IUPUI Staff Council (“SC”)

September 19, 2007

MEETING SUMMARY

ACTION ITEMS

ü The minutes of the 6/20/07 SC were approved unanimously, with one minor correction to Assistant Vice Chancellor Poffenberger’s report.

DISCUSSION ITEMS

• 1^st Vice President and Acting President* Sue Herrell welcomed returning and new members, as well as non-members in attendance. Herrell reminds Council members that all staff are welcome to participate in Council meetings.

• Human Resources Administration Compensation Consultant David Bouton gave a presentation on the Compensation Systems Initiative (“CSI”). “The primary objective of the new program is to provide objective, market-based information for management decisions regarding salaries. In addition, with the help of schools and departments, 5500 Professional Staff (PA) positions were allocated to broad levels and salary ranges tied to the relevant labor market” (UHRS Website). The new classification system yielded by this initiative will rollout on October 1, 2007.

For further information about the initiative and the resulting classification system please see http://www.indiana.edu/~uhrs/salary/comp/index.html. NOTE: The PowerPoint shared by Bouton is available at http://www.indiana.edu/~uhrs/salary/comp/IUB_CSIPresentationtoManagers_FINAL.ppt.

Bouton noted the following, in response to questions from the floor:

IU Human Resources is reviewing the possibility of, either, undertaking a similar initiative for CL staff or applying some of the principles confirmed by the CSI to the CL compensation structure. There is no specific date attached.

Bouton and John Murray (HRA Compensation Services, Manager) are available to make presentations to schools, departments, or units.

This initiative will not yield pay or benefit cuts.

The only pay increases anticipated are those to a small percentage of PA staff not currently earning the minimum salary for their job family. Any staffing adjustments made as a means to reallocate funds to bring everyone up to the minimum are not meant to result in the elimination of any positions. Cases like this are not anticipated and every effort will be made to avoid such a scenario.

This new approach to the compensation system does not affect the compensation resources a unit or school has to offer (in short, this initiative does not mean a unit or school has greater financial resources with which to increase salaries or make new hires).

• Bouton also promoted upcoming HRA-sponsored professional development workshops, such as Fundamentals of Supervision, Crucial Conversations, the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, the Administrative Support Professionals series, and the Keys to Professional Effectiveness. Visit http://www.hra.iupui.edu/signup.asp to learn more or to register.

• Theresa Martin (Manager, HRA Benefits Services) updated the SC on the following:
• M-Plan announced last week that it will discontinue offering its HMO to employers effective January 1, 2008. In response to a question from the floor, Martin explained that M-Plan’s decision was a surprise to everyone, including the university. As a result of M-Plan’s decision, any university employee participating in M-Plan must select another carrier during Open Enrollment this Fall. As a side note, Martin added that the Blue Preferred Plan is, perhaps, the most similar to the M-Plan HMO.

• The Annual Health & Benefits Fair will be held on Friday October 26th, 9:00am- 3:00pm in the University Place Conference Center (2nd Floor).

· Acting President Sue Herrell briefed the SC on the following:

o Herrell introduce the 2007-08 Executive Committee: 2^nd Vice President Christopher Walthers, Secretary Avis Frieson, Keith Battle, Jan Canganelli, Natalie Harvey, Wayne Husted, Leslie Kidwell, and Lee Stone.

o IUPUI has announced its 2007 Cutting Edge Lecture Series.

o Dean of the Faculties and Executive Vice Chancellor Uday Sukhatme will update the Council on the Academic Plan for Implementing IUPUI’s Mission. The plan is progressing, having been informed by the work of subcommittees and a core group of administrators. One feature of the plan—IUPUI’s Signature Centers—is well underway, with 19 proposals recently funded.

o Nine executive searches are currently underway at IUPUI [and certain system schools] for the following positions: Associate Chancellor for Lifelong Learning; Dean of SHRS; Dean of Liberal Arts; Dean of Optometry; Dean of SPEA; Vice Chancellor for Administration & Finance; Vice Chancellor for Diversity; Equity, & Inclusion; and Vice Chancellor for Research.

o Click here for an update on the status of the full migration to OnCourse CL.

o Chancellor Charles Bantz has announced that IU President Michael McRobbie has made a number of leadership changes in his cabinet, including naming IUPUI’s Ora Pescovitz the Interim Vice President for Research Administration. Read more here. TIP: Bookmark the IUPUI News Center today.

o Several SC members were honored at the Chancellor’s Employee Recognition Convocation for years of service or as award winners (Nathaniel Spaulding as a Nathan Scholar and Mabel Walker as a Bepko Spirit Award Winner). Please notify the SC Office if you were recognized so that we may post your name on our website.

o Don't miss your opportunity to "Chat with the Chancellor" this semester on Wednesday October 27th / 5-6 p.m. / UC 3171 or on Wednesday November 7th / 5-6 p.m. / UC 3171.

o The annual Comics That Care benefit [for the Salvation Army’s work on behalf of homeless children] will be held on Monday September 24^th at 8:00pm in the IUPUI Lecture Hall (Room 101). Tickets are $10 at the door or $8 for students with ID. There are $6 tickets available by pre-sale (contact the Department of Communication Studies at 4-0566 for details).

o Assistant Vice Chancellor for Campus Facilities Emily Wren has graciously offered to provide monthly updates to the Council starting in November. Wren will assume the spot on the agenda previously held by retiring Vice Chancellor Bob Martin.

o The SC continues to explore the issue of sponsoring a craft fair. SC Representative Michelle Simmons has stepped up to help chair the effort.

o ISU is interested in convening a roundtable of representatives of staff governance at several Indiana universities (Butler, Ball State, etc.). If you would like to volunteer or nominate someone to represent the IUPUI SC at this event, please e-mail Sue Herrell.

· Former SC Member Marla Zimmerman spoke to the SC about the importance of the United Way to the success of countless community organizations. You can learn more about the campaign (Sept. 14 - Oct. 26) or pledge online on the 2007 United Way Campaign website.

· SC Representative Virginia Dowling reported on several UITS training opportunities available to staff.

· Secretary and Bylaws Chair Avis Frieson (pronounced “Fry-son”) called for at least two additional volunteers for the Bylaws committee. She also reported that she will be monitoring SC attendance and contacting absent members to discuss options for alternates/proxies. Contact Avis.

· 2^nd Vice President and Elections/Membership Chair Christopher Walthers, first, reported that an election for SC President [replacing Susan Martin] will be held at the October 2^nd SC meeting. Walthers asked two candidates present (Karen Best and Michelle Tansy) to stand and introduce themselves.

He then called for additional members for his committee, which will, among other things, plan March’s annual

Staff Council Awareness Month.

· Finally, Walthers alerted the SC to a need for additional Council unit representatives from Law (2), University Library (1), and Social Work (1). There are a few vacancies among other schools but volunteers are believed to be available to assume those roles. The Council’s membership is rapidly approaching its full [115 voting member] capacity. Contact Chris.

· Communications Co-Chair Michelle Tansy, also, called for additional committee members. Tansy reminded the Council that SC members are expected to participate in a committee to the best of their abilities. She, then, distributed a Communications Survey which is available for download from the SC website. Contact Michelle.

· Diversity Chair Gary Curto reported that the Diversity Committee held its first meeting earlier in the day. They are planning a series of “wake-up call workshops” for the semester. They are currently planning an October 12^th session on the difference between hate speech and free speech. Details TBA. Contact Gary.

· Special Events Chair Karen Best reported that her committee always welcomes new members to help program events like blood drives, outings to Pacer games, and Council gatherings. Currently, they are planning an October 30^th all day, multi-site campus blood drive. They are also planning late October-early November luncheon so that the then-elected President may mingle with the SC. In closing, Best announced that CVS Pharmacy will donate giveaway items for upcoming SC events. Contact Karen.

· Staff Affairs Chair Wayne Husted reported that his committee will meet for the first time in the coming week. They have several items on their agenda for the year, including: exploring the option of additional crosswalks on campus; exploring discounted IndyGo passes for staff; following up on recent conversations regarding short-term disability coverage for staff and health coverage for retirees; and revisiting exploring the issue of standardized performance reviews for staff. Contact Wayne.

On a Staff Affairs-related note, SC Representative Nancy Gibson announced that last year’s concern about the

lack of access to Work/Life fitness programs to off-main-campus employees has been addressed and that

programming is now available. Thank you, Nancy!

• In the interest of time, Chancellor's SC Academic Designee Paul Galanti deferred to Herrell’s earlier updates.

• Thanking SC members and guests for taking time out of their day to attend the meeting and, even, stay late, Herrell adjourned the meeting at 5:09pm.

THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 17^th FROM 3:00-5:00PM

IN THE LECTURE HALL ON THE LOWER LEVEL OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE (“UC”).

Information about SC business, meeting schedules, and more are available on our website.