22 April 2009

Staff Advisory Council
Meeting Minutes for 22 April 2009

Members present:

Betsy Durning, John Dukes, Mimi Weiler, Lois Falzone, Cathy Pescatore, Pat Hearty, Carolyn Vance, Joseph Deasey, Anna Headley, and Lynn Grady.

Ex-Officio members present:

Melanie Young and Tracy Thompson representing Human Resources and Shar LaMar representing the EEO Office

The Staff Advisory Council (SAC) of Swarthmore College was called to order at 9:35 am on Wednesday April 22, 2009 by moderator Mary Marissen. The following items were discussed:

All Staff Meeting

  • A DVD of the All Staff Meeting that was held on March 17, 2009 is available in the Human Resources Office for anyone who missed the meeting.

Welcome

  • Tracy Thompson, who recently started at the College as the Compensation & Benefits Manager, was introduced to the group by Melanie Young.

Election Needed

  • An election is needed in both the Rose Garden Circle and Sharples Circle to replace members whose terms are expiring.
  • The election can be held by paper ballot or by email.
  • It is hoped that elections can be held soon so that the new representatives can attend the May SAC meeting.
  • The representatives from the Magill and Magnolia Circles do not have staggered terms. John Dukes from Magnolia Circle extended his term until 2012 to provide staggered terms in that Circle.  The representatives from Magill Circle need to decide what they want to do.

Change in Student Payroll

  • Melanie told the group that Payroll has been working to automate the student payroll by moving it to Banner system.
  • HR is using the student group as a pilot with an eye towards automation of all non-exempt employee time recording.

Campus Security

  • The group heard from Public Safety Officer and SAC representative John Dukes about the armed robbery which took place on campus last week.
  • SAC discussed the implications of campus being an “open campus” along with the resources of our Public Safety force.
  • Mary Marissen will contact Owen Redgrave about the possibility of a staff development session on how best to protect yourself.

Ad-Hoc Financial Planning Group

  • The group discussed staff feedback from the Open Forum Meetings that were held during the week of April 13th.
  • Staff is reminded that the address for leaving feedback on the web is: http://www.swarthmore.edu/x57203.xml
  • SAC encourages changes to the Financial Planning Feedback web site to make it more interactive.
  • The Board of Managers will decide on the 2009-10 budget, which does not include staff layoffs, at their meeting in early May.
  • SAC representatives were charged with coming to the May 20th meeting with suggestions to improve trust among various campus groups such as faculty/staff/administration.
  • Suggestions may be sent to your SAC rep and will be discussed at the meeting.

SAC Representatives

  • All employees are strongly encouraged to bring issues of concern to their SAC representatives to facilitate communication with Administration.

Being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:57 am.

Respectfully submitted,

Beth Baksi
Secretary