Minutes2005

Senate Meeting Minutes

Wichita State University
Classified Senate Meeting Minutes

August 2005 to May 2006

• August 2005
• September 2005
• October 2005
• FY 07 Position Paper
• November 2005
• December 2005
• January 2006
• February 2006
• March 2006
• April 2006
• May 2006

Classified Senate Meetings

August 10, 2005

Present: Fawn Beckman, William Cooper, Charles Eaton, Margaret Ford, Susan Fordyce, Lloyd Harp, William Heard, Larry Ingram, Cathy James, Shelly Kellogg, Sheryl McKelvey, Garrett Moyer, Robbie Norton, William Patton, Val Peck, Sonja Schroeder, Doug Weber,

Absent: Donna Belt, Shannon Bowman-Roberts, Gregory Williams
Excused: Don Brooks, Steve Carlson, Jane Eshelman, Lori Evans, Margaret Ford, Wanda Hughes, Willa Shelton, Joyce Ward,

1. Welcome
President Harp opened the meeting by welcoming all senators back for the 2005-06 senate year. Some senators are on vacation and the senate is also starting a month early. We are sponsoring the KS Joint Conference (Kansas Council of Classified Senates) in October so are needing to get committees in place. The KCCS usually meets during the morning, breaks for lunch, and finishes in the afternoon. We still need to find someone to pay for the luncheon. Harp e-mailed President Beggs in the spring but he didn't respond at that time. He received an e-mail today from Dennis Constance from KU. KU still wants to attend the joint meeting even though they are not classified employees now. Got e-mails over the summer from other universities wanting to know who was going to “run the show.”

Harp stated there is still one position open in Category G - administrative and craft skilled and Category H - custodial and service workers. If you know of anyone that wants to be on classified senate let him know. The main reason for this meeting is to let you know what your responsibilities are. The senators biggest responsibility is to report senate happenings to your constituents, get their feedback, and bring back to senate. In September we will have a meeting with the Executive Council and will distribute lists for each category. Senator Bill Cooper asked when they could talk to constituents. Harp said no restrictions on when you could talk to constituents.

KU did go to unclassified support services (USS). They have already received an additional 1.75% raise, as well as the 1.25% that we got. Sometime this fall they are also going to get an average of 1.5% merit raise - some more, some less. (Total raise of 4.5 by end of fall). There is nothing that says that we at WSU will get the same. Harp heard a rumor, not confirmed yet, that KAPE is supporting this. They can be very influential and will probably have more power to negotiate that not negotiated before. KAPE has a new president and they are doing some shuffling.

2. Minutes
Doug Webber should be spelled with one “b” in Excused section. Eaton moved to accept minutes with correction. James seconded. All in favor. Motion passed.

3. Committees
Harp distributed sheets to sign up for committees . For new senators - the hardest committees are the Shocker Pride, Newsletter, and position paper. Harp will appoint someone as the head of each committee and getting the committee together. Can reappoint a new committee head after meeting if you want. Please turn in sheets before leaving.

4. Questions:
Harp stated he is on the committee for the unclassified support staff. They are fine tuning the document. It has been presented to Roger Lowe and he has added to it. Harp expects to have it in every classified employees hands within three months. It is something to look at, but we will vote on it. The regents voted on July 1, 2005 to let KU go to unclassified support service.

Our proposal is different than KU’s. The WSU document is not anything like KU’s. The. Committee is talking about setting up meetings, probably at least four, if not more, to discuss what’s different, what’s the same. It is a work in progress. Will also explore what safeguards we might want to implement into this plan to protect our jobs. We’ll be looking for ideas. Committee will be meeting at the end of this week.

Senator Cooper asked who to call to get excused? Harp said to call him, Charles Eaton, vice president, or Val Peck, secretary. You can also e-mail one of these people.

Kellogg moved to adjourn. Charles Eaton seconded. All in favor. Motion carried.

Val Peck, Secretary

September 14, 2005

President Harp asked each senate member to introduce themselves since we have a lot of new ones.

Approval of August Minutes
Minutes for August meeting - Corrections/notations:
Rumor on KAPE - only KAPE at KU is supporting this.
Margaret Ford stated she was present not excused.
Senator McKelvey indicated her name was mispelled.
Moved to approve minutes as corrected. Norton seconded. All in favor. Motion passed.

Anyone that wants to order a classified senate polo or denim shirt contact Lloyd by e-mail and he will order. Prices may be different from last year.

President Beggs and Dr Eric Sexton will be at the October meeting to give a presentation on the “who we are, our mission and goals, and the matrix”). They will talk about who we are and where we go for the future. Harp stated that the matrix part of the presentation was very clear.

1. Committees and Assignments
President Harp distributed the committee assignments list and asked senators to let him know if they absolutely couldn't stand the committee they are on or assigned too. Send Lloyd an e-mail, if need to change.
Easton is chair of two committees. Garrett Moyer volunteered to help on other committees if needed.
Newsletter only had one edition last year. Would like to improve by 100% this year.
Holiday Tree Lighting will need to start their meetings very soon.
Community Service - Susan Fordyce, chair. Holtsclaw has some ideas - recycling old cell phones, computers, etc.

2. October Meeting
Will distribute position paper to senate after President Beggs presentation.

3. Position Paper
Position paper is very important. When Senator Eaton gets back from vacation he will have a meeting with his committee. Lloyd will e-mail committee members and they will draft a position paper. The process is that each university develops their own position paper and then they are all presented at the Kansas Council of Classified Senates (KCCS) joint meeting. At the KCCS meeting a joint position paper is developed that will be presented to the legislature on legislative day.
The joint meeting of the Kansas Council of Classified Senates will be at WSU this year. We will meet at the new Welcome Center. The meeting is on Oct 26. Dennis Constance (KU) notified Lloyd that he would still like to be involved with the senate even though they are not classified anymore.

Senator Kellogg asked if the vacation and sick leave has ever been presented to legislators as to how much it would cost to round up the hours.

4. Alternative to Civil Service
President Harp stated that WSU is looking at the alternative to civil service rather strongly. Their committee is very ready to go. However, they want to get all information out to all classified employees. It has been presented to Roger Lowe and he has made his changes. It is now in Dr. Beggs hands. He would like for two areas to be addressed before presented to all employees. Our proposal is already extremely explicit compared to the KU plan. KU is still working out their plan. KAPE at WSU is not supportive of this; KU’s KAPE is supportive of it. The committee will be asking all unclassified/supervisors to allow classified employees to attend the “town hall” meetings. After these meetings, employees will vote. They will send a mailer to all classified employees to notify them of the town hall meetings. The committee will meet with Mike Turner next week. KU is using a huge raise in tuition to help fund their raises. Val asked if it would it be beneficial to have KU come down to one of our town hall meetings. Harp stated that they hope to be voting by early spring of 2006. E-mail is appropriate for use on campus by Classified Senators to keep their constituents informed of senate happenings. To constituents - tell them we are still working on documents and will keep posted. Lloyd asked us to be careful what we tell our people at this time. Some information is sensitive and should stay within the senate.

5. As May Arise
Executive Council members have been given a list of constituents to contact this year. You should be receiving yours soon.

Weber moved to adjourn. Moyer seconded. All in favor. Motion carried.

Val Peck, Secretary

October 12, 2005

Present: Donna Belt, Don Brooks, Steve Carlson, William Cooper, Charles Eaton, Jane Eshelman, Lori Evans, Margaret Ford, Susan Fordyce, Lloyd Harp, William Heard, Wanda Hughes, Larry Ingram, Cathy James, Shelly Kellogg, Sheryl McKelvey, Robbie Norton, William Patton, Sonja Schroeder, Willa Shelton, Douglas Weber, Joyce Ward

Guests: Sandy Lopez, Ellen Abbey, Eric Sexton, Donald Beggs
Absent: Fawn Beckman, Shannon Bowman-Roberts, Greg Williams
Excused: Garret Moyer, Val Peck

Senate President Harp called the meeting to order and introduced President Beggs. Dr. Beggs and Eric Sexton presented a PowerPoint presentation of WSU Planning & Accountability for Fall 2005. The presentation included:

• WSU Mission
• Accountability Planning Matrix
• Your role in the mission

Dr. Beggs emphasized that we serve Students, Faculty, Staff, Alumni and Community. He told us that each person’s job is important and that without each person doing their job, the university does not fully complete its mission. He used the example of the people who process time sheets and make sure we get paid. He stated that 82% of the University budget is spent on people – salaries. He also noted that 37% of salaries are paid by tuition.

Robbie Norton moved that the minutes of the September 14 meeting be approved as submitted. Charles Eaton seconded and they were approved.

Distribution of Senate minutes was discussed. It was decided that the Senate President will review/revise minutes as submitted by recording secretary and then send to Senators for vote. Minutes as revised would be re-submitted to Senators and accepted minutes would then be sent back out for distribution on the Classified Senate web site and for our constituents.

Alternative Civil Service: President Harp informed us that the committee hopes to distribute the alternative civil service plan within two weeks. They plan to have town hall meetings to obtain feedback on the plan.

Legislative Committee: Charles Eaton reported on the position paper. The joint conference of Kansas Council of Classified Senates will be hosted by WSU Classified Senate, and will be meeting at the Marcus Welcome Center on October 26, 2005. President Beggs has agreed to pay for a buffet lunch for all participants. The WSU representatives are: Charles Eaton, Wanda Hughes, Garret Moyer, Don Brooks, Donna Belt and Lloyd Harp. The attached position paper was presented. Lori Evans moved to accept, Willa Shelton seconded the motion and it was approved as presented.
Pittsburg State scheduled an October 19 meeting for Regents institution classified staff with Allen from the Governor’s staff to discuss issues. The hope is to present the Governor with information and feedback to present to the
Legislature. Charles Eaton and Robbie Norton would like to go as our representatives.

Tree Lighting: Joyce Ward reported that the tree lighting committee has met twice. They have a commitment from Mike Turner for $50 towards new decorations and request that any staff who would like to donate a dollar or two towards more decorations should send donations to Val Peck or Joyce Ward. They plan to decorate the tree on November 28 and the tree lighting reception will be on November 30 from 2:00 to 2:30 p.m.

Senate Newsletter: Robbie Norton reported that they hope to have the first newsletter go out on November 1.
Community Service: Susan Fordyce reported that she and Larry Ingram met; but Janice Holtsclaw wasn't available. The three of them plan to meet again next week.

Meet Your Senator: Doug Weber reported that Meet Your Senator will be November 17 from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m.

William Cooper moved to adjourn. Don Brooks seconded and all in favor. Motion carried.

The next Classified Senate meeting is scheduled on November 9 in Room #305 of the Rhatigan Student Center from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Shelly Kellogg, Acting Secretary

Classified Employee Position Paper - Fiscal Year 2007

Salary

• Reinstate the step matrix increases.
• Fund a Cost of Living increase to compensate for rising energy prices.
  

Benefits

• Raise sick leave to 4.0 hours per pay period.
• Increase Annual Leave to the following per pay period:
  • 0-5 years of service – 4.0 hours
  • 5-10 years of service – 5.0 hours
  • 10-15 years of service – 6.0 hours
  • 15-20 years of service – 7.0 hours
    

Retirement

• Reduce vesting to 4 years.
• Remove the salary cap of part time workers who have previously retired from the state system.
  

November 9, 2005

Present: Fawn Beckman, Don Brooks, Charles Eaton, Jane Eshelman, Lori Evans, Margaret Ford, Susan Fordyce, Lloyd Harp, William Heard, Wanda Hughes, Larry Ingram, Cathy James, Shelly Kellogg, Sheryl McKelvey, Garret Moyer, Robbie Norton, William Patton, Sonja Schroeder, Willa Shelton, Joyce Ward, Douglas Weber Guests: Tom Veltman, Janice Holtsclaw

Absent: Donna Belt, William Cooper, Gregory Williams
Excused: Shannon Bowman-Roberts, Steve Carlson, Val Peck

Approval of October Minutes

1. Opening
University does contract with “Cartridge King”. Maybe get advice from Top Management. Janice Holtsclaw speaker for Community Service.

2. Cartridge Recycling of America, Vance Davis and Tom Davis doing business since 2002 in Valley Center collect used products for recycle. They have a courier service. They handle nearly everything. You get paid for all items broken or not. City of Wichita is opening an Electronic Recovery Program. The check will go to your choice of charity, Habitat for Humanity or whatever. The time is coming when electronic items and ink cartridges will not be allowed in landfill. Cartridge Recycling of America website is captainrecycle.com. Dispose of personal cell phones into boxes labeled Special Olympics for Community Service Committee.

3. Kansas Board of Regents Meeting – October 25. Nine Regents were on Campus and five of the regents met with representatives of classified employees. Lloyd said the meeting was good. They were willing to listen to our issues on campus and our ideas for campus improvement. They talked with us on TABOR (Tax Payer Bill of Rights) which would possibly not be positive for higher education. Several states have statues that limit how much the legislature can spend. Robbie Norton spoke of the meeting being very good. Charles Eaton spoke of Tabor and special issues.

4. Kansas Council of Classified Senate Meeting on Oct 26 – Legislative Day is set for Feb. 15, 2006
We hosted the meeting at the Marcus Welcome Center and had representatives from all six Regents Institutions. Representatives from KU came because they had a Leadership Role and wanted to continue. We developed a joint Position Paper to present to the legislators on legislative day. The Position Paper included: 1) fully fund a salary 5% increase by this July 2006. Five discretionary days. Instruct Department of Administration to develop a pay plan which would correct salary compression and pay raises for experience. Round up of vacation/sick leave to the next whole number. Allow excess sick time at Retirement after pay out to be credited when computing years of service.

5. Topeka Trip – Robbie Norton
Represent Classified Senate at a meeting with Governor Staff. Representatives from other four Universities classified employees met with Duane Gossen and Aaron Otto who works Budget for Governor. Duane spoke of excess dollars in budget accumulated since 2001 was used to fund K-12 education. They predict by 2007 there will be no excess dollars. So we need to talk to our Legislators to get new ways to finance this. Gave a schedule of how raises and pay is structured. We are on the same basic pay plan since 1939. One way is re-classify people. Fort Hayes has done some of this. We need to talk to our Legislators ASAP… Very interesting trip.

6. Committee Reports

a. Tree Lighting reception will be 11/30/05 at 2:00 PM in the RSC Fireside Lounge with the ceremony at 2:30. Decorating will be 11/28/05 starting at 11:30, all help is welcomed.
c. Newsletter: First letter came out in October, expect next one in January or February.
d. Meet Your Senator will be on 11/17/06 2:30 to 4:00 PM Regents Room on the second floor of RSC.
This will be in Broadcast e-mail by Joe Kliensasser. Contact your constituents.
f. Election committee needs to meet early to start the process of electing senators so that we can choose who will be President Elect

7. Finance report Beginning Balance $1,053.00 Expenditures $322.01 Balance $720.99

8. As May Arise

Lloyd has an extra large Classified Senate Denim shirt if anyone wants it.

The question was asked when will the town hall meetings start for the alternative to the classified system. Answer by Lori Evans: Some time in December. The committee for developing the University Support Staff is developing a presentation on the proposal. They will be presenting it to the president’s administrative staff on 11/21 and again on 11/22 for Deans, Directors and Administrators. There will be a presentation for the Classified Senate on the next meeting, December 14. Tom Veltman has set up a website wichita.edu/supportstaff for the proposal of position paper. It includes the proposal itself as well as an area where staff can ask questions and a section of frequently asked questions and answers. Town Hall type meetings will be after that and if any group wants to schedule a presentation they can contact the committee through the web site.

Shelly Kellogg stated the Deadline for application for tuition assistance for staff members is Friday 11/18/05.

Raises Information 2.5% was discussed, 1.85% is actually realized because of the split. Unclassified got 2.6%.

Motion to adjourn by Robie Norton, seconded by Garrett Moyer.

December 14, 2005

Present: Donna Belt, Steve Carlson, William Cooper, Charles Eaton, , Lori Evans, , Susan Fordyce, Lloyd Harp, William Heard, Wanda Hughes, Cathy James, Shelly Kellogg, Sheryl McKelvey, Robbie Norton, William Patton, Val Peck, Sonja Schroeder, Willa Shelton, Douglas Weber, Joyce Ward, Greg Williams

Guests: Ellen Abbey, Amy Geiszler-Jones, Cyndy Hodge, Tom Veltman
Absent: Fawn Beckman, Shannon Bowman-Roberts, Don Brooks
Excused: Garret Moyer, Jane Eshelman, Margaret Ford, Larry Ingram.

1. Opening
President Harp opened the meeting and informed the guests that the official senate meeting would take place first, before the alternative to civil service presentation.

Approval of minutes from November. Copy of revised minutes were distributed. Senator Kellogg moved minutes be accepted as revised and Norton seconded. All approved. Minutes accepted as distributed.

2. Proposal to combine EEO groups
President Harp distributed a draft of a proposal to combine two of the EEO Groups. Article 7, section A, states that the executive counsel is made up of one senator from each category. In sparsely populated categories that only have one senator, this now requires those senators to serve on the executive council both terms. Section B provides the option to combine sparsely populated categories. The executive council agreed that some changes needed to be made. Category C has 12 employees; it can be combined with F and which would allow them two senators (40 people). Category D combined with Category G would allow them 5 senators. Lloyd moved that the above categories be combined and changed from nine to seven categories. Norton seconded the motion. All in favor. Motion carried.

3. Election of new vice president
Charles Eaton submitted his resignation as vice president as he has been reclassified. Harp asked for nominations for vice president: Wanda Hughes was nominated by Lloyd Harp and Charles Eaton. No other nominations were accepted. Unanimous decision. Hughes will complete the term for vice president and Eaton will remain on the senate until his reclassification becomes effective.

4. Committee Reports
Community Service - Susan Fordyce – On personal cell phone recycling for Special Olympics, they will wait until after the holidays to put out recycling boxes. Larry Ingram, Susan and Bill Patton, have received their food handlers license in order to be able to volunteer at the Lord’s Diner or other places that need volunteer help. They will contact the Lord’s Diner after January to see when they need help, probably one evening during the week and on Saturday’s. Norton will get that information out. If you wish to volunteer, the mandatory food handling course can be taken at1900 E 9th, Dept of Environmental Services.

Holiday Tree Lighting – Val reported that the event was very well attended and the weather finally cleared off. We had some trouble with the lights this year, which delayed the decorating, but finally got them on. Guest, Ellen Abbey, stated that she was questioned by someone wanting to know why we called this event the “holiday” tree lighting, and not the Christmas Tree Lighting. No one seemed to know. Val thought that several years ago we were requested to call it “holiday” so we would not offend anyone.

Newsletter – Try to have second newsletter out around January 15.

Position paper – Feb 15th is the date set to go to Legislative Day. Nothing else to report.

Meet Your Senator – very low attendance. Need to meet at first of senate year and decide whether to continue. Has not been well attended.

Shocker Pride - Harp stated that this committee has not met yet. He will be contacting real soon. They need to start selecting employees of the year. Three are selected from each senate.

5. Presentation on University Support Staff (Alternative to Civil Service)
The core committee made up of Ellen Abbey, Amy Geisler-Jones, Cyndy Hodge, Lloyd Harp and Tom Veltman, gave the first of many open forums on the University Support Staff proposal for classified staff. At the end of the presentation, senators and guests were invited to ask questions. There is another open forum scheduled for December 16 and also in January. There will be additional ones scheduled for spring.

6. As May Arise - A welcome back reception for faculty, students, and staff will be held on Thursday, January 19, 2:00p.m. – 5:00p.m.. The RSC is sponsoring other events to go along with this reception. Please let your constituents know.

No other discussion.

Meeting adjourned
Val Peck, Secretary

January 11, 2006

Present: Donna Belt , Don Brooks, William Cooper, Charles Eaton, Jane Eshelman, Lori Evans, Margaret Ford, Susan Fordyce, Lloyd Harp, William Heard, Wanda Hughes, Larry Ingram, Cathy James, Shelly Kellogg, Sheryl McKelvey, Garrett Moyer, William Patton, Val Peck, Sonja Schroeder, Willa Shelton, Joyce Ward, Doug Weber

Absent: Fawn Beckman, Shannon Bowman-Roberts, Gregory Williams
Excused: Steve Carlson, Robbie Norton

1. Opening and Minutes
President Harp announced that it would be a quick meeting as we didn't have a speaker today. On attendance roster note that Brooks was at the December meeting. Just missed the sign-in sheet. Correction to minutes: in Item 2, sixth sentence, strike “and” after “combined with F. . .” Minutes approved with correction.

2. Possible Change in Constitution
President Harp couldn't come up with change, but it had something to do with senators being responsible for their duties. Will table until the next meeting.

3. Committee Reports
Position paper - Lloyd will contact his committee in a few days. He and Charles are planning on going to Topeka on Feb 15 for Legislative Day. Anyone else that would like to go please let them know. Notify constituents and that he will need to know by the end of January if they want to go. He would really like to take a big group. KU is helping Lloyd to set up since we sponsored the position paper this year.

Newsletter - got a tentative copy from Tom Veltman. They are making a few changes and should be about ready to go.

Elections - Shelly apologized for the errors. Getting a lot of ballots back. She asked us to remind constituents that ballots are due Friday. Need to send Shelly a notice on the ballot if they don't want to be nominated. She will try to have back out by Jan 20. Ballots are color coded. Will need help with calling when they come in. Doug said thanks for knowing who was on his group. Shelly will send out new lists.

Community Service - Susan has address of Department of Environmental Health, 1900 E 9th St. They have a class at 8:30 which is two hours. After that they will have a food handler card. Three are going to prepare evening meal at homeless shelter. Have to be there at 4:00 and out around 6 :00 or 7:00. The Lord’s Diner is next on Jan 24.. Should hear from them tomorrow. Send to senators via e-mail.

Cell phone and cartridge recycling is difficult. Need to decide what to do about that. That cell phone program actually ends on Jan 31. Senator Ward stated that there is a cell phone store that takes old cell phones even if they don't work - on South Seneca. Women’s crisis center also takes cell phones. Lori Evans said that Odyssey is desperately seeking volunteers.

ShockerPride - Lloyd is chair and will get started right away. The senate needs to get a list of three employees to be selected. We should be getting in the mail soon. Be thinking of who you would like to nominate. Lori would be happy to send her list of contacts for prizes.

4. As May Arise
Town Hall meetings have been going well. Have not scheduled anymore at this time. They are planning on one to be held in February, two in March, and one in April. Health Professions is having a private session on January 31, in 214 Ahlberg Hall at 10:30. There will be one this Friday, Jan 13. Val suggested a noon hour presentation and Sheryl suggested a brown bag option to go with it. Ellen and Tom are working on adding questions to the website so those that have already attended can be aware of what may have been added since the presentation they attended.

Harp stated that he felt the Governor’s state of the state address was pretty vague, but is an election year. He went through 307 pages of budget. The part that involves us is probably 5-7 pages. Sebelius is recommending we get a 2.5% COLA. She is also trying to implement a retention incentive for retention in the building trade staff. Starting in January 06 the state will start paying 90% of dependents who would be eligible for HealthWave. Also recommended funding longevity for next year. He also received an e-mail from John Williams referencing an article from the Lawrence Journal World that was summary of the Gov’s address. Dr. Beggs is upset that other universities are not using their money like it was designated for the crumbling classroom project.

Shelly moved meeting be adjourned. Don Brooks seconded. Meeting adjourned.

Val Peck, Secretary

February 8, 2006

Present: Donna Belt, Don Brooks, William Cooper, Charles Eaton, Jane Eshelman, Lori Evans, Susan Fordyce, Lloyd Harp, William Heard, Wanda Hughes, Cathy James, Shelly Kellogg, Sheryl McKelvey, Robbie Norton, William Patton, Sonja Schroeder, Willa Shelton, Joyce Ward, Douglas Weber

Absent: Fawn Beckman, Shannon Bowman-Roberts, Larry Ingram, Gregory Williams
Excused: Steve Carlson, Margaret Ford, Garret Moyer, Val Peck

1. Opening
President Harp thanked everyone for coming given that this is a busy time of year for meetings. He announced that Elizabeth King, President and CEO of WSU Foundation, will speak at our April meeting and that he plans to invite someone from the Office of Admissions to provide a short presentation about student recruitment at our March meeting.
Also in March, we will be taking nominations and vote for the position of president elect. People who are currently serving as senators may vote and incoming senators will also be eligible for nomination and election to the office. Outgoing senators can also nominate and vote. Official presidential term ends in May.

2. Committee Reports
Election Committee – Shelly distributed the 2006 Election Roster. Shelly & Wanda met and counted the votes on February 7th. They are still trying to contact those elected. As soon as roster is set, it will be e-mailed to everyone as a PDF file. Category D is one short, Category E & F are each two short at this time awaiting return phone calls.

Legislative Day – President Harp reported that they currently have three people committed to going from WSU to Legislative Day but have room for several more. Those attending will meet at the police station at 6 a.m. and return around 6 p.m. Classified employees can be on the clock but cannot earn overtime. He needs names soon so that he can divide up the groups. WSU is responsible for organizing this event and if anyone has additional information they would like to add to the information packets, please send to President Harp.

Shocker Pride Picnic – To date, only two nominations for awards have been submitted. Deadline for nominations is March 1st and results must be forwarded to President Beggs by March 15th. The picnic will be held on April 26th.

3. USS Proposal
So far, about 200 employees have attended the open forums held earlier and the committee received a lot of input from constituents. Some classified employees want WSU to wait and see what happens with KU before proceeding with our own proposal.

President Harp pointed out the article in the Classified Times that includes an update on the USS Proposal. The Board of Regents attorneys received a copy of the proposal but had some issues they would like to see addressed. Namely, they feel that we are not authorized to change the benefits package so this is under review and presentations have been temporarily suspended. The committee’s argument is that Fort Hays State University has an added benefit that is not available to other institutions so this should not be an issue.

Many supervisors have expressed support for the proposal since they would then have the ability to reward employees for good work which in turn may encourage better performance from others.

President Harp expressed the committee’s appreciation for professional conduct throughout all of the open forums. He related that KU’s contract is still growing and that he hopes that Legislative Day will generate additional benefits for all classified staff.

4. As May Arise
President Harp did not have the January minutes so he indicated that both January and February minutes will be voted on at the March meeting.

5. Adjournment
Robbie Norton moved for adjournment, Charles Eaton seconded, meeting adjourned at 4:03 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Lori Evans
For Val Peck, Secretary

March 8, 2006

Present: Don Brooks, Steve Carlson, Jane Eshelman, Lori Evans, Susan Fordyce, Lloyd Harp, William Heard, Wanda Hughes, Larry Ingram, Cathy James, Shelly Kellogg, Sheryl McKelvey, Garrett Moyer, Robbie Norton, William Patton, Val Peck, Sonja Schroeder, Doug Weber

Absent: Fawn Beckman, Shannon Bowman-Roberts, William Cooper, Charles Eaton, Gregory Williams
Excused: Donna Belt, Margaret Ford, Willa Shelton, Joyce Ward

1. Opening and Minutes
President Harp welcomed everyone.
President asked for motion to approve minutes as written. Don Brooks moved to accept minutes. Robbie Norton seconded. All in favor. Minutes accepted as written.

2. Presentation by Office of Admissions
Gina Crabtree, Director of Admissions, enlightened us on the functions of their office. She stated that there are three areas of admissions - Undergraduate - domestic students (US citizens), Graduate School and International admissions. Her department focuses on Undergraduate domestic students. Their department’s three major activities are recruiting, processing information from traveling representatives (recruiters) and programming (event planning). They now have recruiters that focus on different areas. One recruiter is assigned to the Wichita Schools, another is assigned to the surrounding area, which has improved recruitment to area schools. Major events include the Distinguished Scholarship Invitational, JR & SR days, and the Harry Gore Scholarship awards. Individual campus visits and focusing on follow-up is the emphasis of their program. High School guests are a big push for admissions. Crabtree complimented her great shocker staff. She stated that they are always in need of volunteers to help with events and they will train beforehand.
The admissions offices moved to the Marcus Welcome Center when it opened and Gina invited the senate to take a tour of the center. This building has an auditorium and three meeting rooms that can be opened into one large meeting room. They can have smaller groups of prospective students in their building but cannot host large programs there because attendance is so large.

Admissions was the first to go live on the new banner system. The most difficult part currently is with working both systems. After summer registration they will be totally banner. Fall students will all be enrolling thru the portal. If questions, call at 3172.

3. Committee Reports
Legislative Day - President Harp and senators Hughes, Eaton, Moyer, and Brooks went to Topeka on February 15. State Senator Peggy Palmer wanted them to work on her agenda. Those senators attending felt it was hard to make an impact in election year. HB 2743 - Holiday Bill - stuck in committee last time Harp checked.
Lloyd has been following two bills - HB 2897 and SB 577. HB 2897 would re-institute the step increases. It went to committee on February 20. Doesn't look like it will go anywhere. If passed, it would guarantee steps would be funded from now on. If at top of scale, you wouldn't receive any increase this year. SB 577. Funds a step increase for next year (2.5%) for everyone beginning on July 2. People that are topped out would also get the increase. This bill would not annually fund step increases, would be in place of a COLA. This bill has passed the senate. It is now in the House of Representatives, in committee. Senators Phil Journey and Susan Wagle voted against this bill. Wagle is possibly going to be the running mate for Barnett (governor).

Mike Turner said the State Department of Administration is looking at the classified system and how it is set up. They are considering building a new system which would use a concept called broad banding. They could have a model this year which as part of its changes would replace the pay matrix. The Department of Administration is given statute policy to make changes in the classified system such as reclassifications, etc. They do not have to go through legislature. If classified employees get a 2.5% increase, WSU would have to fund 36% of the increase.

Community Service - Susan Fordyce. Three classified senators have gotten their food handlers license and served at several places including the Lords Dinner and the Union Rescue Mission. Susan has had a few contact her. She said if anyone would like to go through the food handling licensing and then serve, she would be happy to provide them information. Let Susan know if you go so they can keep track of who has their license.

Newsletter - Waiting to publish until after Shocker Pride.

Shocker Pride - Lloyd in charge and only person he has talked to is Steven. He needs one or two others to help in the selections for recommendations for the Presidents Awards. There have been eight classified employees nominated. Shelly Kellogg and Wanda Hughes volunteered to serve. He has to have recommendations to Dr. Beggs by March 15.
Nomination and Election of President Elect - Lloyd nominated Wanda Hughes as vice president elect. Motion seconded. He opened the floor for nominations. Jane Eshelman moved that nominations cease. Robbie Norton seconded. All in favor. None opposed. Motion passed. Congratulations to Wanda Hughes as the new president for 2006-07.

4. As May Arise
Lloyd attended a budget meeting earlier this week. Indications are that basically for the next year, we need over $44M in tuition moneys, an increase of over $2M. Administration thinks tuition will increase to 7%. Big increases were the 2.5% salary increase for all employees which would cost the University over $2M, and the fringe benefit increase. Also factored in was $60,000 for retention and increases for longevity (no $ amount given). Increased utility rates are estimated at $750,000 and the operating support for the new building by Engineering, $400,000. They removed over $1,000,000 for the 27th payday of last year. SGA will increase student fees by about the same percentage. Student fees may increase from $21.85 to $23.35 per credit hour this fall.

The budget for Classified Senate is nearly all spent - $21.05 left. Mike Turner will find money so that we can print our last newsletter of the year and also certificates for outgoing senators.

Tuition Assistance applications for summer are due Shelly suggests getting applications in early.

Harp asked for motion to adjourn meeting. Don Brooks moved to adjourn. Garret Moyer seconded. All in favor. Motion passed.

Meeting adjourned,
Val Peck, Secretary

April 12, 2006

Present: Donna Belt, Don Brooks, Steve Carlson, Jane Eshelman, Lori Evans, Margaret Ford, Susan Fordyce, Lloyd Harp, Wanda Hughes, Cathy James, Shelly Kellogg, Sheryl McKelvey, Garrett Moyer, William Patton, Val Peck, Sonja Schroeder, Willa Shelton, Joyce Ward, Doug Weber

Absent: Fawn Beckman, Shannon Bowman-Roberts, William Cooper, William Heard, Larry Ingram, Gregory Williams
Excused: Robbie Norton

1. Welcome
President Harp opened the meeting and extended a welcome to all.

2. Dr. Elizabeth King, Vice President for University Advancement
Dr. Elizabeth King, Vice President for University Advancement, presented her annual report on the Foundation. She has been Director of the foundation since 1991. In July she will become the new CEO of the Foundation. The announcement was made early because a lot of things had to transpire to make the transition possible. Dr. King also introduced her assistant, Pat.

Dr King reported that in 1991, the Foundation was at $57 million and in 1993 the market had grown to $67 million. It is now at more than $138 million.

The Foundation mission statement is “Working to Assure a University of Excellence.” The “We Are WSU” campaign was originally the “people” campaign. New endowed funds as of March 31, 2006 are comprised of 50 undergraduate scholarships, 10 new faculty of distinction professorships and for faculty $22,834,311 in cash in pledges. Of that, 21 million has been received. Some of their marketing initiatives include the Wichita Business Journal, “Shocker” Magazine, Horizon, and Shocker Athletics.

Goals: Terre Johnson, associate vice president for development, will be working towards students and faculty. Dr. And Mrs. Beggs realize that classified staff salaries are not what they should be, so several years ago they created a scholarship for the children of physical plant employees.

At the end of FY-05, the foundation was valued at $138,900,000; at the end of this fiscal year it will be at approximately $160 million, with approximately $11 million in art and sculpture.

The five year giving history has been very high the last few years. Non-scholarship funds represent $1.6 million in 164 funds and $1.7 million for scholarship funds out of 651 funds. Total support provided this fiscal year is close to $10.6 million. Payout on endowed funds has grown from 4.9 % to over 10%. Approximately $18.8 million in monies have been raised this year. Contracted or governmental monies do not go through the foundation. A list of endowed scholarships is available. They will be on line by category in the future.

3. Minutes
President Harp asked for motion to accept the minutes as written. Senator Kellogg moved that minutes be accepted as written. Senator Evans seconded the motion. All in favor. Motion carried.

4. Policy Change
President Harp stated that he was asked by John Williams to make the classified senate aware that the faculty senate has asked Dr. Beggs to place exclusionary language in a policy regarding classified employees not being involved in interviews for vice presidents, faculty chairs, and search committees. This is strictly informational at this time. The president’s meeting will be on Friday, April 14. Lloyd said he will be able to give us more information regarding those possible changes at the next senate meeting.The classified senate was involved in the interviews for the vice president for academic affairs. Several senates had representatives there. Kellogg suggested that we let Dr. Beggs know that we feel it is important to not have that policy changed.

5. Wanda Hughes, 2006-07 President
An e-mail has been received from Heather Winsor of Pittsburg State University. PSU suggests that instead of preparing a position paper as in the past, that a bill be created to present to legislators. Lloyd said that many legislators have asked if we have a bill to present. Getting this bill started would require the senates to meet during the summer. Lloyd said PSU has suggested using the distance learning program instead of traveling. Wanda stated that WSU would have use of the equipment in Education when they are ready to meet. The new WSU senate needs to get their vice president in place right away so they can be ready to meet. Hughes asked if the senate thought they could be ready to meet in May. Senators agreed they could. The legislative committee will need to be chosen and ready to go. The dates begin May 22. The new senate will need to make a motion next month.

6. Committee Reports
Shocker Pride - Lloyd Harp, Chair. The committee has not met, but have chosen the three representatives. They still need to get door prizes. He will give the committee a list so they can divide their calls to get those. The picnic is Wednesday, April 26. Shelly Kellogg advised senators to get their lunch tickets reserved by the established deadline, as lunch is by reservation only.

Newsletter - Robbie Norton - They will wait until after the Shocker Pride picnic to publish the last newsletter of the year.

7. As May Arise
Susan Fordyce - stated that some senators have received their food handler cards and have gone to some of the places to work. She feels it should end now. It now belongs to Advocate for Homeless People that is run by Interfaith Ministries. She feels it would be more beneficial to go through them. There are over 750 homeless people in Wichita, some of which are families. They are hoping to be ready in 2008. Contact Susan if interested. This facility will house homeless people and will be staffed with social/case workers, clerical, and medical. Their goal is to try to get people moved up and out of the situation. An added service to Union Rescue Mission.

Shelly reminded us that tuition assistance is due this Friday.

Per Lloyd, the omnibus bill is over 200 pages long. Finding out that the legislature is trying to get a raise for classified senate - will give us a 1.5% raise immediately and in September will give a step increase, even those at step 15. Dept of Administration is trying to work on raises for classified employees. Supervisors are frustrated that they cannot reward their best employees. They have talked about hiring a consultant to evaluate the pay system. Contact the legislators and ask them to support that bill.

Lori - why do we get double taxed on KPERS. If you stay in KS, will not be taxed when receiving at retirement. May get taxed if moving to a different state.

Cathy James said that they are going to have their own state job fair on Sept 13.

Senator Kellogg moved to adjourn the meeting. Motion was seconded by Garrett Moyer.

Meeting Adjourned,
Val Peck, Secretary

May 10, 2006

Present: Donna Belt , George Corbin, Jane Eshelman, Lori Evans, Margaret Ford, Susan Fordyce, Lloyd Harp, William Heard, Wanda Hughes, Larry Ingram, Cathy James, Shelly Kellogg, Kelly Klubek, Brenda Lehman, Sheryl McKelvey, Garrett Moyer, Robbie Norton, Val Peck, Sonja Schroeder, David Snook, Julie Spyres, Joyce Ward, Doug Weber

Absent: Fawn Beckman, Shannon Bowman-Roberts, Steve Carlson, William Cooper, William Patton, Willa Shelton, Gregory Williams
Excused: Don Brooks, Karen Fitzpatrick, Traci McKelvey, Valerie Pittier, Bernie Smith

1. Welcome
Out-going President Harp welcomed all new senators and asked both retiring and new senators to introduce themselves.
Harp asked for motion to approve minutes of April 12, 2006 meeting as written. Senator Norton moved minutes be accepted as written. Senator Evans seconded motion. All in favor. Motion passed.

2. Classified Senate Raises - List of Jobs
Harp stated that Senate Bill 480, page 167, is where the verbiage regarding our raises was located. If you want to see the bill, go to the Kansas Legislature’s website. We will receive a 1-1/2% raise now and in late September a step raise. Lloyd indicated that this was the best raise in nine years and the first step raise in over six years. Kellogg noted that a memo was sent to all classified employees from Human Resources. Lloyd distributed list of job classes in building trades that will get an additional 30 cent per hour raise.

Harp noted that Dr. King talked about Terre Johnson in her presentation at the April meeting. Mr. Johnson wants to develop a committee to work with the faculty, classified, and unclassified staff to develop scholarships for people on campus. He is looking for people from the new senate to serve on this committee to meet three to four times during the year. If interested in serving, please contact Wanda.

3. Awarding of Certificates
Certificates were presented to all out-going senators in appreciation of service to the classified senate. Outgoing Senators are: Donna Belt, William Cooper, Lori Evans, Susan Fordyce, Charles Eaton, Margaret Ford, Lloyd Harp, William Heard, Wanda Hughes, Cathy James, Garrett Moyer, Robbie Norton, Val Peck, Joyce Ward. Moyer and Hughes are serving a second term.

Shelly Kellogg presented Lloyd Harp with a plaque in honor of his service as president for the past two years. Harp stated that it has been pleasure to serve and he’s learned so much. He also stated that he has looked to all the senators for their help. No one person can do the job by themselves. He feels that a lot has been accomplished the past two years, including the best raises in 9 years. He was pleased and honored to have been elected to serve.

4. Committee Reports
Shocker Pride Picnic - Lori Evans said the picnic went great and there was a great crowd. They had eight people that were nominated. Harp said it was very tough to pick out the top three.
Newsletter Committee - Robbie Norton said the Newsletter is ready for final draft and should go out May 15.
Community Service- Susan Fordyce: Committee is still on-going and actively involved until turned over to the Advocates for Homeless. Susan is secretary and on Tuesdays attends meetings from 3:30 - 7:00. They have about 45 churches involved now. They will be present at the River Festival. The senate’s part is sharing cooking and cleaning duties at Safe Haven, Lord's Diner and assist in serving food at the homeless shelters. Now have 743 homeless that have been identified. A lot of them are mentally handicapped and need protection as well. There are only about half that number of beds available. They want to build a new establishment called Transitional Living Center for the Homeless. Their aim is to get them to the stage of becoming an employed tax payer and into their own residence once again in life. Please feel free to call Susan for information if you would like to attend a meeting; the General Committee meets at 4:30 on Tuesdays. Susan can be reached at 978-7962.

Treasurer’s Report - Lloyd: On May 1 there was $21.05 in our account. They spent $8.91 on certificates, which left a balance of $12.14. The newsletter takes from $110 - $150 to produce. Mike Turner, OHR, has agreed to cover that expense.

5. President Wanda Hughes, 2006-2007
- Election of Officers -
President Hughes reported that she has had one nomination for vice president - Garrett Moyer. She asked for nominations from the floor. There were none submitted. Senator Corbin moved that nominations cease. Larry Ingram seconded. All in favor. None opposed. No abstentions. Motion passed. Moyer duly elected as vice president.

Hughes submitted one nomination for secretary - Jane Eshelman. No other nominations were received from floor. Brenda Lehman seconded the nomination. All in favor. None opposed. No Abstentions. Eshelman duly elected as secretary of the senate.

- Replacement of Senators: Hughes also stated that they would need to replace some senators for 2006-07.
EEO groups needing filled are D and B (Greg Williams and Steve Carlson). Ted Hogan is retiring as well. Kellogg stated that she has sent letters to people in those categories and are waiting for those people to respond. There aren't many spares available. Kellogg asked if no people volunteered for these groups, can they pull people from EEO B. Can they appoint people if they don't have anyone. Category D should be first. Harp thought the constitution would allow for that. He stated that we have to have 16 to have a quorum for vote. Kellogg suggested giving EEO D until the end of May to respond. Then appoint from another EEO group. It was moved that we appoint people from other EEO’s if none in the groups responded by May 31. All in favor. None opposed. No abstentions. Motion carried.

New senator Juli Spyres volunteered for EEO B; David Snook volunteered in EEO D.

- Legislative Committee
President Hughes stated that they needed to get the legislative committee members selected immediately so they could start on the creation of their bill. Those who volunteered are: Garret Moyer, Sheryl McKelvey, and Kelly Klubek. Hughes said that Don Brooks had contacted her and wanted to serve also. Hughes said that PSU wants to start working shortly. Possible dates are: May 22, 23, 24, 25, or 31 and June 1 or 2. Let Wanda know when available so they can get the date scheduled. They are going to use the Distance Learning Service so they won't have to travel. This will allow the senates to have a “Bill” prepared when they go to Topeka in February, rather than a position paper. A bill is perceived by legislators as more powerful.

6. As May Arise
Nothing to report.

Jane Eshelman moved the meeting be adjourned. Larry Ingram seconded motion. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned.

Secretary,
Val Peck

I would like to say how much I have enjoyed being on the senate and being your secretary for the past 4+ years. I will miss all of you and do wish you the best the next upcoming terms. I will look forward to being able to “read” the minutes, instead of having to “write” them.
Thanks for all of your support over these years.
Val