THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSE AT CHATTANOOGA
Exempt Staff Council Meeting
Fortwood Room, University Center
Members Attending: Debbie Bell, Jean Dake, Tom Ellis, Ellen Neufeldt, Mike Royster, Charles Scott, Barbara Webb.
Others in attendance: Dan Webb, Director, Office of Human Resources; Melanie Sadler, Administrative Secretary, Office of Human Resources.
Call to Order: Ms. Dake called the meeting to order.
Minutes: Minutes of the December 2, 2003 meeting were unavailable. Ms. Sadler will email minutes to members.
§ UT System to Campus Visit
Dr. Joe Johnson visited the campus on January 6 as part of the UT System to campus visits. The ESC, ERC, and Faculty Senate presented statements of the work being done by each group. Dr. Johnson told faculty and staff that he is working to rebuild trust and repair the damage done by the previous administrations.
§ Executive Council Update
Dr. Marvin Ernst, Faculty Senate President, would like to establish a committee to examine models from other universities in setting priorities. He is seeking involvement from the ERC, ESC, and Faculty Senate.
§ ESC Salary Adjustment Plan
Lindsay Pardue and Jean Dake met with Vice Chancellor Brown recently to discuss the compensation plan proposed by the ESC. The plan included funding for E & G accounts but units with R accounts were asked to review their budget to identify monies for increases. The plan was modified slightly with a cap on adjustments over $4,000 and the option to pick up additional monies later. Mr. Webb will report at the next meeting if caps existed in the past for non-exempt and faculty increases.
The University budget committee will meet February 9, following the governor’s “State of the State” address, and will include discussion of pay increases.
A Faculty Senate sub-committee will present data of administrative pay increases over the past five years at the next Faculty Senate meeting. An ESC member requested data of all exempt and non-exempt positions eliminated and left unfilled over the past five years.
§ ESC Elections
Ms. Dake will ask Anne Gamble to assume Ms. Anderson’s position as representative of group 4 until elections in April. A representative for Group 8 will remain unfilled. Charles Scott, Ellen Neufeldt, Tom Ellis, Debbie Bell, Mike Royster, and Dan Webb will meet to discuss representational units for the upcoming election. Ms. Sadler will email a listing of all exempt staff to ESC members.
§ ESC Open Meeting
An open meeting for exempt staff will be held after elections. Dr. Francis Gross will be invited to explain THEC funding to the ESC. Funds must be secured to pay for Dr. Gross’ trip.
Additional Issues:
§ Ms. Dake presented a plaque to Deb Anderson, who left the University in January, for serving as ESC Chair.
§ Ms. Barbara Webb stated that Jim Bowman has volunteered to update and maintain the ESC website. There were no objections from members.
§ Non-exempt positions with IRIS responsibilities will be reviewed system-wide by a committee, according to Mr. Webb. The IRIS Steering Committee will meet to discuss rollout of more IRIS transactions.
§ Mr. Webb has not received any feedback from the MTAS Consultants visit but said a report is to be submitted to Dr. Johnson in March 2004.
§ Mr. Webb stated that a report would be released soon regarding an employee satisfaction survey, conducted on all campuses.
Next Meeting is February 17, 2004 at 10:00 a.m. in the Fortwood Room, University Center.
Motion was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting.
Respectfully Submitted,
Melanie Sadler
Administrative Secretary
Office of Human Resources