Smith College Staff Council
Meeting Minutes
March 6, 2002 (Approved at the April 3,
2002
meeting)
A meeting of the full Staff Council was held on March 6th at 2:15 p.m. in the Mary Maples Dunn Conference Room in Pierce Hall.
Attending: Cristen Abrams, Sandy Bycenski, Carla Coffey, Lakisha Coppedge, Patrick Diggins, Serena Harris, Patty Hayes, Chris Carr Hill, Patty Kimura, Mimi Lempart, Bob Lesko, Merrilyn Lewis, Ann Mayo, Janice McDowell, Steve Monteiro, Sam Rush, Stephanie Schoen, and Bill Sheehan
Excused: Stacey Anasazi, Cyndee Button, Alicia Guidotti, Anne-Marie LaFosse, Patricia Rist, and Michael Washut
I. REVIEW
MINUTES
The February minutes were accepted as
amended.
II. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. Activities: Peter Pan bus offers a lower price and is wheelchair-accessible. A bus trip to New York City is set for April 27th.Wendy Martinez has resigned as co-chair.
They have set up a preliminary monthly schedule of events for the next year.
The next meeting is on March 7th.
B. Communications: The committee met on February 28th. The next Lunch and Learn event is the Gallery Talk by participants in the Staff Visions Art Show on March 13th.
The main focus of the meeting was to discuss the future of the Council Chronicle. Currently the Chronicle is published three times a year and each issue is 12 pages in length. It is recommended that the future editor or co-editor be on Staff Council, be on the Communications Committee and attend the meetings of the Steering Committee. A short survey will be in the next Chronicle and the replies should be sent to the current co-editors.
The committee recommends that two issues be published in the next transitional year. In the future each committee should be responsible for providing the editors with updates of their activities. Since elections are on the horizon and a new committee will be in place, this committee cannot bind the future committee to doing two issues, but the recommendation will be made.
The next meeting is set for April 3rd.
C. Nominations and Elections:Nomination forms will be going out around March 18th, and elections will be held in late April. In response to a request for additional members, Lakisha Coppedge joined this committee.
It was suggested that this committee look at the groups on campus that are underrepresented and work to get representation in those areas.
D. Personnel Policy: Workload Focus Group: The report from Romney Associates should arrive by April 15th.
Classification and Compensation: The task force will take another look at the questionnaire and discuss how the process can be simplified.
360 Review: Will be discussed with Carol Bevan-Bogart and Lianne Sullivan on March 18th.
Employee Concerns: An old checklist that HR previously provided to supervisors to help ensure an effective orientation for new employees was brought up for discussion. A new, updated list would be helpful to new employees and their supervisors.
III. NEW/OLD BUSINESS
Spring Diversity Training ad hoc committee update: The committee met with Carol Bevan-Bogart. It is recommended that the upcoming training take place during the afternoon from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., with a break for dinner, and then continuing from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Dates of April 17th and April 24th were suggested and the ad hoc committee will try to find a trainer that is free on one of those dates.
Fragrance Free ad hoc committee: The committee plans to meet with Laura Rauscher, Disabilities Services Director, who may be aware of any legal issues. The committee proposes it be presented to Staff Council for its recommendation that this issue be brought to the College Council on Community Policy since it is an access and accommodation issue.
Tour of the Physical Plant: The tour is set for March 20th at 10:30 a.m., replacing the new employees' van tour this month. The tour will offer a great opportunity for new employees to meet Staff Council members.
Staff Vision Gallery Show: Mimi thanked those that helped with the reception, which was fun and festive. The show will run until the end of March.
Winter Party/911 Donation: $4,219.53 is the amount that will be sent to a September 11th relief fund. Meg Averill said that Shelly Lazarus, Chair of the Board of Trustees, is a board member of the September 11th Fund. After a discussion about a few different charities and the Faculty Council's suggestions about the donation, a motion was made that we recommend the money be donated to the September 11th Fund. The motion was carried.
The next Staff Council meeting is on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2:15 p.m. in the MMD Conference Room.
Respectfully submitted,
Chris Carr
Hill, Co-Secretary