Dickinson State University
Staff Senate Minutes

February 15, 2007, 1:30 p.m. – Klinefelter Conference Room 107

Members Present:  Christie Chernich, Alicia Erickson,, James Haaland, Timothy Kreidt, Kathy Lang, Heather Meek, Kathy Obritsch, Twila Petersen, Stuart Savelkoul, Anna Smith, Kelly Steffes, Cecilia Taylor, Kim Thiel, and Stacy Wilkinson.

Members Absent:  Laurie Beach, Kent Featherstone, Lynnette Genre, Sandy Klein, Mary McDermott, and Shanna Schoch.

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

Adoption of Agenda:  Cecilia Taylor made a motion to adopt the agenda; Stuart Savelkoul seconded; motion carried.

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

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Standing Committees:

Continuing Education Committee:  Stacy Wilkinson reported.  Stacy is still pursuing Joanne Fields from Extended Campus in regards to getting two more professional development classes scheduled.  We have only had one up to this date.  Joanne is still trying to work with the Police Department in order to schedule an officer to come in and conduct the How to Defend Yourself class.  They were hoping this could happen possibly on February 27 or 28, 2007.  The class on Sexual Harassment has been pushed into May or this summer due to an already very busy academic calendar year.  Stacy verified that the Service Excellence Training is not a Continuing Education Committee initiative.  It is a campus wide initiative through Extended Campus and President Vickers’ office.

Social Committee:  Heather Meek reported.  The social committee had a social on February 2, 2007 in the basement of Stickney Hall. Staff and Faculty were invited to bring goodies to share with all.  They received many positive comments about the space; many didn’t even realize was there.  It was commented that the social was well done, it was standing room only – lots in attendance. 

Hiring Process of Staff Committee:  Heather Meek reported that on February 6, 2007, Cabinet had approved the criminal background checks.  Gail Ebeltoft reports that 50% - 60% of the hiring process plan is readily available and ready to be posted on the website.  Ms. Ebeltoft would like to present to the Hiring Process of Staff Committee and get their opinions.

Emergency Management Preparedness Committee:  Kathy Obritsch reported that the overall campus committee had met approximately two weeks prior to Feb. 15, 2007.  During that meeting they broke into smaller, more specific committees.  There are no minutes as of yet.  Kathy did state that some examples of the areas being worked on were what to do if: we got avian flu, bomb threats, etc.  One of the Staff Senators posed the question if what has been approved could be put onto the website along with the original working policy.  This way a curious individual could see the progress of this committee.     

Bulletin Boards Committee:  Jim Haaland reported that the committee had not met. 

Staff Handbook Committee:  Kathy Lang reported that the committee has decided to hold off on completing the service matrix until all of the moves on campus are complete.  Tabled for now.

Staff Senate Web Page Committee:  Alicia Erickson reported they have not met; however, the Staff Senate photo has been placed on the web page. 

Children at Work Committee:  Christie Chernich reported.  The committee has met and submitted individual rewrites of the draft policy.  The rewrites were discussed, suggestions were made and thoughts were discussed.  The chair of this committee is going to compile all of the new thoughts and rewrite the proposed new policy.  It will then be emailed to members on the committee for there approval or not.  They are scheduled to meet again in March.

Smoke-Free Campus Committee:  Stuart Savelkoul reported.  He spoke with Bobby Olson of the South West District Health Unit.  She advised Stuart that they could provide many resources for us and very much so would like to be involved.  Stuart than handed out policies from Bismarck State University and Minot State University who have recently gone smoke free on campus.  Stuart had not had enough time to get the history done for the research prior to going smoke free.  He is still working on this.  A concern was voiced about what this could potentially do to our international student recruitment.  Since it is the perception that a lot of our international students do smoke, could going smoke free hurt this recruitment effort?  

Old Business:

1. Staff Retiree Status: Jim Haaland was advised by Twila Petersen that the committee must meet, discuss the concerns addressed by Cabinet and then revise the draft based on Cabinets concerns.  The committee should then bring the revised draft back to Staff Senate, who will than vote on the proposed changes.  Once voted on and approved, the committee will then bring the revised proposal back to the Cabinet for their approval.

2. Staff Senate Scholarship:  Kelly Steffes reported.  Kelly gave a brief run down of the scholarship details again before a vote was taken.  Questions and concerns were voiced and addressed.  Twila Petersen reminded Senators that we were only voting on the idea of creating this scholarship.  Vote was taken.  Staff Senate unanimously passed creating a Staff Senate scholarship.  The committee will move forth with setting the criteria, funding, etc.
   
   
3. Security on Campus:  Twila Petersen reported for Laurie Beach in her absence.  Twila reminded us that the original complaint about Security on Campus was for a Daytime Security Officer.  Twila handed out copies of a letter from Dr. McClellan written to Laurie Beach regarding the campus crime for the past eight years.  This document was discussed and will be put into the Staff Senate files.  Kathy Obritsch will take back the recommendation for Daytime Security to the Emergency Preparedness Committee.  Cecilia Taylor made a motion to remove this item from the agenda.  Stuart Savelkoul seconded.  Motion carried.  This will be removed from the Senate Agenda.

New Business:

1. Strategic Enrollment Management Planning Committee Goals:  Twila Petersen had sent the goals from the SEM Planning Committee through campus mail for the Senators to review prior to the meeting.  Ms. Petersen entertained questions and explained some of the reasoning behind some of the goals such as goal #3 pertains to remaining an open access institution.  Goal #4 pertains to the ACT testing.  Comments were addressed.  This is a campus wide committee that was looking for feedback and discussion from the Senates.  Ms. Petersen will take the comments back to the committee.  Kathy Lang moved to approve these goals.  Kathy Obritsch seconded.  Staff Senate unanimously approved the Strategic Enrollment Goals draft dated 01/30/07.

Other:

1. Online Access Fees and Tuition Waivers:  A staff member approached Staff Senate regarding the increase in the access fees and suggested that Staff request the additional increase be included in Staff waivers.  Stacy Wilkinson did some research and reported.  Stacy spoke with Mark Lowe.  He didn’t give an actual number of how many waivers were given, but he did stress that DSU waives A LOT!  He also stated that the online access fees increased from $45/credit to $65/credit.  The driving force for the price increase is the higher cost of delivery and new computer software.  Mr. Lowe did mention that according to the State Board Policy, fees that are not waived are: Technology fees, ConnectND Fees, NDSA fees and Access fees.  He also stated that DSU is the only school in ND which covers 100% of tuition of all courses.  Other schools only waive 50% or less.  It was concluded, by consensus, that we, Staff Senate, would not pursue this.

Adjournment:  Kathy Lang moved to adjourn the meeting; Jim Haaland seconded.  Meeting adjourned at 3:15 p.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

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

Respectfully Submitted,

Christie Chernich ~ Staff Senate Secretary