CEA Meeting Minutes

11/30/06 in B&E 140

 

I.          Welcome/Approval of September 2006 Minutes - Jeff Jenik called meeting to order at 3PM.  He welcomed everyone and asked if there were any revisions to the minutes from the last meeting. With no one having changes Jenik asked for approval of the minutes. Dr. Braden Hosch motioned to approve the minutes as is, and Annette Beeler provided a second motion.

 

II.                  Announcement of New CEA Members  - Jenik noted the six new CEA members since September: Randolph Allen, Sharon Ashe, Georgia Buggs, Stephen Ryan, Sandra Spain, and Susan Thompson. The only new member in attendance was Susan Thompson.

 

III.                Report from the Chancellor - Dr. Hallman provided an administrative update noting that it is too early to determine the outcome of the legislative process, but hopefully there will be a bond bill passed this year.   Teaching and research campuses now agree on how to use the bond bill. 

 

Dr. Hallman then noted that the program reviews are being examined. With five consecutive years of tuition increases, it is time to be judicious with next year’s decision of a tuition increase.  The administration will be cautious with program review requests depending on what the legislature decides.

 

Dr. Hallman commented that it has been a successful fall thus far, and he has heard many accolades on what the staff is doing in regard to assisting students and community members. Jenik asked about the retention rate from last year to this year.  Dr. Hallman noted that while historically it is in the low sixties, this fall it was 67% which is more traditional with our regular averages.  Dr. Hallman concluded that he is working with Randy Duckett to look at all aspects to increase the retention rate each year.

 

III.        Department Update – John Hutchens (Ruth Patrick Science Education Center) -  Hutchens presented a video on the history of the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center and the first several events held this year to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Center.  This evening they will hold the Galaxy Gala and galactic auction, and on March 3rd there will be a Lunar Eclipse Event.  Other events to be held include the April 21st Earth and Sky Night, and the Blue Moon festivities will be held on May 31st to conclude the anniversary celebration.  Over 2700 people participated in SEED this year on October 14th, and Mrs. Margo Gore, a USC Aiken Education alumna and middle school science teacher, will be the honored convocation speaker in December.

 

IV.        Department Update – Jamie Raynor (Alumni Relations) – Raynor gave an overview of the current alumni status noting that there are currently 10,121 addressable alumni that are either 2 year, 4 year, or master’s degree graduates from USC Aiken.  She also noted that during last year’s Alumni Annual Fund 6.3% of the alumni gave and pledged $82,000.  There are 24 active alumni council members, and a new Student Alumni Association was formed this fall with 15 members selected through an interview process.   Over 40 alumni also serve as staff or faculty on campus and make up the Employee Alumni group.

 

Upcoming alumni events include Homecoming 2007 on February 2nd and 3rd highlighted the Banksia alumni as well as the 1977, 1987, and 1997 classes.  Nursing, Business, and Communications will also sponsor alumni homecoming events.  The Annual Alumni Golf Classic will be held on Monday, March 12, 2007, and Raynor provided sponsorship and registration forms for interested CEA members.  The weekend on March 23-25, 2007 will hold three alumni events including a Leadership Reunion for Pacesetter, SGA, and Senior Student of the Year alumni, a Women’s Alumnae Soccer Reunion, and a Young Alumni Bash.  The last fundraising event for the Alumni Council will be the Polo Silent Auction on March 31, 2007.

 

IV.                CEA Discussion Board Update (Carla Hayes) – Hayes reviewed how CEA members could utilize the discussion board by going to www.usca.edu/cea/eoy/forum, and using a user id profile or by just typing “guest” comments and questions can be posted.  She demonstrated how to add remarks, new comments, or post a reply to a current discussion thread.  Dr. Braden Hosch asked how the executive committee will use this forum, and Jenik noted that this forum would allow the committee to gain feedback on elements that affect the CEA and would also allow for a safe venue for voicing concerns or questions that could be answered by executive committee members.  Hayes thanked Jeff Mastromonico for his work on this site.

 

V.                  Committee Reports  -

FUD – Scott Peace noted that the committee has met and discussed several options for improving the campus.  The city has decided to put sidewalks down University Parkway on the USC Aiken side, and this will be done by the time the new Wal-Mart shopping center is opened.

Enrichment –  A representative from the Enrichment Committee reminded the CEA to continue nominating members for the Character First employee of the month program.

Nominating -  Sarah Keeling asked the CEA to begin thinking of members to nominate in the spring for the various committees including the Executive Committee.

Advisory - Carla Hayes asked the CEA to refer to the provided proposal handout with highlighted changes for the employee of the year selection process. Before discussion and voting began under the direction of Jeff Jenik, Dr. Hallman spoke on the committees work in researching better methods for this process.  Dr. Hallman reminded the CEA of the purpose of the award:  to celebrate the achievements and work of the CEA members.  Dr. Hallman noted that there were two options to either adopt this new process or suspend the award until a process can be decided upon. The old process, however, can not be used any longer.  Jenik then guided the CEA through each numbered item with a motion for approval by the Advisory Committee and discussion offered to the CEA members in attendance on each numbered element.  Item #1 had no changes, and item #2 was approved via a vote by the CEA (45 approvals, 1 abstention), and then the quorum was lost due to members leaving the meeting early.  Therefore, an online vote will be provided for the remaining items #3-#7 for all eligible CEA members at the beginning of next week. (See attachment for proposed changes.) (On Thursday, December 7, 2006 the online votes concluded, and the votes were tabulated.  The affirmative has it making the amendment adopted.  The results are as follows: Approve  62; Disapprove 4; Abstain 4.)

 

VI.        Announcements from the Floor–  With no additional announcements, Jenik adjourned the meeting at 4:20pm with a motion by Stan Price and a second by Mary Anne Cavanaugh

 

Members in attendance:

Susan Thompson

John Hutchens

Jeff Jenik

Jamie Raynor

Melissa Wall

Maria Chandler

Gail Ratchford

Joann Williamson

Judy Lisak

Angela Taylor

Nick Shrader

John Crosby

Annette Beeler

Alan Andrews

Karen Morgan

Janet Joy

Cynthia Gearhart

Michael Speer

Corey Feraldi

Braden Hosch

Cheryl Fogle

Carol Cutsinger

Kathy Brantley

 

 

 

 

Deri Wells

Mary Anne Cavanaugh

Laura Anderson

Len Engel

Cheryle Ehmke

Mary Fuller

Scott Peace

Beverly Wells

Sarah Keeling

Aimee Carter

Erin Fowler

Rebecca Shrader

Vince Cloud

Barb Riverdahl

Steve Stride

Mike Lemons

Donna Howell

Stan Price

Jennifer Lake

Deidre Martin

Kojak Martin

Sandra Spain

Carla Hayes

PROPOSAL – ROUGH DRAFT

Procedures for Employee of the Year Award

1. Nominations may come from any source other than self-nominations. Nominations are limited to one per award, therefore it is allowable for an individual to nominate up to four employees for Classified Employee of the Year, one for Community Service, and one for University Service. ---NO CHANGES

2. The classified Employees Awards Committee will consist of the CEA Advisory Committee Members and one member appointed by the Executive Committee who will serve as a non-voting member to provide guidance to the committee.  This member will be knowledgeable of the award process.  The appointed person will be a CEA of the Year award recipient from the previous two years, therefore, being ineligible to receive the award.  If a member of the Advisory Committee is nominated for the CEA of the Year award, the Chair of the CEA will appoint another voting member (from the recipients of the previous two years).  If the Chair of the CEA is nominated for the award, the remaining non-nominated Executive committee members will appoint the non-voting member, as well as other voting members if necessary. 

3. The call for nominations will be the fourth Friday in January with nominations being accepted through the second Friday in February and should be delivered to the Non-Voting member of the Awards Committee.  Nomination forms may be obtained through the CEA web page and will also be available in various locations around campus for those who do not have access to a computer.  Nomination forms will include the nominee's name and department along with the nominators' original signature.   Only official nomination forms will be accepted.

4.  The Non-Voting Member will receive and review the first two (2) nomination forms.  If more than two (2) nomination forms have been received for any one individual, the phrase "This individual has received more than two (2) nomination forms" will be placed on that individuals forms that the committees will review.

5.  The nomination forms will be reviewed by the non-voting CEA Awards Committee member and the Human Resource Director to make sure they meet the following criteria prior to being forwarded to the Employee Awards Committee for their selections.  A.  Candidate must be an employee of USCA for two (2) years by January 1 of the award year.  (Example: the call goes out in January 2007 for CEA of the Year for 2006.  An employee would have to be employed by January 1, 2004 to be considered eligible.)    B.  No employee who has received an award may be considered for the same award for two (2) years.

6.  Nominees will be notified in writing and asked to submit a description of their job responsibilities and have their supervisor submit a letter of support.  The statement from the nominee will include a brief job description and any accomplishments that pertain to their job duties.  The letter will have a minimum of 100 words, but no more than 250 words. The supervisor letter will include a detailed description of the employee’s performance.  The letter may also include any accomplishments pertaining to employee’s job and how the employee exemplifies the values of the University (i.e. character, collegiality, and citizenship). This letter should be no more than 250 words.  The notifications will include a deadline for these descriptions, and letters of support which will allow ample time for the completion of the awarding process. 

7. The nominee’s statement, the supervisor’s letter and nomination form(s) of the remaining nominee's will then be forwarded to the Employee Awards Committee who will choose four (4) Classified Employees of the Year Recipients.   All decisions will be unbiased and there will be no influences on their decisions based upon the candidates department, title, age, race, or sex.  It is the responsibility of the Awards Committee to make all selections fair by using their best judgment in making these decisions.

Candidates will be rated on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the strongest.  The Awards Committee will rate the candidates individually and separately from each other.  Upon completion of this process the non-voting member will tally the scores and meet with the committee to discuss the results. If the results conclude that there is a tie, the Awards Committee will make the final decision.

All decisions will be final.