February 2007 minutes

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

2. Roll Call

Present: Ben Boslaugh, Marline Faherty, Steve Mills, Kelly Barnts, Cindi Barnett, Nancy Harris, Dale Moore, Guy DeVault, Pat Day, Casey Comoroski, Terrill Harvey, Steven Lowery, Lenord McGownd

Absent: LaDonna Hansen

Guests: None

3. Guest Speaker – Greg Burris, VP of Admin & Info Tech.

  • Greg spoke on the new JQH Arena:
    • Total project cost -- $67 million ($30M is a gift, $30M will be bonded, $7M will come from the University)
    • Video scoreboard a gift from Great Southern (cost between $1.5 and $1.8 million)
    • 5,300 dump truck loads of dirt will be removed
    • Arena will be horseshoe shaped
    • JQH Arena will be connected to HSC via an underground connection
    • The court will run east and west (HSC runs north and south)
    • Seating – 11,000 seats
    • 9,600 chair backs (double HSC number)
    • 22 suites (11 on each side) (beer and wine will be sold in the suites)
    • Loge club has 100 seats (beer and wine will be sold in the Loge club area)
    • 55 "Jack Nicholson" seats (on the edge of the court)
    • Retractable student bleachers
    • Student bleacher retract creating a stage area
    • Concert seating will be 10,500 (HSC is 5,500)
    • Three large, sub-grade (under ground) loading docks
    • 70 men's restrooms facilities; 98 women's restroom facilities (was 44 and 28 in HSC)
    • Go to www.missouristate.edu/arena for additional information
  • Greg spoke on the new recreation center the student's voted to pay for:
    • McDonald Arena will be totally gutted and rebuilt
    • Will be redesigned as a state of the art recreation center
    • Seven student teams are currently working on its design
    • Students will begin paying for it with additional fees in 2008
    • Faculty, staff will be able to use it after paying a "nominal" fee (paid for by wellness fee?)
    • Considering a lap pool and large (20+ people) Jacuzzi north of the building.
  • Greg spoke to Hammons Student Center use:
    • HPER will move from McDonald Arena to HSC
    • City Convention and Visitors Bureau have committed to using it for 4-6 events per year
    • Volleyball
    • Student use

4. Announcements

  • None

5. Approval of Dec 7, 2006 minutes

  • Approved with one minor (date) correction

6. Approval of Jan 4, 2007 minutes

  • Approved

7. New Business

  • Ben announced the University would be receiving more state appropriation funding and he was told most of it would go to salary adjustments. He would not give the dollar amount of the additional funds.

8. Officers Reports

  • None

9. Committee Reports

  • Kelly Barnts – The Health Care Questionnaire Committee has narrowed the field down to two companies that will help MSU with health care needs. (This is the group that will save you $15 off of your health care costs.) They hope to make a choice soon.
  • Dale Moore – The Work Life Committee will be sending out survey in February to all faculty and staff regarding work/life issues and options. They hope to present their findings to the President in May.
  • Casey Comoroski – The Diversity Committee will be doing a survey of faculty and staff to find their "opinions and feelings" on campus diversity. You can read a report they presented to the President at www.missouristate.edu/diversity.

10. Meeting Adjourned

  • The next regular meeting will begin at 1:30 pm on March 1, 2007, in Plaster Student Union, Room 313.

Taken by,

Patrick Day

Respectively Submitted by,

LaDonna Hansen