Staff at Carleton

March 9, 2006 – 1:30 p.m. –Hill Lounge

Present: Co-chairs Melissa Thomas and Kris Peterson, Vicki Burgess, Tami Little, Stephanie Huston, Lorie Tuma, Carol Spessard, Nina Mangelsen, Robbie Groth, Linda Mueller, Becky Krogh, Sandy Saari, and Jennifer Cox Johnson.

The meeting was called to order by co-chairs. Minutes of February 16th were not available at time of the meeting. Review of the minutes will take place at the May 16^th SAC meeting.

Updates from college representatives:

Benefits Council

§ Becky Krogh reported that HR sent the Emeriti proposal to the College Council last week. Carol Spessard stated that St. Olaf has already implemented the Emeriti plan and has mandatory employee contributions.

Spring Luncheon

§ The RSVP count for the April 4^th luncheon is currently at 40 attendees.

Salary and Benefits

• Linda Mueller and Melissa Thomas will be meeting with Fred Rogers on March 29^th when he is back in town to address the concern over the vacation policy wording in various places (handbook/HR). Linda would appreciate any helpful documentation for the meeting to be sent to her prior to the 29th.

Special Projects

§ Noel Ponder is coordinating Carleton’s Meals on Wheels program taking place Sunday, April 16 to Saturday, April 22. Anyone willing and able to assist with this project is asked to contact Noel at nponder@acs.carleton.edu by Wednesday, April 12^th. Currently, Friday and Saturday are the days with the biggest gaps to fill. An article has been submitted to Currently At Carleton for the March 13^th issue.

§ Tammy Anderson printed the monthly web hits report for the Expert Access webpage. October 2005 = 68 hits, November 2005 = 50 hits, December 2005 = 41 hits, January 2006 = did not appear in the Top 30 list, and February 2006 = 41 hits.

SAC Archive Committee

§ Vicki Burgess stated that the committee has not met yet, but will decide on the division of duties. The goal is to have the project finished by the end of the academic year.

New business:

§ Kris Peterson announced the SAC retirees that will be recognized at the Employee Recognition luncheon on Tuesday, March 28^th from 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The retirees along with their years of service are: Darlene Peters (31), Kay Gredvig (26), Nancy Casper (20), and Ann Passe (13).

§ A concern was brought forward about the verbage used on the HR Employment webpage (http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/human_resources/job_openings/). In the highlighted blue text box on the right-hand side of the page reads: "The Carleton College Human Resources Department works to ensure that the relationship between the College and its employees is respectful, fair, and gives equal treatment and equal opportunities to all of its employees. Carleton College is committed to attracting and retaining a diverse group of employees. Carleton College has a wide variety of job opportunities and offers a comprehensive benefits package which includes insurances, paid time off, and tuition assistance." Specifically, tuition assistance is stated as a part of the comprehensive benefits package. A few sentences before this statement it reads "(the college) gives equal treatment and equal opportunities to all of its employees." It is not clear to existing employees or to applicants the meaning of tuition assistance (child or employee) and that is a different benefit for exempt vs. non-exempt employees.

A request was sent to Andrea Zunkel to change the language of this last sentence on the HR webpage be changed to reflect the HR policy in place. She will talk with Linda Laughlin next week to review our request.

§ A suggestion was made to have HR conduct a brown bag session on understanding FTE’s, including how it is calculated, and how it affects benefit accruals. The suggestion is being passed on to the Staff Development Committee to explore.

Old Business

§ Kris Peterson will contact HR on whether staff can go for part of Tom Champoux’s all-day workshop on May 1^st. The SAC website has more information about the event and additional details will be added as they become available.

Announcements:

• Confronting Katrina – How Should We Respond? - Friday, March 31. For more information, visit http://apps.carleton.edu/events/katrina/katrina_day/
• “Swing Into Spring” SAC Spring Luncheon/Business Meeting (South Side) – Tuesday, April 4, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. RSVP to Jeanne Estrem by March 28.
• Tom Champoux’s presentation sponsored by Human Resources – Monday, May 1 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• NEXT REGULAR MEETING: Tuesday, May 16, 1:30-2:30 p.m., Sayles-Hill Lounge.