Staff Advisory Council
College of Food, Agricultural,
and Environmental Sciences
Minutes

May 19, 1999 - 12:00 - 3:00 Knox County Extension Office

Present: Betty Aylsworth, Rita Bowers, Carol Bunn, Cindy Crawford, Sherri Decant, Marjorie Dellinger, Janice Dicarolis, Mark Erbaugh, Debra Gallagher, Ted Gastier, Becky Hooper, Jim Karcher, Barbara Lamoreaux, Ann Lighthiser, Christine Nielsen, Patricia Patterson, Susan Sommer, Regina Vann, Thad Welch, Shelly Whitworth, Cathy Zirkle

Absent: Mabel Kirchner, Kathy Mohler, Mitch Moser, Carol Sowers

Staff Present: Cathy Forte

The regular meeting of the FAES Staff Advisory Council was held.

Minutes of the April 14 meeting were reviewed. One correction was made - the Vice President's Council meets twice a year rather than once. Debra Gallagher made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Cindy Crawford. Motion carried.

As a follow-up to the final version of the bylaws (sent to SAC members following the last meeting), Thad asked if any corrections were in order. There was no response; the bylaws stand as approved.

EXECUTIVE TEAM UPDATE

Thad reported the Executive Team and Cathy Forte held a conference call on May 18 to finalize the agenda for today's meeting. Individual reports from officers are noted in the following minutes.

Thad distributed a copy of the Staff Compensation Report which was compiled by the University Staff Advisory Council and given to President Kirwan.

REPRESENTING CONSTITUENTS WORKSHOP

Thad asked Debra Gallagher to report on a recent workshop she attended entitled "Representing Constituents" which was sponsored by USAC. In reviewing her notes, Debra said this workshop was held for members of university committees and councils. She noted that it is important to identify "who we represent." Brainstorming in small groups was used to identify approaches that could be used in communicating with constituents. These approaches included:

• web page (including a permanent survey for input)
• announcements to promote organization at athletic events
• newsletter
• hot line
• bake sale (food would be purchased with suggestions rather than money)

Debra said anyone who would like a copy of her complete notes may contact her. Thad commented that he felt there were some good suggestions that SAC could use.

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

Cathy Zirkle reported she would like to obtain the Council's input on priority communication projects. After discussion, the following items were identified and listed in priority order:

• Regular articles in enVision
• College-wide listserv
• SAC web page
• Membership directory (paper copy and electronic)

Cathy reported she has received responses from two members who volunteered to work with the Communications Committee. Additional volunteers were requested, and the following delegation of responsibilities was established:

enVision: Cathy Zirkle, Betty Aylsworth, Janice Dicarolis, Cindy Crawford
Listserv: Ann Lighthiser, Regina Vann
Web Page: Susan Sommer, Debra Gallagher, Shelly Whitworth, Cathy Forte
Membership Directory: Janice Dicarolis, Barbara Lamoreaux, Cathy Zirkle

Cathy emphasized that she anticipates most of the communications and work within these task forces will be done through e-mail. Thad asked that each of the above task forces have work completed as much as possible and report back at the July 21 SAC meeting.

OARDC DIRECTOR SEARCH

Thad asked Cathy Forte for an update. She indicated interviews have been completed with the three candidates, and a recommendation was given to Dr. Moser from the Search Committee. An official announcement should come soon. Thad thanked members who were available to participate in the interviewing process.

MEMBERSHIP TERMS

Christine Nielsen distributed a printout of membership terms listing the choices of members from the last meeting. The 3-year terms had more first choices listed than the 2-year and 4-year terms, however, some members indicated their willingness to go with their second choice so that terms would be more evenly distributed. The official list is attached at the end of these minutes.

FALL FACULTY MEETING

Christine shared information from the planning meeting of the Fall Faculty Council which is scheduled for October 7 at the Parke University Hotel near campus. Christine, Debra Gallagher and Janice Dicarolis participated in this meeting (Regina Vann was not available). Although SAC has been invited to participate, it was determined to not address both faculty and staff issues at this meeting. The focus of the day will be "Making the College a More Compelling Place to Work" from the faculty perspective. Christine distributed notes from the meeting.

Although staff issues will not be addressed, the consensus was that it will be a valuable experience for SAC to become involved in this annual meeting as well as inviting representatives of faculty to future staff activities. This involvement aligns itself well with many of SAC's goals. Thad explained that although this is not a mandatory meeting, he strongly encourages all SAC members to participate. This is a beginning of blending cooperative efforts between staff and faculty towards similar goals. SAC welcomes the invitation and involvement in this activity and anticipates future collaborations. It was agreed that SAC representatives will continue their involvement in planning this meeting.

FUTURE MEETING DATES

Cathy Zirkle had sent prior to today's meeting a listing of tentative meeting dates for the remainder of 1999. During the Executive Team's conference call, some changes were suggested, based on additional meeting information and the goal of trying to keep regular meetings to only once a month. After a review and discussion by members, the consensus was to adopt the dates (listed at the end of these the minutes).

Please note that the October annual meeting has been changed to September so that members are available to attend the Fall Faculty Meeting in October. The bylaws will not be amended to change the month of the annual meeting until next year when the dates are established and it is determined that SAC will continue to be involved with the Fall Faculty Meeting.

Ted Gastier invited SAC to hold a meeting at Stone Lab next year, and he volunteered to host the group. All were in agreement they would like to meet at this location on Lake Erie. A summer or early fall date was most popular among members.

JUNE RETREAT AND LINC PROJECT

Thad reviewed arrangements for the LINC innovative project retreat-- June 3-4 at the Mansfield Campus (map attached at the end of these minutes).

No overnight accommodations will be provided for members other than those furthest away (Becky Hooper, Carol Bunn, Sherri Decant, Carol Sowers, Kathy Mohler, and Cathy Zirkle). Thad will make lodging arrangements. Barbara Lamoreaux has offered her home to anyone who wishes to spend the night. A van will be traveling from campus, however, it will be returning to campus Thursday and going back to Mansfield Friday morning. Thad took a count of members who plan to attend and also a count for those planning to participate in the optional Thursday evening session on listening skills.

Cathy Forte shared input from a discussion with Dr. L. H. Newcomb regarding SAC involvement in follow-up projects from the Project Reinvent Retreat. She conveyed his hopes that SAC could move forward and develop some of the initiatives during the next couple months. Thad also reported that he had invited Dr. Newcomb to share his views and expectations with SAC at the June retreat and as a follow-up again at the July regular meeting. Dr. Newcomb suggested that he not take up any of the time at the retreat but meet with SAC at the July meeting.

Much discussion and reflection by members followed, attempting to determine the appropriate next steps and if the topic (staff development/self improvement/mentoring/shadowing) identified at the April SAC meeting would still be used as the project for the LINC retreat. The consensus from all was that the membership needs to work in smaller work groups to achieve success and proceed at a faster pace. The discussion kept coming back to developing a survey to gather input from all College staff based on the priority goals identified at the April SAC meeting. A list was begun on the board with input from various members of possible "new" retreat projects. However, after continued debate and discussion, the consensus was that we had already developed a list of goals at the April meeting and we should stay with that list.

Barb Lamoreaux made a motion that a group of 4-5 SAC members meet during the June retreat to develop a staff survey based on the goals while the rest of SAC members work on another project. Cindy Crawford seconded the motion. A vote was taken by hand count and failed.

Shelly Whitworth made a motion to have all SAC members work in small groups at the June retreat -- each group working on one of the goals (A-E) developed at the April meeting. Each group would design questions to be included in a staff survey as well as identify projects relative to that specific goal. Goal "F" would not be included because it would basically be the culmination of the survey. A small group would be designated at the end of the retreat to pull all the survey questions together into a concise and easily understood format. Regina Vann seconded the motion. A vote was taken by hand count and passed.

Cathy Zirkle made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Patricia Patterson.

Submitted by,
Becky Hooper
Secretary/Treasurer

 

College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Staff Advisory Council Membership Terms
2-Years (1999-2001)	3-Years (1999-2002)	4-Years (1999-2003)
Aylsworth	Crawford	Bunn
Erbaugh	Hooper	Decant
Moser	Welch	Gallagher
Sowers	Zirkle	Karcher
Whitworth	Bowers	Nielsen
Lighthiser	Dicarolis	Vann
Sommer	Kirchner	Dellinger
Gastier	Lamoreaux	Patterson
	Mohler

May 1999

1999 Staff Advisory Council Meeting Schedule

June 3-4 OSU Mansfield Campus 11:00 am - 5:00 pm Thursday 9:00 am - 2:00 pm Friday

July 21 Columbus - 219 Ag Engineering 9:30 am - 12:30 pm

Aug. 18 Malabar Farm - Pugh Cabin 10:00 am - 3:30 pm Richland County LINC follow-up work and cookout

Sept. 15 Fall Kick-off and Annual Meeting 9:00 am - 11:30 meeting Columbus (location to be determined) 11:30 - 1:30 lunch 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. LINC follow-up

Oct. 7 Fall Faculty Meeting 9:30 - 3:00 p.m. Columbus - Parke Hotel

Nov. 17 Fayette County Extension Office 12:00 noon - 3:00 pm Washington Courthouse

Dec. 15 NW District Extension Office 12:00 noon - 3:00 pm Findlay