Collegewide Staff Council Meeting

Absent: Jeff Kurtz (DTC)

Lorraine opened the meeting by informing the group that she will be moving to North Carolina with her husband in early October. She will be available to assist in the Staff Council’s responsibilities for the College Assembly to be held on September 16, 2003.

Lorraine also stated that funding has been approved to bring in an outside speaker for the one of the two Career Staff portions of the College Assembly. The speaker will address Career Staff during a morning session, which will be held in the PEC.

Discussion was then held regarding the afternoon session which the Staff Council has responsibility for planning. Since the Career Staff will not break into discussion groups during the morning session similar to the Faculty, Professional and Administrative groups, it was suggested that some type of survey be distributed in order to gather information and gage the “temperature” of Career Service employees. The survey tool would allow for anonymity, but would ask for department, length of service, and other pertinent information that would enable the Staff Council to accurately analyze the responses. Possible survey questions were as follows:

§ What do you know about the Staff Council?

§ What do you want to see done by the Staff Council

§ Do you feel appreciated in your job?

§ Do you get credit for the work you do?

§ Do you feel you have a voice at Valencia?

Some concern was raised that those completing the surveys would feel the need for instant gratification or immediate results from the survey. It will be stressed to the group that the surveys will be compiled and feedback will be provided to and discussed with the College’s executive staff. Concern was also raised regarding the Staff Council becoming adversarial. Emphasis will be placed to keep the questions of a positive nature. It is important to not let the afternoon session become a gripe session; we need to be productive. It was also suggested to not ask the dreaded “learning-centered” question.

Lorraine asked the group what we want to accomplish during the afternoon session, and responses included:

§ Keep it positive; use humor

§ Provide information

§ List the accomplishments of the Staff Council with specific examples for each campus

§ Hold a collegewide Staff Council meeting

§ Get feedback regarding what Career Staff want from the Staff Council

Breaking the afternoon session into three 15-minute sessions will work best, with one part for business, one part humor and one part for questions and answers (get feedback on how to make the Staff Council better). It was suggested to start and finish the session with a pep rally-type event and to show appreciation for Career Staff employees.

Discussion was held regarding the showing of a motivational video such as “Fish Philosophy.” Debi Jakubcin suggested a video that she has seen, “Get on the Bus.” Debi described the movie as being about 10 minutes long with the main character as Reggie the bus driver. The group agreed that “Get on the Bus” was a great idea and would work well for a theme for the afternoon session. Discussion was held regarding ways we can incorporate the theme into the message we are trying to deliver during the afternoon session. Suggestions were:

§ Keep a positive attitude/positive work experience

§ Smile instead of frown

§ Enjoy your job/enjoy the journey

§ Without students, we wouldn’t have jobs

§ Teamwork (none of us is as smart as all of us)

The idea of having a skit was discussed and the group was asked to consider this idea and provide ideas at our next meeting. It was suggested to ask George, from East Campus Financial Aid, to act in the role of Reggie the bus driver. Dialogue will have to be kept short and will need to be spoken loudly. Lorraine will contact Plant Operations to discuss building a bus prop to be used for the skit.

The idea of having a PowerPoint presentation showing the Grapevine Award recipients was also discussed. These people could be referred to as “star passengers” on the bus.

Becky Hopkins will make “bus tickets” with sequential numbering to be handed out at the beginning of the session and to be used for awarding door prizes. A set of matching numbers will be made to be used for the drawing. Winners must be present to win, and if not, then another number will be drawn. Several people volunteered to collect prizes from vendors.

Music suggestions for the theme were provided as: The Wheels on the Bus Go Round & Round, Crazy Bus, and Magic Bus.

It is felt that it is very important to show the executive staff that the Staff Council is capable of providing a positive, informative event to the Career Staff for the afternoon session.

The next meeting of the Collegewide Staff Council representatives will be held on August 21, at 8:30 a.m. in the gym on the East Campus. Debi Jakubcin will make arrangements to show the video “Get on the Bus.”