Staff Advisory Committee to the President
November 6, 2003
Members Present: Faye Bussell, Benny Davis,
Carol Holley, Mike Magdalena, Sheila McNeal, David Walker, Rochelle Wassom, Debra Walker
Others Present: President Robert Bell, Sue Pogue, Landon Vick, and
Terri Watson
President Bell’s Comments
Dr. Bell opened the meeting with comments on a trip to
Homecoming
Homecoming concluded on Saturday,
November 1, 2003, with Tech’s Golden Eagles facing
Awards
The following individuals were commended for being recipients of the 2003
Outstanding Staff Awards:
Barbara Glasscock –
Betty Niederklopfer
– Food Services
Fran Riley – Facilities and
Business Services
Barbara “Sue” Smith – Office of
Research and Graduate Studies
Spirit of Geier Forum
The University will host “A Geier Forum,” an event designed to support the Tennessee Board of Regents’ commitment to making campuses more inviting to African American students, faculty and administrators. The forum will be held on November 14 in the Derryberry Hall auditorium from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. There is no charge for the forum, and it is open to the campus community, TBR school representatives and the public.
Clerical and Support Christmas Luncheon
President and Mrs. Bell look forward to hosting Tennessee Tech’s Clerical
and Support Christmas Luncheon on Tuesday, December 2, in the Multi-Purpose
room of the
Ambassadors
Congratulations to the following Tech Ambassadors:
October – Becky Hull, Records and
Registration
November – Tammy Martin,
SAC Meeting, Page 2
Retirements
Appreciation and congratulations were expressed to those individuals who
have retired or announced their retirement from the University:
Jim Manier—University
Police, December 2003
Juanita Shettlesworth—Foreign
Languages, December 2003
Rita Vitali—Music
and Art, October 2003
Phillip Wassom—University
Police, September 2003
Budget
The Governor’s office announced a 5% reduction in the recurring state appropriation for the 2004-2005 fiscal year. This reduction will apply to all state departments, excluding K-12 education and TennCare. The amount of the reduction for the TBR is $30,189,700. Proposed reductions for Tennessee Tech range from 5.0% to 5.4% and amounts of $2,041,100 to $2,223,900, with the most likely cost to the university being a 5.1% reduction of $2,071,000.
During the 2003-2004 fiscal year, the University
held back monies from tuition increases in escrow and earmarked these funds for
improvements to the campus. These escrow
funds are sufficient to fulfill the proposed budget reduction; as a result, no
additional cuts are anticipated. The
final decision on these reductions has not been made, but employees are not
likely to receive raises in January, as recently rumored. A more detailed explanation of the budget
reduction proposal will be outlined in Tech Times.
The President’s Commission on the Status of Women
Lance Jasitt, a representative for the President’s
Commission on the Status of Women, spoke to the committee concerning findings
of a recent survey conducted by the commission.
Of the 1,114 surveys that were issued, 355 were completed and
returned. The survey addressed employee
awareness of FMLA, sick leave policy, maternity leave, annual
leave, the Sick Leave Bank, and bereavement.
The commission, in light of the results of the survey, proposed several
recommendations. These recommendations
were: expanding employee benefit presentations in duration and content,
periodically offering presentations on employee benefits to current employees,
improving interpersonal communication within the Human Resources Department,
and developing and implementing plans to increase the visibility of the
President’s Commission on the Status of Women.
A specific recommendation requested the addition of clerical and support
employees on University committees. Mr. Jasitt concluded his presentation by reminding the
committee of the purpose of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women,
which is to provide a voice for the concerns of all employees on campus.
President Bell thanked Mr. Jasitt for his comments
and stated that updates to the Human Resource web page would prove to be
valuable in making clearer the policies and benefits available to all
employees. In response to the
recommendation of additional clerical and support employees on University
committees, Dr. Bell stated that the University currently has more
representation of clerical and support employees from a policy side than other
area universities. Adding to the already
healthy amount of representation on University committees would only create the
problems normally associated with large committees. Dr. Bell and the vice presidents are
confident in the representation of clerical and support employees on committees
but will accept suggestions for additional representation with justifications
for the addition(s).
SAC Meeting, Page 3
Suggestions/Comments
Suggestion: “More couches in
the U.C. especially around the empty circle.”
Response: Mark Ochsenbein, Director of Student Activities: In Fall 2002, the round circular sitting areas were replaced with the current furniture. There were a total of 29 chairs available for use. There are now 36 individual places to sit. Originally, seating was placed in the circular area next to the spiral staircase. This area was terribly abused by students. Trash was thrown between, behind, and under the seating area on a daily basis. Cokes and other drinks were constantly being spilled in that area. Additionally, the stair railing hardware was being dismantled, and Facilities personnel were constantly making repairs. Those sitting in the area were notified to keep the area clean and stop vandalizing the stair railing, or the furniture would be removed. The trash and vandalism continued resulting in the removal of the furniture in January 2003.
Suggestion: “Stop being so
anal about parking tickets. If there
aren’t places to park, you have to park somewhere!”
Response: Director of
University Police Gay Shepherd: TTU’s current enrollment is just over 9,000 students. The following parking permits have been
dispersed:
Commuter 4303
West Dorm 820
East Dorm 688
Faculty 853
Staff 495
Total 7391
These numbers include trade-ins, lost, or stolen permits
(replacements), faculty and staff may purchase 2 permits; retired faculty and
staff receive up to two permits for free.
The University has about 5,000 available parking spaces. These spaces are located over the ENTIRE
campus and some may require one to walk about ten minutes to their
destination. Not everyone will be
fortunate enough to find a parking space nearby. Every college with a managed parking system
will distribute more parking permits than spaces available simply due to the
fact that not everyone is on campus at the same time. Considering this, TTU has a very acceptable
ratio of parking spaces to decals dispersed.
Parking regulations are made by students (SGA) and/or the Buildings and
Grounds Committee. Without these rules,
parking would be true chaos. TTU Police
makes every effort to enforce these rules for the benefit of everyone
associated with campus. If someone is
having difficulty finding available parking, ask him or her to come by the Tech
Police Office, and suggestions on the most convenient plan will be discussed
with the individual.
Suggestion: “Are
administrative staff allowed to come in late or leave early without claiming
annual leave or sick leave?”
Response: Director of Human Resources Sue Pogue: The TBR guideline P-120 outlines the requirements of a single workday for its employees. A workday will consist of 7.5 hours, totaling a 37.5-hour workweek. Records of work completed must be kept in hours and tenths of hours. The guideline does not state in what manner the work must be completed. As long as 7.5 hours are completed for a single day, there is no reason to report leave. If the employee works less than 7.5 hours that day, sick leave or annual leave should be used as appropriate. Some
SAC Meeting, Page 4
administrative employees do have pre-approved flex
schedules. In addition, occasionally an
employee will work an adjusted schedule for a day due to outside appointments,
etc.
President
Meeting adjourned at 2:10 p.m.
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Last Updated: November 26, 2003
For more information, contact TWatson@tntech.edu
