STAFF SENATE MEETING MINUTES December 21, 2011

President Kristie Galy presided over the December 21, 2011, Staff Senate meeting held at Peabody Hall, Room 225, on the LSU Campus at 10:30 a.m.   

ATTENDANCE
Senators           

Executive/Administrator/ Manager
P   Torres, Donna  (’12)
P    Exner, Patti (’13) 

Service/Maintenance
P   Chaney, Carolyn (’13)
P   Dixon, Evelyn (’13)
P    Matkovic, Igor (’14)

  
Professional/Non-Faculty
P   Carruth, Holly (’12)
P   Chiasson, Denise (’12)
A  Fields, Tim (’12)
Pr  Frazier, James (’12)
P   Livingston, Lynn (’12)
P   Thibodeaux, Seth (’12)
P   Verma, Lisa (’12)
P   Galy, Kristie (’13)
Pr  Guillory, Michael (’13)
P   Landry, Carolyn (’13)
A   Thomas, Joseph (’13)
P   Winchell, Blake (’13)
P   David, Emmett (’14)
P   Gothreaux, Chad (’14)
P   Millican, Tammy (’14)
Pr  Moreau, Scott (’14)
P   Perkins, Julie (’14) 

Skilled Crafts
P   Heil, Mark (’12)
P   Adedeji, Funmilayo (’13)

Technical/Paraprofessional
A   Pierce, Renee (’13)
P   Sirman, Karen (’13)
P   Love, Donna (’14)

Clerical/Secretarial
Pr  Brown, Ruby (’12)
Pr  Cooley, Judith (’13)
A   Magee, Betty (’13)
P   Collins, Judy (’14)

  
A - Indicates Absent
P - Indicates Present
Pr - Indicates Proxy

Sign-in Guests:
Chancellor Michael Martin
Laura Foster, Fire & Emergency Training
Loree Ramezan, Staff Senate Fee Support Recipient
Bonnie Pendergraft, Staff Senate Fee Support Recipient
Erin Mann, Staff Senate Scholarship Recipient
Charles Mann, Student Health Center
Emma Millican, Senator Millican’s Daughter
Carey Hamburg, Staff Senate Fee Support Recipient
Brian Ainsworth, Campus Federal Credit Union
Roxane Berthelot, Campus Federal Credit Union

CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by President Galy at 10:30 a.m.

ATTENDANCE
There was a quorum with five proxies noted.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Senator Thibodeaux led the Pledge of Allegiance.

President Galy introduced guests: Chancellor Michael Martin; Laura Foster with Fire and Emergency Training; Loree Ramezan, a Staff Senate Fee Support Scholarship Recipient; Bonnie Pendergraft, a Staff Senate Fee Support Scholarship Recipient; Erin Mann, a Staff Senate Scholarship Recipient; Charles Mann with the Student Health Center; Emma Millican who is Senator’s Millican’s Daughter; Carey Hamburg, a Staff Senate Fee Support Scholarship Recipient; Brian Ainsworth with Campus Federal Credit Union; and Roxane Berthelot with Campus Federal Credit Union.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES – November 16, 2011, Staff Senate Meeting  

Page 3, Paragraph 4, line 3 reads: the pleasure as should read: the pleasure of
Page 4, Paragraph 7, line 5 reads: LA GRAD ACTS that have been passed in the last couple of sessions should read: LA GRAD ACTS that passed in the last couple of sessions
Page 7, Paragraph 1, line 39 reads: have huge contortions should read: have huge consortiums
Page 10, Paragraph 3, line 2 reads: such as Paper should read: such as paper
Page 10, Paragraph 4, line 3 reads: $8,000 a year should read: $800,000 a year
Page 13, Paragraph 2, line 4 reads: obstacles to that with the Governor’s should read: obstacles with the Governor’s

A motion to accept the minutes as amended was made by President-Elect Gothreaux. The motion, seconded by Senator Landry, carried.

GUEST SPEAKER – Chancellor Michael Martin

Staff Senate President Galy thanked Chancellor Michael Martin for coming to speak to the Staff Senate regarding the budget at LSU.

Chancellor thanked the Staff Senate for the invite to speak today and thanked everyone for all of their continued hard work. We have been through some struggles dealing with five budgets cuts during the past three years. Despite these challenges, this institution remains committed as a Flagship University.  The Chancellor announced that we are getting hit with a mid-year budget cut of about $8.1 million dollars. “That’s more than we had hoped for but slightly less than a worst case scenario. We do have a plan which will be revealed in the next couple of days. Hopefully we can get through it without any serious loss of employment. It has been very helpful that we continue to build enrollment and retention which have made it fortunate for us to generate some revenue. You may hear in the news that we have been in a conversation with the System of how the formula was calculated last time.” The Chancellor believes that the formula was not adequately applied to LSU which could be between $4-5 million dollars. “We believe we are right for two reasons, early on the Vice President for finance in the System agreed and the Board of Regents has now agreed that they need to reconsider the formula. The formula should be transparent, easily recalculated by anyone, and consistently applied. This isn’t a dispute just a difference in opinion and we believe that we are right and that LSU was not afforded as much funding as the formula would have applied. We are going to continue to make the case, even though we may not be able to recapture what we believe we should have gotten this year, we ought to be included on any conversation about fixing the formula in the future so it recognizes the fundamental differences in role, scope, and mission across higher education in this state and awards institutions that do this successfully. We believe we can navigate the next few months reasonably successful although it will be harmful as we have taken so many cuts already. We are committed to protecting the student experience; continue to build a platform from which LSU can evolve and be a great university even through tough times; and to protect as many jobs as possible.”

Chancellor Martin mentioned that he still wants to find a way to come up with some means of providing faculty and staff with some kind of financial recognition before the end of the year. He can’t promise it will happen but we will continue to search for every possible way to try and make that happen even if it is not recurring, to at least let everyone know that they are appreciated. Chancellor Martin thanked everyone for all their hard work and dedication at LSU.   

Q: Have all units on campus heard what their reduction will be?

A: Yes, the academic units received notice yesterday and it is not across the board but rather on certain criteria such as how successful have you been in meeting your own targets that you have set-up for yourself.  We were somewhat prepared for this and will send our plan to the System office this week.

Q: Will LSU recognize the Inauguration day (January 9) as a holiday since the state is recognizing?

A: No, but LSU will be soft on employees who wish to take their leave that day.

Chancellor Martin thanked the Staff Senate for being able to speak today.

SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS PRESENTATION
President Galy presented a certificate to Loree Ramezan, a recipient of the 2011-2012 Staff Senate Fee Support Scholarship which recognizes a staff employee who is pursuing a degree to help with some of the fees associated with taking classes. Loree is majoring in Accounting. After graduation, she plans to remain working at LSU. Loree is a Computer Analyst for Louisiana’s Fire and Training Institute.

Galy presented a certificate to Carey Hamburg, another recipient of the 2011-2012 Staff Senate Fee Support Scholarship who is working towards earning his master’s degree in Human Resource Education. After graduation, he plans to work as a training and technology developer and eventually teach at a university. Carey is a Consultant for User Support and Student Information Technology.

Galy presented a certificate to Bonnie Pendergraft, another recipient of the 2011-2012 Staff Senate Fee Support Scholarship who is working towards earning her master’s degree in Public Administration. After graduation, she plans to remain working at LSU. Bonnie is a Grant/Contract Specialist for the Office of Sponsored Programs.

Galy presented a certificate to Erin Mann, a recipient of the 2011-2012 Staff Senate Scholarship Award. Erin is majoring in History with a concentration in Secondary Education. After graduation, she plans to teach Social Studies in middle school. Her father is Charles Mann who works with the Student Health Center.  

President Galy announced that there are other recipients who were unable to attend today. They will be recognized at the next Staff Senate meeting.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT
President Galy reported that on November 18, she attended the University Council of Women meeting.  They reported back on their research on other universities staff mentoring policies.  Not many institutions that they saw had official staff mentoring in their policies.

Galy reported that on November 29, she attended Holiday on Campus which was a huge success. She thanked Senator Livingston and the Holiday on Campus Committee for planning a great event.  

Galy reported that on November 30, she attended the Provost’s Breakfast. The University Council of Women presented its initiatives for the year and the Louisiana Center Addressing Substance Use in Collegiate Communities (LaCASU) gave a presentation on the CORE Survey (alcohol and drug use among college campuses).  

Galy reported that on November 30, she attended the Chancellor’s Holiday Party as all Staff Senators were invited.  Galy mentioned that it was a lovely event.

Galy reported that on December 7, she attended the University Council of Women meeting. They discussed the presentation at the Provost’s Breakfast and received subcommittee reports and updates.

Galy reported that on December 9, she and President Elect Gothreaux attended the Board of Supervisor’s meeting.  The Board mentioned some wonderful things about Chairman Ben Mount and Dr. Allen Copping who both recently passed away.  The Board also approved the realignment of some of the academic units.  The College of Human Sciences and Education now must be approved by the Board of Regents.

Galy reported that on December 9, she and Past-President Verma attended the President’s Holiday Dinner.  The LSU A Capella Choir sang. It was a great event.

Galy reported that on December 13, she attended the Chancellor’s Executive Meeting.  The Chancellor once again talked about Holiday on Campus and what a great event it is.  The Tiger Stadium Preservation Project was discussed, the BCS game was discussed, potential budget cuts, a 9.6 increase in applications for the fall, and there are currently seven upper administration searches currently happening.

Galy reported that on December 14, she attended the Holiday on Campus “debriefing” meeting which she will let Senator Livingston report on later in the meeting.

STANDING COMMITTEES
Long Range Review & Planning
President-Elect Gothreaux reported that the Long Range Review & Planning met on December 1, 2011. The committee identified activities for the various initiatives that have been set for the year as well as responsible Senators for each of those initiatives.  

AD-HOC COMMITTEES
Holiday on Campus
Senator Livingston reported that the Holiday on Campus committee met on December 14, 2011, the debriefing report was attached to the meeting packet. She thanked everyone who was involved in one way or another with a special thank you to the committee who worked hard to make this a memorable event. The committee discussed answering the Santa Letters and Senator Livingston sent a letter to each child who wrote a letter to Santa. She will also send thank you letters to all the vendors who participated before the end of this week. Past-President Verma thanked Senator Livingston for all of her hard work in making this such a great event this year.  

Scholarship
Senator Carruth reported that the Scholarship Committee met on December 8, 2011. The Holiday Decorating Contest was held. There were thirteen entries and $100 was raised for the Staff Senate Fee Support Scholarship. The winners are: for tree, 1st place – Renewable Natural Resources; for Bulletin Board, 1st place – Student Health Center, 2nd place – Registrar’s Office, 3rd place – Continuing Education/Learner Services; for Office Entry, 1st place – Office of Sponsored Programs; for Door, 1st place – Accounting Services/Payroll (also won Best in Show), 2nd place – Continuing Education/English Language, and 3rd place – Human Resource Management.

Newsletter
President Galy announced that the Staff Senate Newsletter has been distributed as a broadcast email. Galy thanked Senator Carruth for all of her help on the newsletter.

OLD BUSINESS
Benefit of the Month
President Galy announced that the Benefit of the Month is a reminder of discounts at local vendors. We get a 10% discount at the Bookstore and a 20% discount at the Sport shop.

 
NEW BUSINESS
Senators “Get Well”
President Galy presented Senator Dixon with a “Get Well” plant as she has had some health issues lately. Melonie Holden will also send a “Get Well” plant to Senator Ruby Brown who recently had knee surgery.  

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Staff Senator Birthdays
President Galy announced that Senator Scott Moreau celebrated his birthday on December 5. President-Elect Gothreaux announced that President Galy will celebrate her birthday on December 23. “Happy Birthday”

Pot Luck Luncheon
President Galy announced that the Staff Senate will host a pot luck luncheon immediately following the meeting today to celebrate the holidays.

MOTION TO ADJOURN – With there being no more business, President-Elect Gothreaux moved to adjourn.  The motion, seconded by Senator Collins, carried.  The meeting adjourned before noon.

Blake Winchell, Secretary

BW/mh