LFSA Exec - Minutes - October 24, 2016

LFSA General Assembly Meeting 

10-24-2016 

Attendees:

Kevin Smith, Leah Nelson, Marianne Reed, Sara Morris, Greta Valentine, Sally Haines,  Jennifer Muse, Ann Snow, Deborah Dandridge, Amalia Monroe-Gulick, Tahirih Mullen, Sonja Holmgren,  Mustafa Olaka, Angela Rathmel, Xiufen Bi, Gaele Gillespie, Carmen Campaneris, Elspeth Healey, Emily  Beran, Lois Bauer, Lars Leon, Brian Moss, Jon Giullian, Lea Currie, Sherri Brown, Letha Johnson, Mary  Ann Baker, Callie Branstiter, Paul Thomas, Claire Krieger, Geoff Husic, Heather MacBean, Micki Lubbers,  Rhonda Houser, Kent Miller, Mary Raple, Josh Bolick, Mary Roach, Meghan Misenhelter, Jocelyn Wehr,  Judith Emde, Fran Devlin, Jill Becker, Marcella Huggard, Sharon Riley, Rebecca Orozco, Nate  Chamberlain, Sean Barker, Beth Whittaker, Sarah Goodwin Theil, Ada Emmett, Carmen Orth-Alfie, LeAnn  Meyer, Angela Andres, Andi Back, Verna Froese, Sunita Gandhi, Karna Younger, Mike Broadwell, Jeromy  Horkman, Scott McEathron, Erin Ellis, Steph Gamble, Larry Brow, Marla Schleuder, Scott Hanrath, Lyn  Wolz 

1. Call to Order/Welcome 

a. Met and exceeded quorum; Marianne called meeting to order at 1:33. Welcomed body  to first LFSA Meeting. No minutes to approve. Introduced LFSA officers – Marianne Reed  and Sara Morris (co-chairs); Karna Younger and Leah Nelson (vice-chairs/chairs elect);  Greta Valentine (Secretary); Rebecca Orozco (Member at Large). Sara went over  acronyms and various assemblies. Thanked Kevin for the refreshments. 

2. Remarks from the Dean 

a. Kevin Smith welcomed attendees to the first LFSA general meeting. Said he is looking  forward to working with all 3 assemblies in the future. 

b. Addressed several items relevant to both faculty and staff assemblies: 

i. Mentoring – Sharon Riley has been working to establish stronger basis for  

mentoring both faculty and staff, new colleagues. Kevin encouraged participants  to take advantage of and participate in this opportunity. 

ii. Climate Survey – This campus-wide survey closed last Friday. The Libraries  

faculty had highest response rate of any faculty unit on campus. Staff response  rate was very high – first or second for large units across campus. Kevin thanked  Libraries faculty and staff for sharing their. Noted that the Libraries will get  

aggregated data from Libraries respondents. 

iii. Concealed Carry Policy – The Provost’s office is continuing to discuss, and is  getting feedback on the current draft policy. If anyone in the Libraries has  

suggestions for improvements, Kevin encouraged them to share ideas. 

iv. Process for Merit Raises – This is underway. Final numbers will be sent to the Provost’s office on October 31. The raises constituted a 2% pool that could not  

be distributed across the board. In order to be merit-based, had to look at  

annual evaluations and additional factors since rankings in annual evaluations  

were grouped closely together, high. The numbers are currently being checked  for errors before being sent to the Provost’s office. Raises will take effect in the November 3 pay period. These percentages will be based on employees’ salaries as of July 1. Must have been employed on March 1, 2016 to be eligible. 

v. Questions? – There were none. Kevin encouraged attendees to contact him  privately later with any questions/concerns. 

3. Marianne Reed introduced new Libraries employees who started after July 1, 2016:

a. Claire Krieger

b. Callie Branstiter 

c. Paul Thomas 

d. Kelli Tatum 

e. Nicole Evans 

f. Emily Beran 

4. Updates from University Committees 

a. Sharon Riley – Staff Senate Professional Development: Funding was cut from $1500 last  year to $1000 this year. Got 12 applications so far this year; awarded 4. Next year  funding will be cut completely unless able to come up with new source between now  and then. Possibility of $600 from Central HR. 

b. Andi Back – Ad Hoc Freedom of Speech Committee: Andi introduced this new committee  and read its standing charge. The group is comprised of faculty, staff and students, and  is charged with preparing a policy for inclusion in the University Senate Code. It focuses  on the protection of free speech regarding diversity, campus carry, the Regents’ social  media policy and other issues. The group is currently looking at other University’s free  speech policies as models.  

c. Sara Morris – Parking Commission: Campus is currently divided into quadrants; students  are only able to part in certain zones which may be far away from their work, class sites.  Next summer there will be a focus on central/Memorial parking. 

i. Is assigned parking still part of conversation? – No. Building new parking garage  in central quadrant. 

d. Mary Ann Baker – University Senate Libraries Committee: Lea Currie gave a presentation  on journal packages/cancellation of Springer. Lots of campus-wide members were  present, some student members also. Karna Younger presented about Libraries’  Research Sprints; professor in Journalism presented about participation in Sprints as  well. 

e. Fran Devlin – Faculty Rights, Privileges and Responsibilities: Survey for Core Curriculum  Committee being carried out. 

i. Has there been any discussions around intellectual property/pressure to  patent/commercialize on ideas? – One special charge focuses on conflicts of  interest regarding copyrights and patent. This issue is receiving consideration. 

f. Brian Moss – President Elect of Staff Senate: Concealed Carry has been an ongoing point  of interest – Regents draft policy is up on KU website. The Board of Regents will pass the  official policy at their December meeting. Staff Senate is conducting a Voter Registration  drive. The group has been advocating for a day of paid leave for volunteerism for KU staff members. Working with HR and the Provost’s Office to get this approved; will likely  be a half day at this point. Tuition assistance likely to undergo more restrictions as to  who can get it and how much. Professional development funds were cut, as Sharon  mentioned. Brian encouraged staff to look at changes to their health plans before open  enrollment ends at the end of October. A staff assistance fund for catastrophic  emergencies exists that staff can apply to. Senate will be reviewing some proposed  changes to HR policies. 

g. Amalia Monroe-Gulick – President Elect of Faculty Senate: Vice Provost for Academic  Affairs spoke about Core Curriculum Committee. An ad hoc committee in FacEx has  been created for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Intellectual Property  issues/conflict of interest for new hires being addressed. Some changes have been  made to how policies are added to the KU Policy Library, and who the contact person is. There is a new ad hoc committee on Cost Savings which is charged with looking at various efficiencies around campus. SenEx is looking into the agreement language that  comes up when people use Enroll & Pay. SenEx notified Board of Regents that they would like Chancellors’ search to be open, and would like governance representation on  the committees. A joint statement from all Regents universities is being created voicing  disapproval of campus carry, which will likely come from University Senate. 

i. Kevin: Asked whether recruiters who visit campus could weigh in on Campus  Carry. 

h. Marianne gave brief overview of University governance structure for new LFSA  members. 

i. Deborah Dandridge notified the attendees that she is serving on the Sabbatical Leave  committee in John Stratton’s place. Committee has met once this year; Sabbatical  applications were already due for this year. 

5. Updates from LFSA standing committees 

a. Salaries and Benefits, Lars Leon: This year’s members are Scott Cossel (chair), Sunita  Gandhi, and Deborah Dandridge with Mike Broadwell acting as ex officio. The group is  developing programming in response to research needs survey from last year. There will  be an informational forum on Wednesday Nov 16 from 10:30 – 11:30 to provide benefits information and discuss issues raised in the Staff survey. Group can provide  information on Flexible Spending Accounts/Health Savings Accounts, but signing up this  year will have to be completed by October 31.  

b. Committee on the Code, Heather MacBean: This year’s members are Heather MacBean  (chair), Mindy Babarskis, and Sherri Brown. No special charges this year. 

c. Nominating and Ballot, Leah Nelson: This year’s members are Betsaida Reyes (chair),  LeAnn Meyer and Chris Bohling. Currently helping LSA with balloting for at-large  representatives. 

d. CRSA, Sharon Riley: This year’s members are Sharon Riley (chair), Corinne Forstot-Burke,  Lyn Wolz, Marcella Huggard, and Lea Currie. Currently LRF at $6,044 in GRF; $5400 in  LRF. Approved 3 requests so far. CRSA will be hosting informational sessions on October  31 and November 4 @ 10 a.m. to talk about the differences between the funds and how  to apply. 

i. Have we been successful in using GRF funds? – Last year full amount was used.  No applications yet this year. Sharon to send a message with application deadline for this year. 

ii. Marianne noted that a faculty opening now exists on CRSA through the end of  June 2017. There will be a call for volunteers to fill the spot and LFSA Exec will  appoint someone to fill the vacancy. 

6. Update on website  

a. Rebecca Orozco noted that Larry Palmquist has performed an archival snapshot to the  old LFPA website, and changes can now be made to reflect the LFSA structure. Minutes  can be requested from Greta in the interim. 

b. Ann – can we do a snapshot of the KULSS website too? 

7. LFA and LSA updates 

a. Marianne Reed for the Library Staff Assembly: 

i. LSA Exec sent out a 2-question survey about issues for LSA to address, and  potential committees to create. Many of the concerns in the responses (salaries,  benefits, promotion opportunities) can likely be addressed by joint committees  such as current Salaries and Benefits programming.  

ii. Currently electing representatives at large (3).

b. Sara Morris for Library Faculty Assembly: 

i. LCPT and Sabbatical committees are underway – these are the only 2 LFA standing committees.  

ii. Largest project for LFSA Exec has been repackaging of promotion and tenure  materials for university template. Meeting on December 8 to go over repackaged materials. Subsequent meeting for December 14 in case more discussion necessary before voting.  

iii. Another group looking at academic staff discrepancies with other units on  campus.  

8. Call for new business 

a. Marianne asked attendees whether there were any focuses that might require a new  committee. No issues were raised. 

b. Brian Moss announced that the Office of Multicultural Affairs is hosting their Tunnel of  Oppression event next week. Encouraged attendance and volunteering. 

c. Sara noted that Letha Johnson presented for LFSA Exec re: document archiving. She  indicated that if anyone needs information about archiving documents or ongoing  materials, they can contact Letha. 

9. Adjournment  

a. Rebecca Orozco motioned to adjourn the meeting; Karna Younger seconded. The  meeting was unanimously adjourned.