June 3, 2004 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 - Ben Boslaugh, Diana Garland, Phyllis Kenney, Marline Ritter, Scott Walker, Sara Clark, LaDonna Hansen, Monya McMichael, D. Lynn Singleton, Lisa McEowen-LeVangie, Belinda Davis, Tara Horton, Phil Nichols, Tami Sutton

Absent - Sherry Adams, Mike Clark, Cynthia Giacin, David Liss, Lois Shufeldt (Faculty Senate), Veronica Adinegara, Allison Crocker, Norm Griffith, Steve Mills, Patrick Byers, Earle Doman, Antoinette Foster (SGA), Cheryl Pawling

Guests - Donna J. Smith, Dale Moore

Phil Nichols, Chairperson, presided and Tami Sutton recorded the proceedings of the meeting.

3. Announcements - Phil Nichols announced that the deadline to apply for the University Staff Ambassadors (USA) Program was June 4, 2004 and that he had provided a flyer detailing this information.

4. Video Presentation - Lisa McEowen-LeVangie, Staff Senate Parliamentarian presented an informative, short video presentation on parliamentarian procedures entitled: Parliamentary Procedure Made Easy. It is available for check out at Meyer Library Media Collections under Video Cassette N7437.

5. Approval of Minutes - A motion was made to change the wording in the Faculty Senate section of the May 6 minutes to read "Governor Phyllis Washington" instead of "Board of Governor Phyllis Washington" as reflected in the minutes. The motion passed unanimously and the change will be made. The minutes of the open, regular meeting of May 6, 2004 were approved as amended.

6. Report from the Chair - Phil Nichols - Phil Nichols, Chair, gave a brief report of the May Board of Governors" meeting.

7. Committee Reports -

  • Budget and Priorities, Lisa McEowen-LeVangie-Chair - Lisa McEowen-LeVangie, Chair, reported on the summer activities of the committee. The committee's June meeting will be dedicated to developing guidelines for Staff Senate committees to apply for funds from the Staff Senate budget. The July and August meetings will be dedicated to composing and finalizing the staff survey that will go out in late August.
  • Bylaws Committee, Diana Garland-Chair - Diana Garland, Chair, reported that there was no new information to share since the last meeting.
  • Public Affairs, Phyllis Kenney-Chair - Phyllis Kenney, Chair, reported that one of the Public Affairs Committee's faithful members, Ginger Allard, was retiring from the University after 31 years of service. Ginger has never been a formal member of the Staff Senate, but has supported the Senate by serving on several committees and attending various Staff Senate events. Her absence will be greatly felt in the staff community.
  • Veterans Committee Report, Phil Nichols-Chair - Phil Nichols, Chair, reported that the committee had been awarded a $2800 grant for the fall 2004 Veteran's Day Event. Phil reported that the committee, which will be chaired by Professor Julie Johnson, will start moving forward with the planning for the November 11 event. The focus of this year's event will be on the Vietnam War Veterans.
  • Web Administration Committee Report, Sara Clark-Chair - Sara Clark, Chair, provided a handout with her report. She asked Senators and committee chairs to review the Resolutions, Committees, Senator and Staff Senate @ Work sections of the Staff Senate web site and send corrections/updates to her via email.
  • Staff Senate Centennial Committee, Diana Garland-Chair - Diana Garland, Chair, reported that the bid for the display case alone for the upcoming Staff Senate Centennial Project had came back over the awarded amount of $4,500 for the whole project, at $4777. The budget situation is being passed back to the University Centennial Committee for a decision how to resolve the $277+ overage.
  • Health Care Committee, Ben Boslaugh-Member - Ben Boslaugh reported that two major issues are being continually addressed by the Health Care Committee: 1) premium structure and, 2) funding structure.
  • Salary & Compensation System Taskforce, Phil Nichols-Member - No new information was presented.
  • Master Planning Committee, Phil Nichols-Member - Phil Nichols reported that there was continuing discussion regarding the renovation of McDonald Arena. He also reported that a major desire of the Staff Senate was to have dedicated staff wellness facilities added as a part of the renovation project.
  • Faculty Senate, Norm Griffith and Allison Crocker-Staff Senate Representatives - No one was present to provide a report.

8. Unfinished Business - There was no unfinished business.

9. New Business - The main topic for the new business was the Presidential Search Criteria. A discussion ensued regarding the four questions that were sent out via email on May 26 by Phil Nichols, member of the Presidential Search Committee. These questions were sent out to encourage input from the campus community. The questions were:
1. What are the five most important challenges facing Missouri State over the course of the next ten years?
2. What will be the five most important challenges facing the next President of Missouri State?
3. What are the five most important challenges facing the next President of Missouri State?
4. Can you name any person who embodies the attributes listed above?

The next regular meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m. on July 1, 2004 in Plaster Student Union room 313.


The meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted:
Tami Sutton
Staff Senate Secretary