Minutes of the Meeting March 1, 2006 Union 404 B
Present: James Akey, Dotty Baker, Debbie Binkley, Robert Bishop, Brenda Brannan, Joey Brent, Nina Cheshier, Kim Chrestman, Corrie Free, Judy Fos, Jeff Howell, Ron Kitchens, Cary Lee, Shannon Lovejoy, Jennifer McLain, Priscilla Melton, Ardessa Minor, Patti Mooney, Jennifer Pardoe, Paula Park, Randall Pinion, Emily Smathers Ratliff, Laurie Richlovsky, Amy Saxton, Patricia Stewart, Karen Tuttle, and Timothy Woodard
Excused: Pam Barefield, Rachel Bost, Dennis Bullard, Shellie Harrison, Ann Mason, Susan Neal, and Deidra Phillips
Unexcused: David Blackmarr and Mae Johnson
Call to Order: President Joey Brent called the meeting to order at 2:35p.m. President Brent welcomed the new and re-elected members Pam Barefield, Dennis Bullard, Nina Cheshier, Judy Fos, Mae Johnson, Shannon Lovejoy, Priscilla Melton, Ardessa Minor, Randall Pinion, Emily Smathers Ratliff, and Patricia Stewart.
President Brent introduced the speakers Shannon Lovejoy and Lisa Rhoden from the Ole Miss Association of Education Office Professionals (OMAEOP). Lisa Rhoden is the president of OMAEOP. Lisa Rhoden stated that anyone who works in an education office setting in Lafayette County or who has retired from an education office setting in Lafayette County could join OMAEOP. OMAEOP meets the last Wednesday of every month at noon in the Lyceum. Ms. Rhoden announced that the speaker for March would be Lynn Mills. The goal of OMAEOP is to help members develop skills and gain knowledge to do their job better according to Ms. Rhoden. Ms. Rhoden thinks that the greatest benefit of being a member of OMAEOP is networking with other employees across campus. The membership fee is $15 per year. If interested in joining OMAEOP contact Lisa Rhoden at lrhoden@olemiss.edu.
Shannon Lovejoy is the vice president of OMAEOP. Ms. Lovejoy discussed the national conference that members of OMAEOP can attend to network with employees from other schools across the United States. Ms. Lovejoy discussed the Christmas Party and how they pick out a charity to make donations to. For more information contact Shannon Lovejoy at snaron@olemiss.edu.
Approval of Minutes: The February minutes were approved with no corrections.
Treasurers Report: Nina Cheshier reported that there were expenditures in Contractual Services of $477.98 for the framing of member certificates and $1.95 for mail services. There were expenditures in Commodities in the amount of $291.23 for the printing of the ballots for the elections. There were expenditures in General Fund-Textbook Scholarship for $81.38 for textbook scholarship purchases and refunds for $201.89 for textbook scholarships. A restricted account was established with a deposit from Coca-Cola for $1000 for textbook scholarships.
The treasurer’s report was approved with no corrections.
Committee Reports: President Brent reported that the Judicial Committee would have a meeting March 2, 2006.
Old Business: President Brent thanked Deidra Phillips for
her contribution to the election of the new Staff Council members. President Brent also thanked Patti Mooney for
helping to count the election ballots.
Debbie Binkley
stated that everything was looking good with the Staff Appreciation Committee.
Judy Fos, chair of
the Prize Committee, reported that the business reply cards along with a letter
will be mailed to businesses asking for prizes for Staff Appreciation Week.
President Brent
reported that the focus group met with Jeff Alford and Jim Lumpp on February
16, 2006 to give input on the Chancellor’s Annual Report. One of the concerns of the focus group was
that all employees do not receive a copy of the report. The focus group agreed that overall it was a
very informative report. President Brent
thanked everyone that participated in the focus group.
New
Business: President Brent reported that Ardessa Minor sent him an e-mail with a
suggestion to create an Annual Staff Council Calendar. The calendar is to contain a record of the
traditional activities/events/meetings sponsored by the Staff Council. This calendar would serve to inform members
of scheduled events of the council in order for members to be informed earlier
and increase volunteer participation.
President Brent asked Ardessa Minor to start the calendar. There was a discussion of making the calendar
a link to the Staff Council web page.
President Brent
stated the Staff Appreciation Elections would start earlier next year and that
the election ballots needed to be put online. President Brent requested help
from Staff Council members who could make this happen. President Brent also
stated that there would still be paper ballots for staff that needed them.
Announcements:
Bettie Puckett resigned from Staff
Council.
Concerns: There
was a concern with the University’s vehicles blocking and parking on sidewalks.
There was also discussion about the Parking Guide and that it should be
referred to when in doubt about parking as there are not signs everywhere.
There was a concern
over charges in the amount of $10.00 per hour for online classes. These fees
are mandated by the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of
Higher Learning (IHL). The additional fees are similar to laboratory fees and
are not part of tuition. The University’s Further Education Policy allows
waivers for the tuition portion only.
There was mention of
Buddy Kahler still being listed on the Staff Council web site as the Chairman
of the Concerns Committee. This will be corrected.
There was a concern about Travel Registration fees. Please refer to the
“University of Mississippi” web page, “Working at Ole Miss”, “Campus Services”,
and then “Travel” link for information and answers to questions.
There was also a question of what is the policy on or should be the
policy on leave request for the death of a spouse’s grandparent. It seems at
present this is not a covered “Death in Family” leave request. This concern
will be researched to find out what is the correct policy.
The next meeting
will be April 5, 2006 in the Union 404.
The meeting was
adjourned at 3:35 P.M.
/s/ Joey Brent, President
/s/ Ron Kitchens, President-Elect
/s/ Paula Park, Secretary
Staff Council e-mail address: staffcouncil@olemiss.edu
Staff Council Homepage: http://www.olemiss.edu/orgs/staff_council
Staff Council Webmaster: dptjb@olemiss.edu