The University of Mississippi Staff Council

Minutes of Meeting May 6, 2009 PPD Conference Room

Present: Dotty Baker, Prema Balachandran, Debbie Binkley, Debbie Bishop, Lisa Bishop, Sandra Cox-McCarty, Tiffany Edwards, Stan Fortner, Mark Garneau, Shellie Harrison, Marla Holcomb, Chad Hunter, Gwen Hutchins, Nina Jones, MaryAnn Kerr, Natcha Knight-Evans, Jane Michelletti, Erin Miller, Julius Minor, Stephanie Mitchell, Patricia Oswalt, Paula Park, Johnny Price, Anita Randle, Dana Ros, Neal Sellers, Jennifer Taylor, Johnette Taylor, Ryan Upshaw, Jacquline Vinson, Benita Whitehorn, Pam Wilburn

Absent-Excused: Angie Gurner, Carol Bullard, Pam Barefield, Patti Mooney, Deborah Purnell

Absent-Unexcused: Holly Bethune

Call to Order: President Shellie Harrison called the meeting to order at 1:30 PM.

Minutes: Approved by general consensus

Treasurer’s Report: Approved by consensus.

Candidates for Staff Council Officers:

President Shellie Harrison noted that one person was nominated for each office. She asked each person running to say a little bit about why he/she would like to run for office.

· Ryan Upshaw – President Elect – Ryan noted that he had just completed his first year on Staff Council and felt that it had been a great experience, particularly working with the Meet and Greet Committee and the Exam Breakfast.

· Dotty Baker – Treasurer – Dotty stated she was a “numbers cruncher” instead of a public speaker. She was previously in the banking business for 20 years.

· Marla Holcomb – Secretary – Marla said she has been on Staff Council for 2 years. She noted she was very organized and felt as though she would be a good person to keep records for the Staff Council.

· Tiffany Edwards – Textbook Scholarship Chair – She noted that one of the reasons she agreed to run for this position was that she had completed her Master’s degree last May and utilized the scholarship as long as she could; she felt it was a wonderful program for our staff.

Voting for 2009-2010 Officers:

Ballots were passed out. Shellie Harrison asked anyone having a name they would like to add to the ballot at that time, or anyone who had been on Staff Council for a minimum of 1 year and would like to add their own name, please do so at that time. There were no responses.

Ballots were marked and passed back for counting. New officers were announced: President Elect, Ryan Upshaw; Treasurer, Dotty Baker; Secretary, Marla Holcomb; Textbook Scholarship Chair, Tiffany Edwards.

Unfinished Business:

Staff Appreciation Update

It was noted that Staff Appreciation would begin next week on Wednesday, May 13. Johnette Taylor reported she had sent the brochure to printing on the morning of Wednesday, May 6. She expected them to be mailed out on Monday, May 12. Another email would go out to everyone prior to the actual event.

Tiffany Edwards stated that Melinda Grimmett, Production Control Supervisor in the Physical Plant, had requested that all work orders be coordinated and submitted on a master list. In doing so, this would make it much easier for her to keep up with what might be needed. MaryAnn Kerr volunteered to coordinate work orders. Nina Jones suggested those who had already submitted work orders should give MaryAnn those work order numbers. Nina provided MaryAnn with the Fund 10 account number for the charges.

Gwen Hutchins noted that there was a $100 fee to reserve the Johnson Commons ballroom for a rain location for Karaoke. Jennifer Taylor suggested that Southern Breeze would make a good location for that event. Everyone agreed this was a good alternative. Johnette Taylor said she would take care of getting the brochure changed to reflect Southern Breeze as the rain location.

Everyone was encouraged to attend all events, especially to make an appearance at the New Hire Reception, scheduled for May 13, 2:30 PM, Bryant Hall.

Debbie Bishop announced that the Bingo Committee could use more volunteers. Several Staff Council members volunteered at that time.

Johnette Taylor reported that Exam Breakfast had gone well on Tuesday evening. There were more volunteers at this event than had been in the past. There were approximately 325 students served. She expressed appreciation for the help from Norm Easterbrook, Ryan Miller, Ethel Young-Minor, Don Cole, and Jay Watson for their work as the celebrity servers. Prema, Bonita Shellie, Ron, Karen, Stephanie, Dotty, Mark, Sandra, Paula, Marla, Dana and Jackie were there to help as well. Julius took great pictures at the event.

Paula Park noted that in the past token prizes/gifts had been given to the students. She felt that the lack of those prizes/gifts was very missed at the event the previous evening. She felt that it was something that should be brought back into the event. Jennifer Taylor noted that her office could always be counted on for donations for this event. Johnette Taylor said it would be brought before the committee for the next exam breakfast to be held in the fall.

Shellie noted that Emma Ward had telephoned her asking for volunteers for ushers for the 2:00 PM Liberal Arts ceremony (to work from 12:30 – 2:00 PM). Anyone who could help was asked to call Emma at 5922.

New Business:

No new business.

Meeting Adjourned at 1:54 PM

Next Meeting: Wednesday, June 3, 2009, 1:30 PM, Peabody Hall, Room 206