The University of Memphis

Staff Senate Minutes - Thursday, Feb.15, 2007

Panhellenic - 101

9:30 AM

Senators present: Bekis, Barbara; Bell, Karen; Boyce, Susan; Busby, Hugh; Cantler, Ed; Colburn, Dorothy; Dimond, Joellen; Fair, Angela; Harbin, Bill; Hawkins, Roy; Hawkins, Yolanda; Hudson, Rika; Hurley, Nancy; Johnson, Mary; Moses, Sheila;  Lim, Lorrean; Muldrow, Vanessa; O’Bryan, Kathy; Swinger, Sandra; Taylor-Strowder, Ora; Turner, Debra; Turner, Gary; Wheeler, Helen; Wilson, Deborah;  Wilson, Faye;

Senators absent (Excused) Carman, Gary; Channell, Jessica; Harrison, April;  Prahalathan, Pat; Sirignano, Eric; Woemmel, Clay; Young-Taylor, Geraldine;.

Senators absent (Unexcused): Ballard, Evell; Lee, Bernadette; Brown, Annette; Cogdal, Pamela; George, Elise; Laney, Carol; Underwood, Bill; Walsh, Elaine;

The January meeting was held in the Panhellenic Building with 24 senators present. President Hurley called the meeting to order and asked if there were any questions/corrections/amendments to the revised November minutes; being none, the motion was made and carried to approve the February minutes.

Executive Committee Reports

President’s Report: President Hurley reported that President Raines would like to encourage the Staff Senate to be more involved in the Spring Convocation this year. Attendance at the Convocation in April was encouraged. Academic Policy and Procedure committee will add  a statement to existing policy stating that Academic Freedom extends to any faculty or staff member involved in research.  There will be a series of noon activities the week of April 16-19 in the Library rotunda.

Vice President’s Financial Report:  Senator Johnson reported we currently have a balance of $5,654 on hand.

Secretary’s Report: No report

Membership Committee:  Senator Lim reported that Senator Pam Cogdal is now faculty and will no longer be eligible to serve on the Staff Senate.

Public Relations: President Hurley gave the report for Senator Channel.  Volunteers are needed to serve on the Staff Senate Appreciation committee and the following senators volunteered: Debra Turner, Karen Bell, Vanessa Muldrow, Dorothy Colburn and Ora Taylor-Strowder.

Website Report: No report

Election Committee: The election process will begin in March.

Issues and Reviews: Senator Bekis met with the director of the Recreational Center and addressed the issue of having the Center observe extended hours and a request has been submitted for a 5:30 am opening to begin in the fall.  There will likely be a fee increase, but the amount is not known at this time.

Legislative Advisory Committee: No Report

By-Laws Committee: Meeting will be rescheduled for later in March.

University Wide Committees

Bookstore: No Report

Campus Safety and Security: Senator Moses met with this committee and Derik Meyers of Police Safety reported no rise in crime and is hopeful the university will maintain a number one status for TBR schools.  Driver’s license background checks will be implemented in the near future.

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Facilities and Services:  No report

Fee Refunds & Appeals: No report

1^st Year Experiences: No report

Food Services/Dining: No report

IT Administrative Advisory:   President Hurley gave report in Senator Prahalathans absence. The Registrars office will be using Banner for student information beginning in the fall of 2007. They are currently working with different department and support personnel to address training issues.  The Registrars office will not produce reports for other departments from Banner; each department will generate their own.  

Policy Review Board: Report Given byPresident Hurley: Sherry Lipman is concerned how the Faculty Appeal is written and liability issues.  Greg Stevens, president of Faculty Senate and also on the Policy Review Board, said they are planning to rewrite Faculty Performance Appraisals. 

Presidents First Friday Forum: No report

Public Records/Forms: No report

Space Planning: No report

Traffic & Parking: Senator Cantler reported no activity on parking appeals and the parking office is considering upgrades to their software that will permit faculty, staff and students to buy permits on-line and receive e-mail confirmation.  Handhelds that will photograph parking violators are also being considered.  If you park in the Engineering parking lot after 6 p.m. tickets will be issued.  The Central lot continues to be under study.

The two guest speakers for the February meeting were James Hudson of the University Library and Marjorie Williamson from Human Resource.  Each speaker was limited to 10 minutes of speaking time and Mr. Hudson made his presentation first and distributed handouts of his proposals.  He emphasized that he was not questioning the supervisors authority concerning Performance Appraisals but some issues need clarification as there is no written policy.  Also, each employee should have the option to voice disagreement if they feel evaluation is unfair or questionable.

Ms. Williamson answered questions concerning non-faculty evaluations and encouraged employees to share their concerns with their supervisor and stressed the importance of documentation as no one outside knows your performance.  These questions/concerns need to be resolved internally.  More stringent enforcement of Mr. Hudson’s proposal is needed.

After much discussion it was agreed that there should be some written policy, even though HR trains/instructs supervisors on evaluating, there is no policy to follow up to see if this is enforced.

Janet Mitchell suggested inviting Mr. Lee to present the procedure used in Financial Planning and suggested we look at the entire Policy presented by Mr. Hudson before making a proposal at the next meeting.

New Business:   President Hurley will extend a formal invitation to Mr. Lee and Ms. Williamson to present and answer questions on the Grievance process at the March meeting. 

There were no further reports and the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Faye Wilson,

Staff Senate Secretary

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