LSA Exec - Minutes - September 6, 2017

LSA Executive Meeting Minutes 

Wednesday September 6, 2017 

Present:

Leah Hallstrom, Emily Anne Beran, Joe Orosco, Christopher Bohling, Julie Woodrick, Marla  Schleuder, and Brian Moss 

AGENDA: 

APPROVE MINUTES FROM LAST MONTH 

-Approved unanimously 

UPDATE FROM LSFA EXECUTIVE MEETING: 

-Liason reports 

-Ad-hoc communications group to better clarify governance for everyone is in the works - Lars had mentioned call for people for Organizational Development-related activities 

UPDATE FROM LEAH AND EMILY’S MEETING WITH DEAN KEVIN SMITH: 

-Libraries would pay to do a lunch for new faculty to become more familiar with governance,  and we weren't sure if that would also be interesting for staff as well 

[LSA Exec discussed the possibility of this. No one is against the idea, what is the definition of  "new?" (how new?). Leah decided to mention it to Kevin at the next meeting.] 

- Kansas State Legislature action earlier this summer regarding raises and the fairness of the way  those were conducted. Kevin recognized it was unfair, and is exploring if there's anything to be  done to address its shortcomings 

Brian: Don't forget about Staff Senate! 

He will bring updates to us from KU Staff Senate 

Brian: Staff senate: university putting pressure on Legislature to make things more fair. Facilities found a  way to give a 1.5% raise to people in their unit who have been there longer, but that’s tricky, since even  the raise the legislature passed had not been budgeted for. 

Chris: what has LSA done in the past with regards to advocacy when problems like this pop up? Jules: it seemed like such an admin thing, we didn't really try to tackle it. 

Chris: how do we feel about developing official positions on certain issues? 

Leah: In an extreme case of unfairness, it would be appropriate, but probably not for this particular  case. 

Brian: Had similar thoughts last year from policies that were quickly run by Staff senate, but the  department didn't implement the changes the senate proposed. Maybe official stances could be  proposed through LFSA, since it's a joint group.

LIAISON REPORTS: 

Chris: Nominating and Ballot Committee (LeAnn, Betsaida, met with Karna as well) talked about procedural stuff, and top-down unified LSA outreach and how to get started. Chris  suggested doing this at department meetings 

Emily: Salaries and Benefits Committee 

Main thing they are working on this year is the Star program for the Benefits website and being on top  of Open Enrollment deadlines 

Marla: Code and Bylaws Committee 

Plans to meet tomorrow. Received a question regarding a Special charge (secretarial duties) and where  updates on this information can be found. This brought up a couple of good points: - changes that involve moving things around, or changes to the actual secretarial duties - our website is not really fleshed out (we need to add this to the Agenda for next time) and we need to  update Committee sections of the website for special charges if LSA has decided not to pursue them at  this time. 

REMINDER: SET UP A MEETING FOR MARLA AND LEAH AND POSSIBLY ASK GRETA TO JOIN so we can  flesh out the LSA Web page 

Brian: looked at Climate study: 75% of staff are satisfied with their jobs, but only 38% feel valued.  Chancellor: without staff, students don't get enrolled! The air conditioning doesn't work! etc.  making sure unit heads and managers know that staff should be given time to do governance, senate,  etc. 

The Dean heard about an instance of a faculty member turning down a governance position because  their supervisor wouldn't let them. This should not happen! 

Chris moved to adjourn 

Jules seconded 

****** REMINDER:  

Previous month’s meeting Agenda Items we didn’t get to:  

-LSA Website Content (to appear on next Agenda) 

-Develop Blurb for Department Meeting Presentations (or at this point acknowledge that this is part of  LFSA’s Ad-Hoc project)