Collegewide Staff Council Meeting

Absent: Joanna Branham (WPC)

Introductions of new members to the Collegewide Staff Council were made. Jeff Kurtz is vice chair of the Downtown Center Staff Council; Becky Hopkins is serving as vice chair of the East Campus Council; and Donna Hopkins is vice chair of the Osceola Council.

For purposes of minutes and collegewide publications, representatives agreed that the formal name AStaff Council@ should be used rather than ACareer Staff Council@ or ACareer Service Council.@

Lorraine Whipple distributed a listing of Staff Council representation for each of the campuses/locations from its inception to current officers.

Lorraine Whipple distributed lists of Career Service employee representation on councils, committees, and task groups. She advised that a request has been received for a Career Staff employee to serve on a Bookstore Policy and Procedure Review team. Based on the preferred experience and background indicated in the request, it was suggested that either an East or West Campus employee be selected. It was agreed that Angela Lawrence, West Campus, represent the Staff Council.

Copies of the Staff Council brochure were distributed for review. Becky Hopkins offered to make revisions to the brochure, and will distribute drafts prior to reprinting. The name Staff Council will be used consistently in the brochure; however, it=s important that the term ACareer Service@ be incorporated within the body of the brochure to designate the employee classification for which the councils are intended. Also, the inclusion of part-time employees will be added.

Lorraine Whipple prepared and distributed minutes from previous meetings of the Collegewide Council for which minutes had not been taken. Representatives were asked to review the minutes and forward any comments or changes to Lorraine. It was also suggested that minutes of all Staff Council meetings be kept objective and relay the content of the meetings as positively as possible. The Osceola representatives were reminded to forward minutes of the Osceola Campus Staff Council meetings to the collegewide representatives.

New college letterhead including the two new trustees is now available in Marketing and Media Relations. Orders for the letterhead can be placed on-line or via telephone. Old letterhead can be cut and used for scratch pads.

The Educational Services Redesign was discussed. It does not appear that all departments or supervisors sufficiently informed their staff of their reassignments or job status. Many employees are confused about the redesign and anxious about their positions and/or possible relocation. It was suggested that concerned employees contact Human Resources. Lorraine Whipple noted that since the redesign is for the purpose of making the enrollment and registration process for students more learning centered, career service employees have a unique opportunity to engage in and apply the principles of the Strategic Learning Goals by accepting the changes with a positive outlook, even though they might not receive their job preferences initially. It=s also important that Staff Council leadership encourage career service employees on their respective campuses to maintain an optimistic attitude throughout the redesign phases. One of the key positive components of the redesign is the large number of promotional opportunities that have opened up for Career Staff.

College Learning Council Report B Deborah Donohue indicated she has not been invited to any meetings yet. Lorraine Whipple will follow up to ensure that Deborah is added to the College Learning Council=s membership roster.

College Planning Council Report B Carol Janz indicated that the recent focus of this group has been on the upcoming SACS Accreditation Team visit. All College employees are encouraged to wear their name badges during the Team=s visit March 31-April 3.

Executive Council Report B Debi Jakubcin reported that the redesign of Educational Services has been the major focus of the Executive Council. The anxiety being experienced by employees was unavoidable and every effort is being made to reduce this anxiety. The SACS Accreditation site visit was also discussed by the Executive Council.

Dr. Stan Stone will remain the liaison for the Staff Council following his promotion to Vice President for Diversity and Human Resources. Also, any collegewide issues brought up during Staff Council meetings should be relayed to Lorraine Whipple to ensure their inclusion on the issues list.

Lorraine Whipple suggested thinking of creative, innovative ways to increase Staff Council participation at the campus level. Possible ideas include hosting small, departmental receptions or sponsoring contests. Participation at Staff Council meetings by career service employees should be encouraged by supervisors. And, every effort should be made to keep the meetings upbeat and positive.

Priscilla Yamin joined the meeting to discuss the Staff Council=s web page. It was the consensus of the group to incorporate the Staff Council=s current web page into the College=s website. Once the initial information is downloaded and organized, each campus will need to designate someone to update their web information. It was also suggested to take digital pictures of Staff Council events to post on the web page.

Campus Reports

East Campus

The recent election process was challenged and new procedures for next year have been developed.

Debi Jakubcin spoke about the status of the Wellness Program and indicated that a proposal will be submitted to Dr. Shugart in April.

West Campus

There are discrepancies in the handling of overtime. Some departments/supervisors don=t give their employees the choice of overtime payment or compensatory time off. Also, the timeliness of receiving overtime payment varies from department to department, resulting in some employees not receiving their overtime compensation until two or three months after they=ve worked the overtime.

This issue has not been raised by any of the other Staff Councils, which indicates that the delays in processing time cards and overtime compensation forms might be primarily a West Campus issue. However, the Collegewide Staff Council members agreed that there should be consistency in compensating for overtime throughout the entire college. Lorraine Whipple offered to begin an investigation into the situation to bring about a resolution that would be consistent with College policies and procedures.

The West Campus Staff Council is very pleased with the new lettering on the Student Services Building.

It was suggested that College employees have a special enrollment day, such as that offered to Honors students, disabled students and student leaders.

The West Campus Staff Council commended those employees that were a part of the Spring Term registration. Victor Collazo should also be commended for his tireless efforts during registration.

Downtown Center

The Downtown Center=s Staff Council held a meeting in February at which Sonya Joseph spoke to the Council about the Educational Services Redesign. Sonya answered many questions from the Council members and provided hand-outs regarding the redesign.

Osceola Campus

Deborah Donohue earned her Bachelor=s Degree in Psychology in December 2002.

Covered walkways and shelters are being constructed at the Osceola Campus thanks to Silvia Zapico.

Winter Park Campus

A retreat for the Winter Park Staff Council leadership was held in January.

In an effort to familiarize offices with each other, Mingle Mondays will be held monthly, with the first one being sponsored by the Winter Park Staff Council. Staff Council information will be disseminated at this event. A drawing will be held to determine the host of next month=s Mingle Monday.

Staff members are still requesting a change machine to be placed in the vending machine area at the Winter Park Campus.

Election of Chair

The collegewide representatives of the Staff Council unanimously decided to retain Lorraine Whipple as Chair of the group.

Next Meeting

It was requested that a review of the Collegewide Issues List be included on the agenda at the next meeting, which will be held May 8, at 8:30 a.m. at the Osceola Campus.