Dickinson State University
Staff Senate Minutes

December 21, 2006, 1:30 p.m. – Klinefelter Conference Room 107

Members Present:  Laurie Beach, Christie Chernich, Alicia Erickson, James Haaland, Kathy Lang, Mary McDermott, Heather Meek, Twila Peterson, Shanna Schoch, Anna Smith, Kim Thiel, and Stacy Wilkinson.

Members Absent:  Kent Featherstone, Lynnette Genre, Sandy Klein, Timothy Kreidt, Kathy Obritsch, Stuart Savelkoul, Kelly Steffes, and Cecilia Taylor.

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

Introduction of new members present:  Anna Smith

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

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

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Standing Committees:

Continuing Education Committee:  Stacy Wilkinson reported.  Joanne Fields from Extended Campus will be scheduling the “How to Defend Yourself” class.  More information will follow in campus mail.  Marty Odermann-Gardner contacted Stacy on Tuesday, December 19, 2006, in regards to what the Continuing Education Committee had planned for the year.  She then advised Stacy of the campus-wide Service Excellence Program.  Stacy handed out a draft survey which Marty had drawn up and emailed to her on Tuesday.  Stacy volunteered to distribute the survey to Staff Senate for review and feedback and Marty agreed that this would be helpful.  The survey will be used to develop five mandatory sessions in customer service/service excellence.  Duplicate sessions will be held in the mornings and afternoons allowing for all staff (directors, managers, and subordinates) to attend.  Marty also spoke of DSU being marketed in 2007 as the Year of Excellence. 

Regarding the survey, Mary McDermott asked why the survey focused only on students as our customers.  The staff at DSU service so much more, such as faculty, the public, and other staff members.  The removal of the word “students” in all questions was suggested to incorporate all of our customers we serve at DSU.  It was also noted that a few questions were worded awkwardly.  To correct this, a suggestion was made to questions #2 and #3 to read as follows:   “In what ways does your office (DSU) excel in customer service?”  Another suggestion was to add a section for comments.  Stacy noted that she will be contacting Marty by noon on Friday, December 22, 2006, with the above concerns and suggestions.  Marty stated to Stacy that she wanted feedback as soon as possible so that the President’s Office could send out the survey in early January.

Social Committee:  Heather Meek reported.  The committee is planning a social for the week of January 15, 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:  Heather Meek reported that she had emailed Gail Ebeltoft on the status of this process.  Gail emailed her back stating that the applications and criminal background check information is still in Cabinet.  The Presidents Cabinet should be providing edits to Ms. Ebeltoft by January 8, 2007.  The revisions will be made and then go back to cabinet on January10, 2007.  Ms. Ebeltoft also mentioned that she would like to talk more about the questions to be asked.  Her suggestions are to not use a bank of questions, rather, leave it up to the individuals to ask their own specific questions.  Heather indicated the proposal is still only about 5% complete. 

Emergency Management Preparedness Committee:  Nothing new to report.  This has now gone to the campus wide committee.  Tim Kriedt is on the campus wide committee.

Bulletin Boards Committee:  Jim Haaland reported that the committee is basically going to have to start over.  Information had been misplaced.  Jim asked if there was a copy of the original policy draft somewhere.  Twila Petersen has it and will make copies for the committee.  Once they have made changes it will be submitted to Cabinet

Staff Handbook Committee:  Shanna Schoch reported the Orientation Survival Guide is done.  Shanna handed out the final copy to be proofed and voted on by Staff Senate members.  The final copy was voted on and approved.  The same color as the old survival guide was also decided on.  Shanna will have them printed and distributed through Campus mail to most recent hires.  Kathy Lang reported that the Service Matrix is still in the works – nothing new to report on Service Matrix.

Staff Senate Web Page Committee:  Kim Thiel reported that test emails were sent out to see if the suggestion box on the web page works; it does.  He is still waiting on the photograph.  The logo is still in the working stages.  One question was posed to Kim about sending an anonymous email.  Is this a possibility?  Anonymous emails were discussed with different possibilities, but it came down to always being able to link back to the sender since the email was sent on line.  Kim was going to research this issue further.

Children at Work Committee:  Heather Meek reported that the task force has been appointed.  The following Staff and Faculty members were asked to be on the committee: 
Christie Chernich, Dan Connor, Kathy Lang, Marty Odermann-Gartner, Mary Jo Gonzales, Pattie Carr, and Ray Wheeler.  The campus wide committee will meet once school has convened.

Smoke-Free Campus Committee:  Shanna Schoch reported that Stuart had agreed to conduct research; however, he was not available for an update.  Stacy Wilkinson indicated that she had received a phone call from Bobby Olson from the Tobacco Coalition.  Ms. Olson indicated that she had been receiving calls from faculty members, staff members, students, and community members in regards to smoking on the DSU campus.  She did state the complaints were regarding individuals having to walk through front doorways through a cloud of smoke.  This is due to people smoking right outside the entrances.  Stacy redirected her to Stuart Savelkoul, chair of this committee.  This item was tabled until next meeting.

Old Business:

1. Staff Recognition Awards:  Twila Petersen said that Mary McDermott and Shanna Schoch revised the letter reviewed at the last Staff Senate meeting.  It was then signed by Stacy Wilkinson and Twila and delivered to Dr. Vickers.  President’s Cabinet minutes indicate this was an agenda item on December 4th and the summary minutes from that meeting indicated “Dr. Vickers will forward this request to Mr. Thompson for the Foundation to review the proposal.”  Mary will follow up with Mr. Thompson.
2. Monthly Staff Award-Moments of Excellence:  Twila Petersen reported.  Since our last Staff Senate meeting, the Moments of Excellence committee has met many times.  On December 4th, the Moments of Excellence Committee presented their revisions for the proposal to the DSU Cabinet.  Cabinet asked the committee many questions and gave some great feedback and suggestions for the proposal.  The Committee took their suggestions, updated their proposal and met with Cabinet again this past Monday, December 18th.  Cabinet suggested to the committee a couple of minor changes and approved the proposal.  The committee anticipates launching the Moments of Excellence Award July, 2007.  University Relations will be marketing this new award.  Twila made a recommendation to remove this item from the agenda.
3. Staff Retiree Status: Jim Haaland reported.  He handed out notes from the June 26, 2006 President’s Cabinet meeting.  Twila recommended that Jim meet with his committee members; answer the concerns from Cabinet, and then revise the draft if needed.  The committee should then prepare to take the proposal to President’s Cabinet.
4. Staff Senate Officers Plaque:  Twila Petersen reported that she spoke to Terry Mulvey and Alvin Binstock about where to hang the plaque.  As of this meeting, the best location to hang this plaque was still undecided.  Twila will meet with both gentlemen again for the final decision.  The plaque should be hung prior to the January meeting.
5. Staff Senate Scholarship:  Kim Thiel reported, on behalf of Kelly Steffes, that the committee has not met.  Kelly informed Kim that she was working on some answers as to who will administer the scholarship.
6. Security on Campus:  Laurie Beach reported.  She went to speak to George McClellan, he was not available.  Laurie than spoke with Roberta Kudrna.  She asked to see the security reports, but was not able to view them.  Ms. Kudrna stated that the consensus is that day time security is not needed.  It’s not justifiable.  Twila Petersen suggested that Laurie visit with Dr. McClellan and if possible, get something in writing from Mr. McClellan.  There was discussion on the possibility of a grant being written that would pay for the additional security.  Laurie will continue to research the subject and meet with Dr. McClellan.

New Business:

1. Goody Gobble Canceled:  The concern was voiced that the Annual Goody Gobble had been canceled.  They wanted to know who canceled and why.  We were informed that it was canceled by Ron Treacy from University Relations and Dr. Vickers.  It was then asked if it can come back for next year.  Jim Haaland recommended a survey be distributed to faculty and staff to get feedback if faculty and staff would like to see it back and if they would actually participate, i.e. bring goodies. 
2. Meeting Date and Time:  Twila Petersen proposed a meeting date for the spring semester.  It will remain the same as the previous semester.  The 3rd Thursday of every month at 1:30pm.
3. Christmas Party:  Twila Petersen suggested having a Christmas Party for Staff Senators and their guests.  All members agreed.  It will be held on January 5, 2007, 5:00 pm at the DSU Alumni and Foundation House.  Cost is $4.00 per person.

Adjournment:  Kim Thiel moved to adjourn the meeting; Laurie Beach seconded.  Meeting adjourned at 2:50 p.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, January 18, 2007 at 1:30 p.m. in Klinefelter Conference Room 107.

Respectfully Submitted,

 

Christie Chernich ~ Staff Senate Secretary