IUB Professional Council

Business Meeting Minutes

Indiana Memorial Union, Maple Room

February 18, 2009

Council Members in Attendance:  Rob Aspy, Tracy Bee, Jonathan Bolte, Jennifer Chaffin, Mark Goodner, Christina Kuzmych, Eric Love, Dan Ondrik, Liz Peck, Paula Phillips, Claudia Polley, Suzanne Ryan (Ex-officio, UHRS), Tracy Smith, Kelly Thacker, Greg Travis, Ed Vasquez (Ex-officio, CWA), Dee Verostko, Beverly Vicker.

Proxies:  Mark Goodner for Margaret Baechtold, Tracy Bee for Jim Brown.

Members Not in Attendance:  Michele Neary, Patrick Smith.

Guests:  Susan Carty, International Affairs; Ed Marshall, Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs.

Meeting Minutes

A motion to approve the January, 2009 minutes as written was made, seconded and passed.

Old Business

Nominations & Elections Update – Patrick Smith

The following report was submitted by Patrick prior to today’s business meeting:

The 2009 nominations and elections will commence on Friday, February 20, 2009.  I received consultation from past parliamentarian and Nominations and Elections committee members Mike Halla and Jim Johnson for assistance with the process.  In addition, I have had extensive communication with HR representative Cindy Parker, who helped in determining employee eligibility.  The following is a synopsis of what has been accomplished thus far:

• Cindy Parker of Human Resources has been notified concerning the election schedule and data extracts for test and production has been completed. 
• UITS database administrator (Mike Halla) has been notified.  He has confirmed the preliminary test loads.  This means that professional staff who are in non-exempt classifications are eligible and were not omitted for participation.
• Batch loading for production will take place just prior to the beginning of the nominations period (Thursday, February 19).
• The link to the nominations website is: https://chenet.iu.edu/IuBpc
• Nominations are open from 20 FEB 09 – 2 MAR 09.

Community Service Project – Outreach & Advocacy Committee

• Beverly Vicker will distribute front and side panels for book donation boxes. 
• One additional collection site, Room 1236 in the School of Education, has been added. 
• Paula Phillips will pick up from the collection sites at Eigenmann Hall and Read Center.
• Jonathan Bolte will organize pick-up and sorting of the books from the other collection sites.
• Any “pre-sorting” of books at the collection site, prior to pickup, would be greatly appreciated.
• Jonathan will include information about the book drive in the next newsletter.
• Beverly has asked the agencies (Middle Way House and Aurora School) to provide an estimate of the total books and money donations received at the end of the book drive.

Update from Focus Group on UHRS Website Ease of Use

Liz Peck reported that the group continues to meet and work its way through the UHRS website.  The group should be looking at the “benefits” section soon.

Campus Master Plan

Dan Ondrik and Jonathan Bolte attended the Master Planning open house that was held on February 12.  The plan appears to be geared toward sustainability.  The planners will present their proposed plan to the Board of Trustees tomorrow, at the regularly-scheduled Board of Trustees meeting.  The following suggestions were mentioned at the open house:

• Increase the trees on campus from 20% to 40%.
• Increase the number of bicycle and pedestrian trails.
• Some changes to the traffic patterns to decrease congestion, especially on Tenth Street.
• Proposed new parking garage to be located in the area between Law Lane and Tenth Street, across from the SRSC.
• Re-purpose some buildings on campus.

New Business

PAO/PAU Changes

FMS and UHRS are currently putting together a notice that will be mailed out to PA staff employees who will be affected by upcoming changes.

Update on Retirement Planning Seminars

Suzanne Ryan reported that a “re-tooled” version of the retirement planning seminar was recently presented to faculty.  There is no word yet as to when the seminars will officially begin.

Committee Reports

Executive Committee – 2/09/09 – Dan Ondrik

The Executive Committee met February 9 in KSOB 2038.  In attendance were:  Dan Ondrik, Rob Aspy, Tracy Smith, Margaret Baechtold, Jonathan Bolte and Teresa Spiegel.  The following items were discussed:

• Vice President Marshall – Rob distributed the questions submitted by BPC members for VP Marshall, who will be our guest at the February 18 business meeting.
• Sue Talbot visit – IU Trustee Sue Talbot has tentatively agreed to attend the March BPC business meeting.  Rob will follow up with her to confirm the date.
• Nominations and Elections update – UHRS has updated the database.  Nominations will open on February 20.  Teresa will notify professional staff in two different messages to the listserv accounts, one on Wednesday, February 11, and another on February 18.
• Community service project (book drive) – Beverly sent Teresa an image to be printed and displayed on collection boxes around campus.  She is still working on securing a couple more locations.  She also sent the Executive Committee wording for a proposed email to be distributed on the BPC listserv accounts.  Members of the Executive Committee mentioned they would like to see a list of criteria posted on the boxes so that people can see what books may or may not be appropriate for donation.  Jonathan volunteered to discuss a few wording changes with members of the Outreach and Advocacy Committee, as well as confirm the dates of the book drive.
• BPC office equipment – A new laserjet printer has been installed in the BPC office, and the order for a new telephone has been placed.  Thanks to Margaret for taking care of this.
• BPC funding request, policy on use of IUF account, BPC office position description, and list of BPC accomplishments – The updated position description for the BPC office has been forwarded to Dan Rives.  Development of a policy for use of the IUF account is on hold until budget information has been received.  A list of BPC accomplishments is almost complete.  This list will not be attached to the funding request, but it will be available if needed.
• Focus group for UHRS website and ease of use – Margaret reported that several of the changes suggested by the focus group have been incorporated in the classification and salary section, as well as the employee section, of the UHRS website.  There are still several areas to be reviewed.
• TPAC and Campus Master Plan – A meeting of TPAC has been called for today.  Jonathan will attend the meeting. 
• PAO/PAU – There was some discussion about whether a suggestion should be made to take all PA positions to a bi-weekly pay schedule, instead of just PAO/PAU.  This will be an agenda item for the February business meeting.
• Minnesota document for staff advocate position – Discussion for this was tabled until next month.
• The agenda for the February business meeting was set.

Communications and Marketing Committee – Jonathan Bolte

The Communication Committee did not meet during January.  We will be meeting this Thursday, the 12th, to plan the next newsletter. During the month of January two events that IUBPC is supporting were added to the calendar: Military Life to Campus Life and the MBLGTACC conference.  A new pool question is published and a new staff member is now being spotlighted “In the Next Cube”, Janice Wiggins.

Outreach and Advocacy Committee – Beverly Vicker

See “Community Service Project” under New Business.

Professional Interests Committee – Mark Goodner

No report.

Special Guest – Ed Marshall, Vice President for Diversity, Equity & Multicultural Affairs

At 4:00 we were joined by Ed Marshall, Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs, for a question and answer session.

q.           Please give us an overview of your organizational structure and reporting units.

a.           There are three major divisions which include two Associate Vice Presidents and one Assistant Vice President. 

1. We have an administrative support arm, which oversees multicultural initiatives and special projects.  This includes, for example, the Herbert Presidential Scholarship Program. 
2. Another division focuses on pre-collegiate initiatives.  This includes campus/community partnerships. They work with school systems, K-12, and other groups, such as boys’ and girls’ clubs.  This group is the “face of the office.”  One initiative currently underway is the “Classic IU Initiative.”  Through Classic IU, middle school and high school students visit IUPUI for pre-collegiate events.  The students are then given tickets to attend the Circle City Classic football game and parade.
3. The third group is Academic Support and Retention.  This includes the GROUPS Program, the Hudson & Holland Program, and the Office of Mentoring and Leadership Services.  This group has formed a partnership with a coalition of 11 traditionally black colleges.  It is working to develop a collaboration of faculty and students with these colleges.

q.           What are the current diversity initiatives?

a.           There are several items that are priorities at IUB.

1. The face of IU has to attract students, faculty and staff.  An initiative called “Destination IU” seeks to make IU visible and attractive to students early in their education career.  Through engaging partners within the community, we want to attract elementary students, by the time they are in third grade, to want to attend IU.  Then we can help these students, reach the goal they have set.
2. Enrollment and persistence to graduation – A goal has been set to double enrollment of “under-represented” students by the year 2013.  This office is working with other offices at IU to make this happen.  The numbers are trending upward, but we are working to accelerate the pace.  Two areas that will help us achieve this goal are:

• Financial support
• Diversity among faculty and staff – we must ensure that the faces behind the desks are ones that students can feel comfortable with.

q.           What are Indiana University’s greatest successes in diversity?  What are its greatest challenges?

a.           Some of our recent successes are:

1. Record enrollments – upward trends are qualifiers for success.
2. We recently distributed $1 million at IU to address issues for diversity at different campuses.  Each campus was asked to develop specific diversity plans.  There were 23-24 funding proposals submitted from all campuses.  We were able to fund about 12 of those proposals.  Each campus is currently working to implement its specific diversity plan.

There are some challenges as well.

1. Climate issue – Legacy experiences that have been passed down from generation to generation.  We need to demonstrate that IU is positively oriented.
2. We are at the intersection of diversity and internationalism.  IU and its students, specifically, cannot achieve excellence in a global society unless they possess a diverse perspective.

q.           How does President McRobbie’s position or view towards diversity differ from former President, Adam Herbert’s?

a.     I did not have the opportunity to work that closely with President Herbert.  However, President McRobbie definitely “gets it.”  He was able to pull out $1 million to fund diversity proposals for the IU campuses.

q.     Can you speak of any initiatives for staff that did not receive funding?

a.     We discussed creating internships for high school students (after-school programs) or under-graduate level students.  We also have worked on a hiring program for spouses – a way to place the spouse of a newly-hired faculty member. 

q.     How will the economy affect current initiatives?

a.     It may not be realistic to fund everything if the money is not there.  The economic stimulus package could bring some help to the financial aid side.  On a different note, colleges and universities typically see an increase in enrollments during economic downturns.  Overall, we are trying to find ways to operate more efficiently.  We hope to be able to keep current programs in place.

q.     What are some positive steps and activities that the Bloomington Professional Council can take to forward your diversity initiatives?

a.     Diversity must be a core value.  You can help in your day-to-day interaction with students.  Reach out and be a pipeline in the community.  Be a barometer of what the future holds for students.  Help students see the prize they need to focus on.

q.     What is the best website to keep up to date on Indiana University’s diversity initiatives and activities?

a.     You can visit our website at: http://www.indiana.edu/~dema/index.shtml.  From there you will also find links to other sites that can provide helpful information.

Announcements

Next month’s business meeting will be held on March 25, from 3:00-5:00 in Kelley School of Business, Room 3055.

Meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

Meeting minutes respectfully submitted by Teresa Spiegel.