Dickinson State University
Staff Senate Minutes

January 18, 2007, 1:30 p.m. – Klinefelter Conference Room 107

Members Present:  Laurie Beach, Christie Chernich, Sandy Klein, Timothy Kreidt, Kathy Lang, Mary McDermott, Twila Petersen, Kelly Steffes, Kim Thiel, and Stacy Wilkinson.

Members Absent:  Alicia Erickson, Kent Featherstone, Lynnette Genre, James Haaland, Heather Meek, Kathy Obritsch, Stuart Savelkoul, Shanna Schoch, Anna Smith, and Cecilia Taylor.

Call to Order:  Meeting was called to order at 1:32 p.m. by President Twila Petersen.

Adoption of Agenda:  Laurie Beach made a motion to adopt the agenda; Stacy Wilkinson seconded; motion carried.

Approval of Minutes:  Kathy Lang moved to accept the minutes; Mary McDermott seconded; motion carried.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Standing Committees:

Continuing Education Committee:  Stacy Wilkinson reported.  Stacy had contacted Joanne Fields from Extended Campus in regards to scheduling the “How to Defend Yourself” class and “Sexual Harassment”.  The original dates coincide with the 2007 Service of Excellence training.  Stacy Suggested maybe Feb. 6/7th or Feb 13/14th for the Sexual Harassment training and than sometime in May have the Defend yourself training.  Joanne did state that the Service of Excellence training is priority right now.  The first meeting for the Service of Excellence training was held January 24, 2007.  It was for all front line managers to attend.  There will be 5 total mandatory session for all staff to attend.  The first session will focus on Student Customer Service.

Social Committee:  Twila Petersen and Stacy Wilkinson read emails sent by Heather Meek who was absent.  The committee is in the process of planning a social for the week of January 22-26, 2007, more information will be sent out with the final details. Right now they are thinking of asking Faculty and Staff to bring different goodies.

Hiring Process of Staff Committee:  Mary McDermott is working with Gail Ebeltoft.  Cabinet had met and they are still working on the wording for the Criminal Background check.  Cabinet has not approved this as of yet.

Emergency Management Preparedness Committee:  Tim Kreidt reported that the campus wide committee has not yet met.  Nothing new to report. 

Bulletin Boards Committee:  Laurie Beach reported.  Laurie handed out the revised policy done by this committee Spring of 2006.  It was suggested to review and recheck the locations and who would be using the bulletin boards since offices have moved and bulletin boards are no longer there.  Twila Petersen asked that the committee meet, address the concerns brought up by Cabinet, update the information and as a committee, draft another proposal to bring back to Staff Senate

Staff Handbook Committee:  Kathy Lang said there was nothing new to report at this time.

Staff Senate Web Page Committee:  Kim Thiel reported.  No picture as of yet, he is still waiting for it.  Kim did find out that we can send anonymous emails.  It will take about one and a half hours to set it up on the Web site initially, but Sagar Kondru and he will get it set up.  Kim is hoping to have it done by the February meeting.

Children at Work Committee:  Christie Chernich reported.  The committee is meeting Jan. 26, 2007 at 12:30pm for the first time.

Smoke-Free Campus Committee:  Tim Kreidt said there was nothing to report.

Old Business:

1. Staff Recognition Awards:  Mary McDermott reported.  She had spoken to Kevin Thompson.  He advised that there would be no action on the letter until April.  It also will not be in the budget until June at least.  Mr. Thompson also stated that the monetary value would not change until 2008.  It was suggested that this item be put on the agenda as “other” in May.  We will remove this item from the agenda until May.
2. Staff Retiree Status: The committee has not met.  Nothing to report.
3. Staff Senate Officers Plaque:  Twila Petersen reported.  The plaque has been hung on the elevator wall located next to the University Relations office.  This item is removed from the agenda.
4. Staff Senate Scholarship:  Kelly Steffes reported.  Kelly met with Mike Odegaard and Harmony Kolling from the Alumni and Foundation.  Kelly handed out scholarship information that she received from Mr. Odegaard and Ms. Kolling.  They suggested adding criteria for the suggested scholarship.  Possibilities were a person with high moral character.  They also talked about deadlines.  For example, the scholarship committee would need to know by December for the following academic year.  A suggestion of fundraising for a year to set up a cushion; an endowment is also an option.  Some options for fundraising were working with Sodexho and the Common Grounds Coffee Bar.  A snow cone booth at Arts Round up is another possibility.  Possibly a jeans day or even working concessions.   Mr. Odegaard and Ms. Kolling also suggested that setting up a committee, made up of senators, to choose the recipient was not recommended because it could look like they were choosing favorites.  A vote was tabled until the next meeting due to not enough members to form a quorum.
5. Security on Campus:  Laurie Beach said there was nothing new to report.

New Business:

1. No new business.

Adjournment:  Kim Thiel moved to adjourn the meeting; Laurie Beach seconded.  Meeting adjourned at 2:19 p.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, February 15, 2007 at 1:30 p.m. in Klinefelter Conference Room 107.

Respectfully Submitted,

Christie Chernich ~ Staff Senate Secretary