November 7, 2002 Minutes

1. Call to Order - A regular meeting of the Staff Senate of Missouri State University was called to order at Plaster Student Union, Room 313 at 1:30 p.m.

2. Roll Call -

Present - John Avery, F. Chris Arney, Kelly Brown, Patrick Byers, Sara Clark, Belinda Davis, Chuck Donald, Mary Lynne Golden, Betty Lewis, David Liss, Lisa McEowen-LeVangie, Steve Mills, Phil Nichols, Lisa Reed, Alan Roland, Pam Sailors, Edie Sartin, Chris Strodtman, Myril Stewart

Absent - Mike Clark, SuzAnn Ferguson, Shirley Keck

Guests - Ron Boaz, Jana Estergard, John Ferguson, Cyndi Giacin, Steve Phipps, Marline Ritter, Marilyn Robertson, Peggy Zeller

Mary Lynne Golden, Chairperson, presided and Edie Sartin recorded the proceedings of the meeting.

3. Approval of Minutes - Staff Senate voted to approve the minutes from October 2002.

4. New Business -

Jana Estergard, Equal Opportunity Officer, spoke on the duties of her job and responsibilities to the University. Many of her duties are required to ensure compliance with Federal regulations. She reports directly to Dr Keiser and he then reports to the Board of Governors. Annually she produces the Academic Affairs program guidelines for the hiring of faculty and staff. Jana has an open door policy in her office and is available to discuss harassment issues and the filing of complaints. Her office does investigate all matters that are brought to her attention. She works with conflict resolution. At times people are referred to the Office of Human Resources to speak with Mary Routh or Linda Stevens. The University also has the Center for Dispute Resolution in the Communication Department. Char Berquist, Director, holds workshops to guide communication skills. Jana coordinates for disabled employees and/or faculty with required needs for their work areas. She encourages people to use the many services of her office.

The Master Planning Committee has invited Staff Senate to participate in future meetings.

The Centennial project is planning on bringing a one-room schoolhouse to sit along the east side of campus on National.

The University Greek Life was recently awarded a national recognition award for raising over $35,000.00 for the 2002 Relay for Life and $25,000.00 for Habitat for Humanity. During the first ever Relay for Life held on campus in spring 2002, over $100,000.00 was raised for the American Cancer Society in the fight against cancer.

5. Issues and Concerns - Sara Clark, Issues and Concerns, Chairperson spoke on encouraging staff to participate in all Staff Surveys.

Sara Clark, Public Art Committee member spoke on art on campus. The Senior Class of 2002 will be donating art. Formal guidelines for the University to accept donations are being developed. The University currently has fifty-two buildings on campus and owns over $500,000.00 in art. At this time, 30 of these buildings have had all art inventoried. All on
campus are reminded to not throw out any art, as it may be valuable. This committee is working with Administrative Council to organize a system to display art on campus.

6. Old Business - Phil Nichols, Veterans Day Committee Chairman discussed the Veterans Day Ceremony that will be held on Monday, November 11, 2002 at the Plaster Sports Complex. A small contingent of the Missouri State band will perform, an honor guard will present the colors, the canon will be fired once for every branch of the service and there will be special music presented by David Liss. There will be a veteran's recognition breakfast in the East Ballroom in Plaster Student Union. A twenty-minute video presentation will run on a continuous loop all day in the Plaster Student Union Theatre. The video consists of pictures and images honoring Missouri State veterans. Participation is greatly encouraged.

7. New Business -

Mary Lynne Golden was presented a commendation from the Student Government Association, on October 29, 2002. Congratulating Staff Senate on our exceptional achievements in community service, for participating in the Lee National Denim Day for breast cancer research and collecting $5,500. A copy will be posted in the Staff Senate bulletin board in Carrington Hall.

Pam Sailors, Faculty Senate Representative, discussed that Faculty Senate will also vote on the campus mail reduction resolution.

Steve Phipps, Grounds spoke on the need to renovate the employee fitness center in McDonald Arena, Room 116. Equipment is housed in MCD room 212, and needs to be moved and set up. It was discussed and decided to contact Teri Oehm at Taylor Health and Wellness and Dale Moore, University Facilities Support about designating room ownership.

David Liss, Health Insurance Committee member, offered to give presentations on the health care plan review/selection process. The new contract period begins January 1, 2003.

8. Announcements -

The next meeting of the Staff Senate will be held Thursday, December 5, 2002, at 1:30 p.m. in Plaster Student Union, Room 313.

The meeting adjourned at 2:45

Respectfully submitted:
Edie Sartin
Staff Senate