September Staff Advisory Council Meeting
Meeting Minutes
November 24, 2015
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
HR Conference Room
Present: Bonnie Bresett , Susan Gaskell, Rachel Louis, Jessica Nairn, Helena Warburg, Brian Teal, Veronica Bosley Danielle Gonzalez, ex officio, Kevin Thomas, ex officio, Vishakha Sheoran, ex officio
Absent: Miguel Gutierrez, Tamra Hjermstad, Kim Altiere
Next Meeting: December 22, 2015, 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m., HR Conference Room
- Approval of October 27 minutes
The members reviewed and approved meeting minutes.
- Hourly Vacation Plans
Danielle chaired the meeting in the absence of Martha. In recent searches for hourly employees, the length of time it takes to begin earning 3 and 4 weeks of vacation time has occasionally come up in convincing finalists to accept a position at Williams. Kevin started discussion by outlining the history of hourly vacation leave for staff employees. He shared a list of holidays and vacations currently observed by Williams. Danielle further elaborated by sharing a spreadsheet that included holidays observed by our peer institutions. She also discussed about William’s policy involving essential staff during extreme weather conditions. Danielle suggested to compare the list to regional organizations. Helena asked about Williams’ overall compensation philosophy; Danielle responded that since benchmarking will be necessary and can be taken as a first step prior to determining how Williams will position itself in the market. Jessie questioned whether Williams will include Compensation time in future. The number of bereavement days given by Williams was discussed by the group. The group expressed individual opinions about the current holiday and vacation schedule and suggested alternatives. Kevin suggested for each member of the Council to take 2 or 3 institutions from the list and find out current holiday and vacation schedule for each institution.
III. Update on Non-Discrimination
Danielle shared that the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee (AAAC) is reviewing and drafting new language for a Non-Discrimination Policy. There are modeling their work and policy structure on the work recently done by the Sexual Miscount Policy working group.
- Title IX “Responsible Employees” at Williams
Danielle also shared the new page on Title IX on college website and role of “Responsible Employees” in such processes. The group reviewed the list of responsible employees and recommended revisiting the list and potentially adding groups of employees who have significant interaction with students.
- Update on HR Calendar
Danielle shared the HR Calendar which includes payroll, the list of holidays, events, etc. and ways to use it. The calendar can also be added to your personal Google Calendar by clicking on the +Google Calendar below on the right side of the calendar.
Please submit any agenda items to Kevin prior to the next scheduled meeting.
