Meeting Minutes May 26, 2016 The ninth, regular meeting of the Staff Council for the 2015-2016 year was held via videonconference between Main Campus in the Graduate School and Research Building (GSR 2.106) and the Downtown Campus (FS 3.516). The meeting was called to order at 8:36am with Anne Peters,Chair, presiding. Members Present: Diana Cisneros, Matthew Jackson, Brian Jantz, Lisa Johns, Amanda Marin, Linda Martinez, Lisa Merritt, Irene Mireles, Mitch Moore, Cindy Orth, Anne Peters, Shannon Rios, Eric Weber, Yolanda Williams, Venetta Williams, Forrest Wilson, Elisha Reynolds Members Absent (Excused): Liza Barrera, Valentino DeLeon, Benjamin Garrison, Richard Garza, Liliana Gomez, KC Gonzalez, Ryan Key, Annie Maynes, Joe Nelson, Elisa Perkins, Kathryn Sanchez, Taniesa Williams, Alfredo Zavala, Monica Glover Members Absent (Unexcused): Justin Bingham, Brittany Kyle, Vincent Perez Meeting Minutes: April meeting minutes were approved by a majority vote via e-mail New Business Chair s Announcements June 23 rd meeting of Staff Council will be held at the Downtown Campus in the Institute for Economic Development training room (DB 2.316) Anyone wishing to participate should bring an item to share for potluck breakfast; coffee will be provided Summer Fun Bag to be auctioned off to Staff Council members $15.00 opening bid Sold for $25.00 to Anne Peters Dan Pena will speak at the June meeting to discuss the August 1 rollout of campus carry training and signage Diana Cisneros reported that President Romo is looking for options to surface lots Vice President for Business Affairs, Kathy Funk-Baxter, Updates As of Sept 1, any hourly employee who is paid below $9.50 per hour will be raised to $9.50 per hour Parking permits will not increase for the 16-17 academic year Merit raises are currently in question; attempting to secure other funding sources New overtime rules will go into effect Dec 1, 2016; decisions are being made to determine how to deal with updates to meet federal guidelines
Employee Educational Benefits Program (EEB), Stacey Blum, Human Resources Specialist *Thanks to all the Staff Council members who volunteered at the University Excellence Awards *Has heard a lot of positive feedback about the Great Staff Appreciation Event and loved that Sal Hernandez from HR was the DJ EEB Website changes (see attached handout) During discussion, Shannon Rios stated that students are no longer dropped from classes for non-payment Construction Updates, Paul Goodman, Kathryn Pearson, Luis Borrero, & Enos Jones, Facilities Kathryn Pearson oversees institutionally-managed projects up to $10M Brenan Road repair will be impactful to traffic flow, needs complete replacement JPL food court remodel- down to 2 choices Renovation list provided to Staff Council members Campus pools will be complete and open by fall semester Durango Building to become the Durango Conference Center Announcement brought many questions from the floor Downtown Council members want more information regarding changes to that campus, especially answers about offices moving, no one seems to have the answers, Paul Goodman said members could email him regarding DT office moves and construction projects at Paul.Goodman@utsa.edu Campus carry signage coming May Staff Appreciation Award Top 2 candidates were reviewed, votes were cast, and the winner chosen Linda Martinez, committee chair, arranged for presentation of the award Bylaws Review Open discussion regarding updates/changes Lisa Merritt moved to accept the updates made and to submit the latest version; Cindy Orth seconded; unanimous vote to send the updates to Staff Council Advisor, Kathy Funk-Baxter for final, official approval Committee Updates Scholarship- Amanda Marin 2016-2017 scholarship recipients list has been received Committee Chair learned that the $500 scholarship is now being split between the fall and spring semesters, so recipients are only getting $250 at one time Staff Council members questioned when this started because the scholarship has not always been awarded like this Staff Council intent has been to award all money at one time in case the recipient does not attend in the Spring semester, otherwise, the recipient is only eligible to receive $250 Members agreed that splitting the scholarship seems confusing to applicants and misleading on our part in terms of advertising a $500 scholarship when there is the chance the recipient may only receive half Cindy Orth, Fundraising Committee Chair, offered to follow up with Scholarships on this matter
University Dining Committee- Lisa Merritt Committee is reviewing vendors for the JPL remodel; top 2 choices are Denny s or Steak & Shake Roadrunner Café and Chili s Too are getting a refresh over the summer Issues- Lisa Merritt No issues to report Health & Wellness- Taniesa Williams Nothing to report Parking- Brian Jantz Nothing to report Communications- KC Gonzalez June/July Newsletters will focus on Staff Council Elections Staff Appreciation- Linda Martinez May will be the last award winner for this academic year Received 2 nominations for September award Elections- Cindy Orth Staff Council terms rotate so only half of the members can be up for election at one time 20 seats are up for election this summer June 15-24- Nominations accepted through Qualtrics June 27-July 6- Emails distributed to each nominee, asking for confirmation of nomination and supervisor approval July 11-20- Voting open through Qualtrics July 20- Voting closes July 21-22- Notify candidates who have won the election Open discussion Fundraising- Cindy Orth Event was the best in 3 years $2,660 was raised for scholarships At June meeting, Council needs to vote on repeating the event for 2017 Final count was 192 bowlers Successful silent auction- popular items included a UTSA football helmet, wooden roadrunner, hotel stays Concerns for future included Pricing strategy that was implemented this year Maximum # of bowlers per lane was 6; Cindy had to shuffle people over 6 members to new teams the afternoon of the event Great Staff Appreciation Event- Shannon Rios Event satisfaction survey opened May 26 th 500-600 responses so far Committee Chair would like to buy Sal Hernandez (DJ for the event) a thank you gift from Staff Council by voluntary donations from members Expect full report at June meeting
Closing The meeting was adjourned at 10:30am The next scheduled Staff Council meeting will take place on Thursday, June 23, 2016 at 8:30am at the Downtown Campus in the Institute for Economic Development training room (DB 2.316) May meeting minutes taken and submitted by Lisa Johns, Secretary