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Governance Minutes ArchiveMarch 17, 1994
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Staff Senate Minutes of the Regular Meeting Thursday, March 17, 1994 Room 102 - Phase II - Veterinary Medicine Senators Present: Carolyn Alls, Pat Ballard, Joyce Bohr, Joann Craven, Judy Davis, Marge Dellers, Patrick Donohoe, Les Fuller, Leslie Graham, Betty Greene, Patty Hall, Diane Kaufman, Julia King, Richard Lovegrove, Don Massie, Sherilyn McConnell, Bhaba Misra, Margie Murray, Valerie Myers, Diane Patty, Mary Pennington, Carlile Price, Rocky Price, Peggy Rasnick, Wyatt Sasser, Lynne Schaefermeyer, Chuck Shorter, Elaine Southworth, Charlie Stott, Lorrie Sumpter, Sarah Wheeler, Deb Williams. Alternates Present: Netta Eisler for Mary Holliman, Lorena Sowder for Widget Shannon, Elizabeth Shifflet, Cindy Harrison. Call to Order Meeting was called to order at 5:32 PM Guest Speaker Earving Blythe, Vice President for Information Systems, addressed the administration's view of deficiencies and problems with the mainframe system. Many of our information systems are obsolete; the system we are using now is based on 1963 technology. FRS was basically one system; it required many hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting costs. It required the involvement of many people in the university. It took six years from the beginning of the project to the end. The solution is to come up with some method by which we could parallel all of our administrative systems. The goal has to be to become more effective and responsive as an administration. All these systems would be able to talk to each other. Unfortunately, upgrading the system comes with a substantial price and someone needs to be made responsible for knowing who uses the system and what their needs are. Blythe wants the resources for the upgrade under his control. There has to be a tremendous commitment to training. Goals are that within four years all faculty and students will have access to some reasonable technology, that faculty can become literate in computer technology, that we develop lab and classroom activities using this system, and that faculty members will learn to develop creative technology to improve the learning/teaching process. Blythe said that within three years we will have a significant number of our administrative systems on-line, we will have broken the dependency on old technology, and we will be getting a lot more from our investment. We will be able to measure development time in hours, days, and weeks, not in months and years. Blythe said it is crucial that there can't be any untouchable administrative processes. We need to be placing about 200-250 workstations a year in offices across campus and have appropriate training. About 20 to 25 percent of faculty will get help in getting a computer and technology each year. President McConnell asked whether the system have generator backup. Blythe responded that they are looking at putting in gas generators. Senator Ballard asked whether departments or colleges will see any monetary relief as a result of the expected savings in the system. Blythe said he doubted it, but you will see gains in efficiency. The system will replace 25 percent of total distributed computing. The administration systems group will be responsible for ongoing maintenance and support. Other maintenance issues are state and federally mandated. Announcements According to a letter received from Ray Smoot, payroll deduction for parking permits will be possible. Trice Scholarships are available for up to $700; applications are available. The Montgomery County Chapter of the American Red Cross is seeking volunteers in all areas. Board members are also needed to serve three year terms. If interested, President McConnell has contact names and E-mail addresses. President McConnell and Vice President Stott will be traveling to University of Virginia on April 1 to give a presentation to some of the staff and vice presidents. They are interested in seeing how Virginia Tech formed their Staff Senate. Approval of Minutes The minutes of February 17, 1994 minutes were approved with no corrections. University Councils, Commissions, Committee Reports Communications Committee met; low attendance, nothing to report. Nominations and Elections - Staff Senate must have elections by May 1. Senator Massie read a list of what positions will become vacant and took nominations from the floor. Balloting will be conducted at the April meeting. Current nominees are: Parliamentarian -- Patty Hall, Bhaba Misra; Secretary -- Valerie Myers; Vice President -- Jamie Evans, Richard Lovegrove, Wyatt Sasser; President -- Charlie Stott. Ballots will be finalized and a sample of the ballot with bios of nominees will be sent to senators soon. No reports were available from the following: Commission on Classified Affairs, Faculty Affairs, Public Service and Extension, Student Affairs, University Support, Intellectual Property, and EO/AA. The Policies and Issues Committee and the Council of Staff Association Officers met jointly. They had two guest speakers. Dr. Craig Rogers of the Center for Intelligent Materials wants staff members to provide as much input as possible on policies for a handbook for restricted positions. The other guest speaker was Sherwood Wilson from Physical Plant. In February the officers council discussed snow and ice removal. This group decided that the biggest issue is that Physical Plant does not have a lot of time in the morning to clear roads and parking lots before people arrive. When the decisions are being made whether to delay opening -- or to close -- the university, Physical Plant is not always consulted. The group decided to put together a subcommittee to prepare a recommendation to the administration that Physical Plant be consulted when deciding whether to open or close the university or to open late. The campus police do play a major part in the decision making process, since there are officers on duty 24 hours. Senator Murray also stated that the manuals for staff associations are still in the works. Old Business Blue Cross/Blue Shield changes and notification delay - Senator Lovegrove put together a draft of two letters, one to Richmond and one to personnel. The purpose of the letters is to ask why notification of changes was so late getting out and also why Senator Sutphin had such a hard time finding information about the delay. Senator Lovegrove will forward the letters to Senator Sutphin and the Executive Committee. College of Education restructuring - Senators Pennington and Craven had information available. Any questions or comments should be directed to them by profs; Pennington - MAMIE and Craven - VTED. President McConnell received a note from Prisilla Wallace and Sherry Lawrence from Virginia Commonwealth University. They appreciated the opportunity to observe our senate meeting. They were very impressed with all the hard work and organization, and also with the area associations. They will be preparing a proposal for their own staff senate to present to VCU vice presidents. They have requested some additional information that Senator Stott will be sending to them. Nine-hour limit on employees taking classes - The Personnel Advisory Committee unanimously agreed that the nine-hour limit means nine hours covered by a tuition waiver during working hours; what you do after working hours, as long as it is not a conflict of interest, is your own business. Both Pat Hyer and Ann Spencer will pursue this further. New Business Staff Appreciation Day will be May 19. Senator Shorter requested an update on the Inclement Weather Policy. Senator Sasser stated that it has been revised again. Basically, revision 7 gave the president of the university power to close the university; holidays take precedence over inclement weather leave. There are three official sources of notification (231-6000, 231-6668, or WVTF radio station). The newest update is on the mainframe under Administrative Systems. Also being considered is the possibility of putting the information on-line. If you have electricity, you can log onto the mainframe and get information. The phone mail administrator could also put the official information message on phone mail. Concern was expressed that the information was not being made available in a timely manner. Many employees far from campus and must leave for work before the weather information is updated. Also raised were the issues of when does inclement weather start or stop, partial closings and how you address your time. University Council Resolutions -- Motion was made, seconded and carried that the following resolutions be adopted so that they may be forwarded to the Board of Visitors: Resolution 1 - Proposing that Membership Lists be Moved from the Body of the Constitution to the By-laws, Resolution 2 - Proposing a change to Article VII of the University Council Constitution, and Resolution 3 - Proposed changes to Article IX, Section 1, of the University Council Constitution. Senator Dellers objected to an anonymous letter, sent to some staff members, discussing efforts to switch the status of some employees from classified staff to administrative and professional faculty. Dellers didn't object so much to the content of the letter as to the fact that it was not signed. Meeting was adjourned at 7:10 PM.
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Last modified on: Tuesday, 25-Sep-2001 13:57:47 EDT