Minutes of Staff Council Meeting
July 12, 2007

*APPROVED*

In Attendance: Joe Bialek, Lynda DallaPegorara, Toby Davis, Navae Fenwick, Chris Gentes, Merrilyn Lewis, Maureen Litwin, Kathryn Messier, Trish Mailler, Ken Molnar, Barbara Pliska, Rick Rubin, Bill Sheehan, Becca Washut, Kathy Yarnell

Absent: Stacey Anasazi, Sandy Bycenski, Alicia Guidiotti, Pattie Lumbra, Jen Matos, Sabrina Marsh, Sara Punsky, Pat Rist, Sam Rush, Jenny Silver, Janet Spongberg, Art Usher, John Zaikowski

Minutes from June 7 meeting were approved with corrections.  Becca will make corrections and send to Chris to include on Staff Council webpage.

General Announcements

• Should keep meeting days consistent.  Although we met on the second Thursday this month, we’ll be meeting on the first Thursday in future months.

Personnel Policy Committee Updates

• Ergonomic assessments
• The same firm that handles Smith’s workman’s comp. cases handles ergonomic assessments
• Any office can request to have one done for them
• The firm can see 3-5 people about every two weeks, and can usually schedule an emergency consultation if requested
• Any inquiries should be directed to Avril Russell in Human Resources
• Parking
• Lots of discussion
• The last meeting for PPC was held the same day as the Public Safety meeting to discuss the parking situation
• There was a discussion about meters taking over staff parking spaces in the Dickinson lot
• The possibility of a seasonal lot for those who can’t walk or ride their bike to campus at all times
• There should be a demographic analysis of what types of employees live where
• Why should people who live ½ mile from campus receive the monetary benefit?
• It would be beneficial to invite a representative of Public Safety to attend one of our general Staff Council meetings, in order to voice our opinions and questions
• Kudos to those who helped arrange the Staff Picnic
• A roster of Staff Council members was sent to e-digest

Nominations Committee

• Haven’t had a chance to meet yet
• Sandy sent out an e-mail about new member Patty Lumbar

Activities Committee

• There was no June meeting, so no new updates

Communication Committee

• E-digest and meeting with College Relations
• Sam had told Rick that the committee would be meeting with College Relations to discuss improvements that can be made to e-digest
• Will be contacting Judi Marksbury, Laurie Fenlason, and Kristen Cole to set up a time to meet
• People who don’t consistently have access to a computer could be left out by e-mail notices
• There isn’t a way to include attachments on a post in e-digest
• Sam will let the general council know when the meeting with College Relations will take place
• The committee would like to meet one more time before meeting with College Relations
• Next meeting is scheduled for July 17 at 2 p.m.
• Any information you would like discussed at the meeting should be sent to Sam
• Staff Chronicle
• How often should it be sent out?
• Should the format be changed?
• Would it be more productive if it were in e-mail form, rather than paper?
• Staff list serve
• Why was it removed?
• Can we get it back again?
• Is it something we should pursue, as it seems that not many people read e-digest?

Diversity Committee

• Interested in creating opportunities for cross-campus dialogue
• Every month they would like a sub-set of diversity to focus on different events
• They would like to work with other offices on campus, such as the Office of Disability Services, to establish connections
• Try to do a joint venture with other offices
• Would like to start these dialogues and events in the fall

Steering Committee

• Parking issue – seems to be a lot of angst on campus:

• The $50 fee is being tolerated
• Not being addressed:
• Lack of shuttle service – the one at the VA isn’t completed yet, but people are being told they can park there
• The car must be registered with the College to receive the $250 stipend.  Just biking or riding the bus isn’t sufficient to receive the stipend, if you don’t have a car registered
• People with temporary parking permits are parking in the staff spaces
• Should they be parking in the garage?
• Most of the people who live within ½ mile of the campus are faculty, and so are receiving the opt-out option
• Is Public Safety hiring someone full-time to handle parking issues?
• Rick contacted Paul Ominsky
• He would like to meet with us.
• Would like him to come to our Sept. 6 meeting to talk about parking and public safety in general
• Send Rick your questions/concerns so he can send them to Paul before he attends our meeting

Staff Council Project

• Ideas:
• Marketing Staff Council
• People don’t know what we do, or what’s available to them
• Putting a face with the Staff Council
• Rick would like people to attend staff meetings across campus, in order to share our roles with different offices
• Health Initiatives
• Try to link with Harvard Pilgrim to create workshops
• Perhaps have Human Resources and athletics get involved
• Resources that are already available for staff:
• Personal trainer at the gym
• Discounted fitness classes during semesters and summer
• A guide to show people how to properly use the weight machines
• Satellite gyms in Albright basement and King/Scales
• Let Rick know if you’d be interested in helping to organize something
• Diversity
• The possibility of working the with Activities Committee to have a Diversity Fair sometime in the spring

Presidential Appointees

• How are they appointed?
• Are there guidelines for appointment?
• Is it like a staff council position?
• Two terms with an option to renew appointment
• For Merrilyn’s appointment, President Christ was sent a list of people from which to choose
• It would be helpful to have more information about the President Appointee positions so we can be consistent in the future
• Perhaps something in the by-laws, to make the position more defined

Staff Councils at other institutions

• Navae did research on this
• She found some places where an entire day is devoted to staff development
• She would be willing to help with this type of project for Smith
• Brown has a day for personal as well as professional development
• It’s something that's worth mentioning to Human Resources
• How could classes be offered?
• Possibly speak with Abida about doing something here

The next Staff Council meeting is scheduled for Thurs., Aug. 2 at 2 p.m. in the Mary Maples Dunn Room.