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

September 14, 2000
Columbus

Present: Carol Bunn Cindy Crawford Janice Dicarolis Debra Gallagher Ted Gastier Becky Hooper Kathy Mohler Susan Sommer Regina Vann Shelley Whitworth Cathy Zirkle Rita Bowers Ann Lighthiser Carol Sowers Marjorie Dellinger Jim Karcher Mabel Kirchner Christine Nielsen

Absent: Betty Aylsworth Pat Patterson Barbara LaMoreaux Mark Erbaugh

The Staff Advisory Council met at the Faculty Club on September 14 at 10:00 a.m. The agenda for the day included the regular monthly meeting, lunch, the annual meeting and installation of officers.

Chair Christine asked if there were changes or corrections to the August minutes. Deb Gallagher made a motion to approve as submitted, seconded by Cathy Zirkle. Motion carried.

Executive Team Update Christine reported the executive team held a conference call September 5. Susan Sommer and Kathy Mohler were involved with this conference call in preparation for their new officer responsibilities. Topics discussed included final plans for the annual meeting and developing the program agenda. Christine reviewed the annual meeting agenda, and Cathy Z. indicated photos are to be taken of new officers and any member who would like a retake.

Christine indicated that SAC members have not been extended an invitation to participate in this year's faculty meeting in October. After discussion, members agreed the council's presence at this annual meeting is important to ensure staff participation in the betterment of the college, and that the topic is relevant to staff. Cathy Z. volunteered to follow up with the appropriate contact regarding an invitation to SAC members.

The Farm Science Review luncheon was discussed; several members indicating they plan to attend. Cathy Z. will coordinate getting the SAC promotional display to FSR with assistance from Jim Karcher and Ted Gastier.

Christine reported that the officers developed job descriptions relative to responsibilities and/or tasks each did during the first term. These job descriptions will be shared with the in-coming officers and also be used as an official document for reference on responsibilities. The descriptions are currently in draft form and will be reviewed and edited by the exec team before presentation to the full SAC membership.

Clarification on the role of the sponsor (Dr. L. H. Newcomb) was discussed during the exec team meeting. As a member of the Sponsor TF, Becky Hooper provided the exec team with background information from the LINC workshop held in Mansfield last year and guidelines from the Paul Axtell handbook. The consensus was that more communication and a closer relationship with Dr. Newcomb is desired by SAC. He will be invited to attend a meeting in the near future.

Task Force Reports

Promotional Display - the display was to be set up in Ag. Admin. during the month but was canceled due to renovations in the building. As reported earlier, the display will be at FSR. Cathy Z. will arrange with Millie Scheid in C&T to update the exec team picture on the display after today's installation of officers. Cathy and Susan Sommer will decide who is to be responsible for the display and its schedule for the next year.

enVision - Janice DiCarolis will write the next article, and it was suggested a picture of the new exec team be included with the article. Cathy Z. will draft the writing assignments for the coming year.

Web Page - nothing to report. Updates are on-going.

Listserv - there was been no activity since June.

Survey - Marjorie reported the TF is in the midst of providing data to those who request specific data. TF Co-Chair Mark Erbaugh is currently out of the country, however, once he returns he will continue working with Joe Gliem in analyzing the data. Marjorie reiterated that the TF is a long way from writing the final report which ultimately will be shared with all staff in the college. It was agreed that the exec team will follow up with Dr. Moser and Dr. Newcomb to determine specifically what their requests are from the data.

Employee Rewards - Regina reported that input from staff following the August meeting has been incorporated into the draft report. The draft will be presented to the TF members on September 25 and final review will take place at the October regular SAC meeting before presentation to Dr. Moser by the October 31 deadline. Regina will email the draft to members to review before October 18. Regina gave much credit to the ex-officio members of this TF.

Staff Development - Shelley distributed information from the survey results that relate to staff development issues. She asked that members review the data and provide feedback to her by the October meeting.

A discussion followed regarding employee performance evaluation and that this is a topic relevant to both the Rewards and Employee Development task forces. Shelley noted that this issue kept re-occurring in the data and is a "hot topic." The question was asked, "Should the next step be to develop a performance evaluation task force?"

Other Reports Guiding Coalition - no report, this group meets next month. VP's Advisory Council - no report, next meeting is scheduled tomorrow. Facilities Master Planning Group - Ted reported this group meets monthly, and he will continue to keep SAC members informed via email.

Frequency of Meetings Christine lead a discussion on how often SAC should schedule meetings. The consensus was that the exec team should plan the next year with a meeting each month (no meeting in December) - continue to hold the third Wednesday of each month. It is always easier to cancel a meeting than to try and schedule one at the last minute. Locations of meetings will continue to be rotated around the state with local staff invited to a portion of the meeting for a sharing session.

Next Meeting October 18 is the next regular meeting date, and it will be held in Columbus. Marjorie volunteered to find a meeting location and coordinate details.

Installation of Officers Officers for the new year were installed by Dr. L. Newcomb during the annual meeting luncheon at the Faculty Club which followed the regular meeting.

Chair Christine Nielsen Vice-Chair Debra Gallagher Secretary/Treasurer Kathy Mohler Communications Director Susan Sommer

Becky Hooper Secretary/Treasurer