January minutes
Staff Council Meeting Location: Faculty House, Lounge
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 Time: 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

In Attendance: Martha Tetrault, ex officio, Danielle Gonzalez, ex officio, Colleen Bethoney, ex officio, Justin Adkins, Bilal Ansari, Angela Copeland, Dawn Dellea, Gisela Demant, Sue Galli, Michele Rech, Tony Sinico, Roberta Sweet, Kim Tremblay, Teresa Waryjasz, Michele Migdal

Absent: Mark Kimball, Bette Phelps, Derrick Robertson

Agenda:

1. Administrative briefing — language & concept as a communication tool
2. Background Record Checks
3. Dog policy/guidelines
4. Appreciation Day
5. Other items

Minutes:

Administrative Briefing
A new campus communication tool has been created, called an Administrative Briefing. With assistance from David Edge, Senior Designer/Art Director, an email template has been designed. This new format has been created to signal to the receiver a heightened level of importance. In the near future, the following policies will be distributed in this new format:

Appreciation and Recognition Policy | Additional Pay Policy | Background Record Check Policy | Telecommuting Policy

Background Record Check Policy
A copy of the almost final policy was handed out for review. This policy will be announced in an Administrative Briefing to the campus. This in now in effect for all staff positions recruited since January 1, 2012, and is anticipated to be applied to faculty hires in the future. Martha asked for the group to read the policy and email her any feedback.

Dog Guidelines
Tony Sinico, spoke to Campus Safety’s response to dog issues. The dog guidelines will be sent to the Employee Safety Committee for their review and feedback. The question was raised when there is a violation of the guidelines who should respond? Most agreed that it should be the immediate manager and if unsuccessful it becomes a performance issue. Martha will bring up at the next Manager’s breakfast for input and what would or does keep them from responding to issues?

Appreciation Day
Much conversation was centered on this year and future years Appreciation Day Events. The luncheon event continues to work well. However, the numbers continue to grow for the evening event at The Mill on the Floss where there is limited space. Alternatives were discussed such as reducing the number of guests but realize that may be a sensitive issue for honorees. The possibility of holding the evening event at Mt. Hope was suggested and discussed. Reservations have already been secured at the Mill for this year, new options will be researched and discussed for future years.

Please submit any agenda items to Martha prior to the next scheduled meeting

Next scheduled meeting: February 14th @ 10:00 a.m., Faculty House Lounge

Reported by C. Bethoney