Staff at Carleton

January 17, 2006 – 1:30 p.m. –Hill Lounge

Draft of Minutes

Present: Co-chairs Kris Peterson and Melissa Thomas, Kristen Askeland, Patt Germann, Robbie Groth, Linda Irrthum, Christine Krejci, Becky Krogh, Nance Nytes, Patty Olson, Faculty representative Melinda Russell, Sandy Saari, Carolyn Soule, Carol Spessard, Nancy Sweeny, Nancy Loesch, Samantha Malecha, Lois Perkins, Mary Amy, Tammy Anderson, Administrative representative Fred Rogers

The meeting was called to order by co-chairs. Minutes of Nov. 15, 2005 were approved and will be posted at http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/staff/sac/minutes/Nov152005Minutes/

Updates from college representatives:

☼Faculty representative Melinda Russell noted the course load decision has been finalized for five courses for faculty. Committees will be set up to look at how leaves, and course offerings will be affected by the decision.

☼Budget committee – Cris Jensen reported the budget has been set and will go to the College Council for approval.

☼Fred Rogers spoke briefly about the budget process being ongoing with the College Council approving the budget and forwarding to the Trustees. Fred also mentioned that information is being gathered regarding the savings realized with the week of closure during the holidays. He said that because of the way the holidays fall in 2006, a week of closure will not be possible.

New business:

☼Motor vehicle policy – Christine Krejci - The proposed policy was not accepted so work will begin again.

☼Staff development – Christine Krejci presented a list of FORUM events and suggested SAC look at those to develop ideas for SAC staff development . Discussion followed.

Note was made of the May 1 all-day workshop presented by Tom Champoux, a motivational speaker whose topic will be “Creating Our Future Together.” More information will be forthcoming.

☼Committee participation - Linda Irrthum reported that a comprehensive description of college committees and their functions as well as the procedure for naming committee members was completed and send to Fred Rogers for his approval. When approval is given, the information may be posted on the SAC website.

It was suggested that committee descriptions be developed so members may further understand the roles in which they may be interested in participating as committee members.

☼Spring luncheon -- Sandy Saari told the group that Southside has met to begin planning for the Spring Luncheon which will be either April 4 or 11. A theme of “Swing into Spring” has been chosen.

☼Catastrophic Leave Sharing program update – A report of activities by this committee was sent to all non-exempt staff along with the agenda for the Jan. 17 SAC Meeting. Because the co-chairs wanted to discuss the CLSP at the SAC meeting, the deadline to donate hours was extended to Jan. 20. A discussion of the donation and use process was held. It was noted that staff cannot donate hours to the program unless they have 88 hours of sick leave accumulated. It was stressed that this number of hours is not enough to cover an employee from the time of their disability until long term disability (LTD) takes effect. At the time the CLSP was created, the administration was considering offering a Short Term Disability Program (STD). The 88 hours would have been sufficient to cover an employee until the STD took effect. As it is now, an employee who becomes disabled is covered by 5 days of Family Medical Leave, her accumulated sick leave, vacation, and the CLSP (if eligible). An employee will need enough time to cover herself to the start of LTD – after 3 months of disability. Information about the CLSP program is available at the HR webpage at http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/human_resources/benefits_and_insurance/catastrophic_sharing/

Samantha clarified that employees may first use five days of family medical leave before using sick leave and vacation and then, if applicable, the CLSP days available to them. Contact HR for more information.

Old Business

☼SAC archival records – Lois Perkins reported that SAC may keep the file cabinet in the library which is currently available to SAC. It was suggested that a couple of people go through what’s in there and determine what needs to be scanned for permanent records so there will be more space and so that records are archived more permanently. . Two volunteers are requested to help with this process.

☼Staff retreat follow-up – Melissa Thomas and Kris Peterson told the group the response had been positive. The retreat is tentatively set to be an annual event. Work group members will be needed to help with the 2006 event. Anyone interested in assisting in any way may contact Kris Peterson or Melissa Thomas. Additional volunteers will be recruited at the Spring SAC Luncheon, with planning beginning in late spring.

☼Online timecards – There is still testing of the system going on with ITS working on updating for a more efficient system when implemented further. Report by Patt Germann

☼Vacation accrual follow-up – Samantha Malecha told the group that vacation accrual has been automatic for several years with the additional week being added to the records of employees at the end of five years and again at the end of 11 years.

Announcements:

Fridays with Fred for winter term are Jan 13, 17, Feb. 10 and 24 and March 3 from 8:30 to 9:30 in Sayles-Hill Great Space. All are welcome.

Quarterly staff meeting: Feb. 13. New staff receptions are only going to happen during the Fall Term. It was determined that Winter and Spring Terms have too few employees to warrant individual receptions.

Performance review tips – Karyn Jeffrey has created a performance review tip sheet for supervisors. It was noted that the performance review information was sent out with the deadline for reviews to be completed by April 15. Melinda Russell added that performance reviews have been mentioned and encouraged at the College Council. She noted that it was suggested that the topic be brought up at Department Chair meetings but she isn’t a chair so isn’t sure if it was. She is available to speak with any employee with review issues and assist in any way to make sure reviews are encouraged.