May Meeting Minutes May 11, 2016 Location: UC 330/331

Welcome & Call to Order President Zellmer-Cuaresma called the meeting to order at 10:06am.

Roll Call Attendees: Luke Alford, Andi Armstrong, David Crowley, Kris Csorosz, Karin Fried, Mark Fritch, Rozlyn Haley, Rochelle Krahn, Carlie Magill, Maria Mangold, Denise May, Maggie McCarthy, Shaunagh McGoldrick, Candy Patrick, Edi Stan, Renee Valley, Sarah Wade, Kellyn Younggren, Jennifer Zellmer-Cuaresma, Judy Wellert (Administrative Associate) Absent: Matthew Cragwick, Jefferson Heath Excused: Grace Gardner, Gloria Phillip, Caitlin Sager, Angela Weisenburger

Quorum Present Public Comment – None

UM Minute 1) Senator Haley – Toastmasters has officially started. Come check it out if you can.

2) Senator Stan – The Campus Thrift Garage Sale is next week and we are starting collection from students today. The hours are approximately 8-3pm. Email Eva Rocke if you are interested in helping.

3) Senator Fritch – There is a Shakespeare exhibit in the library. It is an original folio and a fantastic opportunity for the University to feature. Julie Edwards was instrumental in bringing it here.

4) Senator Csorosz – It is graduation week! Graduation is this Saturday and you can help by picking up litter around campus. If you see geysers, report them to the work order desk.

New Senator Introductions

Olivia White –Modern Classical Language & Literature Stephanie Domitrovich – Health & Human Performance Jasmine Lane – Provost’s Office Annie Burgad – IT Ben Chiewphasa – Mansfield Library Julie Pavlish – UM Financial Education Daryl Lee– Veterans Office Jim Lyon – Facilities Services Electrician

Guest Speaker – Sheila Wright Fair Labor Standards Act and Contract Professional/Staffing  Federal Act determining who can get overtime. Contract Professionals must be exempt from overtime.

 Most staff members on campus are eligible for overtime and comp. hours can be converted to OT.

 In 2014, President Obama signed a letter to the Department of Labor & Industry asking them to review the salary threshold for overtime. The minimum is $455/week, or $23,660/year.

 The new act could be finalized any day and the University then has 60 days to implement. As of now, it looks like we have until September to deal with this.

 The new minimum is $970/week or $50,440/year. The people impacted are those who are salaried and exempt from OT. There are still certain types of jobs where this will not matter; teachers are exempt from the salary threshold, as well as attorneys and some medical professionals.

 To be exempt from OT, you must be an administrator, executive, or high-level computer worker doing theory/design.

 This will affect many people at UM – approximately 443.

 Contract professionals will now become “staff” who are not paid monthly.

 This will affect Staff Senate, as more people will be eligible for our ranks.

 These individuals will now be eligible for OT and it will cost UM lots of money.

 Faculty is not counted in this. However, some will have to become eligible for OT if they have dual roles as staff/faculty.

 Graduate Assistants are hourly and not eligible for exemption. The university will have to be careful what we call people and keep them on contract.

 Contract Professionals will have to go into the MUS compensation plan and work hours will have to be managed very carefully. This may result in a loss of schedule flexibility for some folks; all part of the effort to mitigate liability.

 This could affect recruitment and retention of professionals at the university. Some could feel like this is a demotion to go from contract to staff and it may result in morale issues, reduction in perceived status, and freedom restrictions. There could also be wage compression.  This is not optional, we must comply. Wage and Hour will come do audits and if we are noncompliant, minimally the university will owe back wages and pay a fine, by incident, not person.

 Sheila is meeting individually with managers and offices impacted.

 The new staffers will not automatically be union and should still keep the same pay and duties but may have new titles and role descriptions.

 The shifting contract professionals will be eligible for whatever staff gets – library checkouts, parking passes, etc.

o Senator Mangold – Sounds like a cultural shift might be difficult. How do we tell students? They email at night and expect immediate responses.

 Work may slow and some services may not be offered.

Approval of Minutes

April minutes approved with no revisions.

Financial statement No questions. Financial statement will be filed. Reports from Standing Committees  Professional Development – Please give comments from the survey to Jen, Maria, or Grace for future dialogue.

 Scholarships – Thank you for a great ceremony.

 President Zellmer-Cuaresma - Guest Speaker Deena Mansour could not be here, but please apply for the Women’s Leadership Initiative by due June 1 if you are interested.

o Senator Armstrong – Will they have more classified staff?

. Senator Mangold – Not necessarily. They look at cohort dynamics. There is an interview stage to the process this year. It is also much more time consuming than they originally planned.

Resolution SB 5 15/16

 Senator Csorosz provided background on the Scholarship Committee. It is a way to connect with students and help staff children. The committee receives reliable donations and in the past, gave out everything we had. A resolution was passed a few years ago limiting scholarships to $3,000. SB 5 15/16 is a simple resolution to clean up the language about who is eligible for a scholarship.

 Senator Haley moved to table the resolution. Seconded by Senator May.  Senator McCarthy introduced SB 6 15/16 to eliminate the scholarship committee. Giving out scholarships and fundraising are not meeting our mission as Staff Senate.

 Senator Csorosz – The scholarship committee can be self-funded by a core group of donators who have historically supported student scholarships. If you are one of people who received a scholarship from Staff Senate, it matters to you.

 Senator Crowley moved to table SB 6 15/16 indefinitely. Seconded by Senator Fried.

 Senator Haley – This is worthy of conversation, so let’s take out ‘indefinitely’ from the motion to table.

 The motion to table SB 6 15/16 indefinitely does not pass.

 President Zellmer-Cuaresma – Both sides of the argument are valid, supporting the evolving mission of Staff Senate and preserving student scholarships. We should try to remove emotion from this conversation.

 Senator Crowley moved to table SB 6 15/16 until the July meeting when new senators are here. Seconded by Senator Valley.

 Judy – We can postpone forming committees until August after we have voted on this resolution. Please have new written resolution to the Bylaws Committee in the next 2 weeks.

 Judy will send an email to Staff Senate invited interested parties to a separate meeting to discuss SB 6 15/16.

 The motion passes to table SB 6 15/16 until the July Staff Senate meeting.

New Business

 The Campus Welcome Center is inside the Adams Center starting Friday and Saturday. This is a satellite location.  Judy will send out officer descriptions and we will elect new officers in June.  President Zellmer-Cuaresma - The mentoring program will try to pair up a returning Senator with a new Senator. Please look at the sheet being passed around to see to whom you are assigned. Contact President Zellmer-Cuaresma with any questions. Meeting Adjourned at 11:37am.

NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, June 8, in UC 330/331