current fiscal position, we are continuing to pursue the first stage of a wellness program. The first stage includes blood-work and a risk assessment and is funded to a large extent from our current health care contribution. Further information is to be gathered with a representative from CommonHealth to be invited to our next meeting. We also discussed inviting representatives from Student Health Services, HPER, and Food and Nutrition to that meeting. * Optional Retirement Plans: The State's optional retirement Plan Selection committee has recom- mended that six optional retirement plans be made available to fac- ulty. The committee recommended these plans be forwarded to the Board of Visitor's for approval. The providers of these plans are: a. Fidelity Investments Institutional Services b. Great-West Life Assurance Company c. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company/Metlife Resources d. TIAA/CREF e. T Rowe Price Associates f. Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company * Peer Institution Assessment The peer institution assessment that became available from another institution last year was discussed. The information that is in- cluded in this document is now at least two years old and is de- creasing in value very quickly. The committee decided to lay this document aside unless specific questions arise for which the docu- ment will be useful. * Health Care Coverage: The situation with the very small number of local Doctors who have joined KEYCARE is critical to the health care service available to our employees. Montgomery County Hospital is now a member Hospital as are the hospitals in Radford and Pearisburg. Senate Discussion INFO has listing of Doctors and Hospitals who are members of KEYCARE. Issue was raised about 9 month faculty who go on 11 month from Teaching/Research as to whether these dollars should be included in retirement fund. No sympathy for teaching faculty on the commit- tee. Issue of Research faculty has not been resolved and the com- mittee will pursue this option. It is being done at the University of Virginia. Problem of getting information on KeyCare. Can the October window be extended? State made the decision on KeyCare. Can you change your enrollment next year? Yes. You will be in basic unless you change to KeyCare. States have reciprocal agreements with KeyCare and you will be covered according to the reciprocal agreement. o EO/AA COMMITTEE--Senator Simmons--no report o INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES COMMITTEE--Senator Canestaro--4 Oct 90 Six intellectual property disclosures were determined to be univer- sity owned and assigned to VTIP, Inc. The revision to the policy on intellectual property was discussed and approved to be used as an interim procedural guideline for the IPC until the revised pol- icy has been approved by the university governance system. Changes in the policy include a refinement of the definitions of an intellectual property, and dissolution of the distinction between patents and copyrights. Both will be treated the same. Before, software was copyrighted; however it is similar to patented pro- ducts as it is a novel result of research. The distinction is now between the traditional results of academic scholarship (textbooks, literary works, and artistic creations) where ownership is taken by the author unless it was commissioned by the University or an out- side group claiming ownership and novel results of research (pro- ducts, processes, machines, software, and biological technology) where ownership is to the University with the originator having a right to share in the benefits derived from the product. The obli- gation to disclose is more clearly spelled out, and the form to do so is much shorter and simpler to fill out than the previous form. Instead of two committees, patents and copyright, the IPC will have three working groups, 1) ownership review, 2) evaluation coordi- nation board (to examine the quality of the product, how good it is technically and economically), 3) inventorship review group to re- solve disputes of other inventors/authors. o LIBRARY COMMITTEE--J.D. Stahl--no report o SCHOLARSHIP & FINANCIAL AID COMMITTEE--R. Goss--no report o SUPPLEMENTAL GRANTS COMMITTEE--Senator Baker--no report o PARKING/TRANSPORTATION TASK FORCE--C. Polan-- Carl Polan stated that the Parking/Transportation Task Force meet in August and will meet next week. He solicited concerns for the meeting. COMPLAINT 1: Hang tags are being stolen and a more permanent sol- ution to registration is needed. Answer: There is an option for a permanent fixture. COMPLAINT 2: The requirement that if tag is stolen, faculty and staff must repurchase the tag at full price. Polan - issue being revisited. Observation - Individuals who loose job will be eligible for a re- fund. Status of use of funds for improvements will be presented to Senate by Parking Director at the next meeting. o FACULTY SENATE OF VIRGINIA--Senator Scanlon-- Will meet later this month. Tech Representatives met last week to discuss concern over the effectiveness of the faculty senate of Virginia, confusion in minds of legislature over AAUP and faculty senate, and whether Tech should withdraw from the Faculty Senate. The University of Virginia is not a member of the Faculty Senate of Virginia. The Faculty Senate of Virginia could be used to educate Legislators about higher education. o TASK FORCE ON BUDGET--Senator Eng--no report o CLASSIFIED STAFF AFFAIRS COMMITTEE--Senator Canestaro--4 Oct 90 CSAC set up a task force to study the Report of Senate Task Force on University Council Constitution. CSAC took exception to the statement in the report that the chairs and majority of the voting membership of commissions and Committees be non-administrative fac- ulty. This should not apply to the Commission on Staff Affairs or other commissions and committees representing classified staff. They would like input into discussions about the University Council Constitution. CSAC passed a resolution that a Virginia Tech Employees Fund be es- tablished to assist any member of the University who is laid off because of state budget reductions. The committee formed in CSAC to take a leadership role in this would like to meet with represen- tatives from the Faculty Senate to solicit our ideas and partic- ipation as well. o U.C.R.C. MEETING--Senator Eng--no report o BOARD OF VISITORS MEETING--Senator Eng--4 Oct 90 The agenda comprised a presentation of the round 2 budget reduction plan, a description of the layoff process, and the latest tuition surcharge proposed for Spring Semester of the 1990-91 academic year. These surcharges were $108 for veterinary medical, instate undergraduate, and instate graduate students, $360 for non-resident undergraduates, and $324 for nonresident graduate students. The surcharges were approved. o COMMENCEMENT--Senator Scanlon-- Concern was expressed over Faculty participation in December and May Commencement. Some places have duty rosters to assure Faculty representation. Senator Hatfield will be the December speaker. o HONORIFICS--W.D. Conn--no report o STUDENT BUDGET BOARD--Senator Clowes--13 Sept 90 A policy revision was discussed for covering payment for meals and lodging for student travel. Currently, coverage is restricted by applying a cap to each activities request (essentially they cover up to three members traveling from one activity). The proposed change would remove the cap. The effect would be to increase the call upon the available funding, but more important, athletic teams with club status would receive much greater support from the SBB as a funding source. Several issues are intertwined; the matter was referred to CSA for further discussion. Unclear relationship be- tween Budget Board, Club Athletics and other sources of funding. Thirteen thousand dollars was recovered from a prior years disputed contract by the Bugle. The SBB had covered this deficit last year; the Bugle staff requested the $13,000 be treated as a windfall and proposed using the monies to buy computer equipment ($5,000), for current operation expense ($2,000), and to prepay an outstanding loan from the VT Foundation. Discussion flourished. At issue was the solvency of the yearbook balanced against the competing demands on money originally provided by the SBB. A compromise was reached. The computer equipment purchase and request for operation monies were approved as contributing to the long term solvency of the yearbook and in recognition of the improvement in its management and cost control. The monies for prepayment were not approved at this time but were returned to the SBB Contingency Fund. These funds will be available for all activities to submit requests against. Senate Discussion: 1) What is the source of funding for the Student Budget Board? Student fee monies of approximately $1,000,000 per year. 2) Can students travel to professional meetings and get money from the Budget Board? Yes, through student organizations. o VPI FACILITIES BOARD--C. Polan--no report o VTIP BOARD--Senator Eiss--no report o COUNCIL OF FACULTY ASSOCIATION, PRESIDENTS--Senator Kriz--13 Sept 90 All faculty Association Presidents attended and were enthusiastic about the meeting. They compared roles of the FA in each college and will exchange constitutions. They feel communication is their fundamental role since they are not part of the governance system as a group and should not seek to be. They agreed to meet once each month, and to include their vice-presidents in the meeting. Vivien Allen will be the chair. Discussion turned to the budget. Agriculture feels gravely threat- ened by the layoffs which will gave a profound affect on all their programs. There is concern about shift of costs to sponsored pro- grams. Education has learned there is a plan for Round 3 budget cuts in their college, but they aren't being told what that plan is. They wonder if Round 2 choices would be different if they had the details on Round 3. Round 3 was said to totally transform Edu- cation into something completely different. The Association Presi- dents have met with the Provost and the Senate President has been invited to participate with the Association Presidents. 6. PROGRAM--Mr. Douglas Martin, Benefits Manager The program consisted of a question and answer session with Doug Martin, Benefits Manager, Employee Relations. The primary portion of the benefit package for faculty and staff is mandated by state law. Therefore Tech is generally reactive. Three types of health care plans, 1) comprehensive - (free choice, Blue Cross - hospital, Blue Shield - Doctor) 2) Health Maintenance Organization (certain Doctors and facilities) 3) and Preferred Provider Organization (KeyCare). Health care is the toughest benefits issue because of cost. Virginia Tech premium (employee-employer) is greater than $1,000,000 per month. Mental and nervous cost is approximately 26 percent of the premium use. A past survey of faculty indicated that the faculty wanted dental care to be covered as well. The state wanted to reduce cost. Therefore, the state came out with preferred provider plan - KeyCare. KeyCare added dental care but reduced mental. Under KeyCare, the state asked service providers to give a 10 percent discount on services. Initially locally few providers signed on. For comparison, comprehensive plan provides 120 day in-patient, 70 vis- its out-patient care versus 30 days in-patient and $2,000 out-patient care for mental/nervous care. Last year the state started with cost awareness for Tech and with the addition of more local and regional medical providers, the state has adopted KeyCare in its place. Virginia Tech found out about three months ago that we are KeyCare pro- viders. This is done by zip code. Therefore local employees are now in KeyCare and employees who live in West Virginia are under cost awareness. Key difference of KeyCare and cost awareness is freedom to choose doctors. Under KeyCare, you must use a preferred provider or KeyCare will only pay 80 percent (you must pay extra 20 percent). As of July 1, last year, the state became self insured. BC/BS is the program administrator under contract to the state. The following changes have been made in health care benefits a. We now pay benefits tax free dollars. For example, $3,000 salary, take $100 out for benefits and then tax $2,900. b. May take money each month for braces or other items out of salary. For example, assume a parent knew of a $2,400 expense such as braces for child's teeth. $200 per month could be removed from the salary before taxes are paid on the balance, if planning is done. c. Member may take difference between comprehensive and preferred pro- vider organization and put in a dental account. Comprehensive only provides 120 days of hospital care versus 365 for KeyCare. If you are out of the hospital and then return, comprehensive kicks back in. The problem of KeyCare to date is that not enough local general practitioners and Ob-Gyn's have signed up to date. KeyCare al- lows children to be covered up to age 23 even if not a student. Com- prehensive covers up to age 19 and extended care only if child is a student. If children are at school out of town, you must let the bene- fits office know. If you are out of the area you will have to have an explanation of why. You cannot go out of the area just to get another physician. You may need to have the basic coverage if you go out of the area, like on a sabbatic overseas. A list of KeyCare providers is on INFO, ADMINSYS, Personnel Policies (4000). This will be updated as new providers sign on. If they are a Blue Shield Dentist, they do not have to be in KeyCare unless it is oral surgery. KeyCare creates pressure for KeyCare physicians to refer to other KeyCare doctors. Many Doctors hold out until the end and then join. Question and Answer o What happens if you don't make a selection of KeyCare? Will be placed in KeyCare if in Cost awareness. If in basic, will remain. Please make changes now. o Can the enrollment date be extended? Not likely. o Can we change next year? Yes o What does 80 percent mean? If you go to the doctor and $1,000 bill, reasonable and customary charges are $950. If you are in KeyCare and Doctor is not, KeyCare pays 900 X 80% or $720. Hospi- tal pay is 70 percent. If you were on sabbatical, KeyCare would pay $900. o What happens if you are sent to a specialist at Duke University for instance? You will need to document why you are there. KeyCare would pay $900 if there is a good reason. But, if a provider is available in your area, KeyCare is likely to pay only $720 or 80 percent. Put Dual on form if both spouses are covered. Doctors and Hospitals in Roanoke are generally involved. Do not change address to cost aware- ness area. If you switch from Cost Awareness to basic, you have until December 31 to use dental services. KeyCare requires $10.00 only on office visits. Expect 20 percent of the first $5,000 in the future. Martin is concerned that we cover catastrophic in future by raising deductibles. Major Medical does not kick in if you are in the hospital 125 days under basic. Early retirements: Several received a survey for state to discuss buy- out/early retirement. The survey raised the issue of possible retire- ment with 30 years, any age and no reduced benefits. Normally, a retirement penalty as a percent of the retirement income increased for early retirement. Fifty + 20 might allow retirement with full bene- fits. Virginia retirement system provides cost of living increases, TIAA does not. Martin--Window of retirement may be created to allow individuals who want to retire to retire. There are 47 members of the faculty with over 30 years of service. 7. OLD BUSINESS The following resolution was introduced and laid on the table. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the faculty of Virginia Tech request reconsideration and reallocation of the university resources in order to preserve the agreed upon faculty increases due mid-year 1990-1991 or will seek redress legal or otherwise should the state and/or Virginia Tech unilaterally renege, abrogate or abolish its contractual relation- ship and conditions made to and with the respective faculty members for good and just wages per contractual agreement pursuant to legislative appropriation and university budget processes 1990. The following motion was passed. The Senate requests by October 23, 1990 a written statement of clarifi- cation from the University President regarding the status of any change in pay under the current faculty contracts. 8. NEW BUSINESS COMMISSION ON GRADUATE STUDIES RESOLUTION 1989 The following resolution was debated and passed the Senate with near unanimous support. LET IT BE RESOLVED that effective the beginning of Fall Semester 1991, the VPI&SU Graduate Catalog, under Chapter 1, "General Information," in the section entitled "The Grading System," be revised to show the rein- statement of the "D+," "D," and "D-" grades in graduate student grad- ing. CLASSIFIED STAFF AFFAIRS COMMITTEE RESOLUTION The following resolution passed with near unanimous support. The Faculty Senate joins with the Classified Staff Affairs Committee to establish a Virginia Tech Employees Fund, to assist fellow members of the University who are laid off because of state budget reductions. PLANNING RESOLUTION Senator deWolf introduced a resolution concerning planning for consid- eration by the Senate at its November meeting. The resolution is at- tached as exhibit #1. 9. ADJOURNMENT 10:30 PM Respectively submitted, L. Leon Geyer, Secretary
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Last modified on: Tuesday, 25-Sep-2001 13:57:40 EDT