Professional Council

Business Meeting Minutes

Poplars 181

October 19, 2011

Council Members in Attendance:  Mike Baker (AFSCME Ex-officio), Tracy Bee, Jeremy Bennett, Lisa Cooper, Craig Dethloff (BFC Ex-officio), Rosanne Dye, Kimberly Goy (CWA Ex-officio), Christina Lirot, Maryanne McDonnell, Patricia Moser, Rich Nourie, Suzanne Ryan (UHRS Ex-officio), Katie Sewell, Grant Simpson, Patrick Smith, Kelly Thacker, Mark Trotter.

Proxies:  Maryanne McDonnell for Jennifer Brooks, Jeremy Bennett for Cindy Curvin, John Zilvinskis for Tiana Iruoje.

Guests:  Joe Lovrinic, VP Public Affairs and Government Relations.

Council Members Not in Attendance:  Karen Garrett.

Meeting Minutes

A motion to approve the September, 2011 minutes as written was made, seconded and passed, with one change:

Under “New Business – Resolution to Recognize Retiring Professional Staff” – last sentence of first paragraph:  change “tem” to “them.”

Old Business

Nominations and Elections - Vote

There was a motion from the floor to confirm the nominations of Lamara Warren for Unit 3 and Travis Waugh for Unit 2. Motion was seconded and passed.

Paper ballots were given to all elected BPC members, as well as those serving as proxies.  Travis Waugh was elected to represent Unit 2, and Chris Enstrom was elected to represent Unit 3.

Know Your Professional Staff Event

Rosanne distributed an outline of available information to assist new PA staff employees at IUB.  This handout will be made available to all new PA staff in attendance at the November BPC business meeting.  Grant will prepare an invitation that Teresa will send it out via email to all new PA staff within the past six months.  At the meeting, Grant will give an introduction to the BPC.  Afterward, Rosanne will give her presentation.  Time for networking among BPC members and new PA staff members will follow, and refreshments will be served.  Members who signed up to provide refreshments will be sent a reminder email prior to the November meeting.

RIF Support Program Proposal – Katie Sewell

The following proposal was presented at today’s meeting:

Preamble: The Bloomington Professional Council (BPC), as an extension of its outreach for and support of professional staff, desires to provide volunteers to serve as a resource for professional employees at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) affected by a reduction in force (RIF). Assistance and resources will be provided in addition to the information and assistance provided by University Human Resource Services (UHRS). These volunteers will not replace the services and support provided by UHRS, but will instead act as peer advisors.

Proposal:

• The BPC hereby establishes two volunteer positions to act as career coaches to professional staff at IUB subject to reduction in force.
• The positions will have the title “RIF Career Coach.”
• Interactions between the RIF Career Coaches and the staff they serve will remain confidential to the extent allowable by university policies.
• RIF Career Coaches may offer the following services:
• Resume and cover letter reviews
• Assistance navigating the Jobs@IU site
• Assist the staff member, when needed, in discussions with the staff member’s department management and UHRS to permit the staff member’s attendance of relevant training programs offered by the university, such as those programs offered by UHRS or through the IT Training STEPS series, and for the department to pay the costs of such training
• With the staff member’s permission, the RIF Career Coaches may circulate the staff member’s resume to the full BPC should there be any potential position openings within their units in which the staff member may be interested
• Personal information including the staff member’s name, home address and phone number on said resume will be redacted unless otherwise indicated by the staff member.
• If a BPC member identifies a potential position opening for the staff member, he or she may, at his or her discretion, contact the staff member or, if the resume contains a redacted name, request that the RIF Career Coach contact the staff member to determine interest in the position.
• In keeping with university policies, the RIF Career Coach may provide other resources to the staff member to assist them during the RIF period, such as guides to coping with stress, a list of RIF rights, resume development tips, etc.
• RIF Career Coaches are not intended to provide job placement assistance beyond what is described herein. 

After some discussion, a motion was made to approve the proposal with the following amendments:

              Change 4.c. to read:

Assist the staff member, when needed, in discussions with the staff member’s department management and UHRS to permit the staff member’s attendance of relevant training programs offered by the university, such as those programs offered by UHRS or through the IT Training STEPS series, and for the department to pay the costs of such training until time of separation.

              Add:

6.     The BPC may provide these services for up to 12 months from the effective date of separation.

The motion (with amendments) was seconded and passed.  Katie Sewell has volunteered to serve as RIF Career Coach.

Standing Committee Reports

Executive Committee

The November meeting of the Executive Committee was held Monday, October 10, in Franklin Hall 106.  In attendance were:  Jennifer Brooks, Rosanne Dye, Grant Simpson, Patrick Smith, and Teresa Spiegel.  The following items were discussed:

• Know Your Professional Staff Event – Grant will compose an invitation that Teresa will email to all individuals were have become PA staff within the past six months.  This will include new employees as well as those who have transferred in to PA status from other positions within IU.  The event will be held as a part of the November business meeting.  All BPC members will be invited to provide suggestions for the event at our October business meeting.
• Dean of Informatics Review – Grant will notify the Provost’s office that the BPC would like to have a representative to serve on the review.
• RIF Support – Grant met with Katie Sewell and discussed how the BPC can carry this idea forward.  Since Katie currently works with undergraduates’ resumes, she has volunteered to put together a proposal to set up the RIF support program.  Katie plans to submit the proposal to the full BPC at the October business meeting.
• BFC Meeting – At the October 4 BFC meeting, a policy was proposed to offer more detailed definitions for the current mass e-mail policy at IUB.  Grant has asked for an exemption for the BPC, so that e-mails to professional staff do not have to go through UHRS for approval.  In the interim, Grant will discuss this with Dan Rives.
• Election/Auction Applications Ad-hoc Committee – The committee has had some difficulty coming together, but their first meeting is scheduled for Friday, October 21.
• Open Enrollment – Grant will participate in a conference call with UHRS Friday, October 14. 
• Nominations and Elections – Patrick will send nominees’ statements to the BPC, and a vote via paper ballot will be held at the October business meeting.
• BFC Benefits Committee – Patrick attended a meeting on September 28.  Most of the discussion was directed toward the status and privileges of retired faculty members and librarians as it relates to allocation of space on campus.  Due to the shortage of available space, priority must be given to active faculty.
• The agenda for the October business meeting was set.

Communications & Marketing Committee – Jeremy Bennett

Send any notes for the next newsletter to Jeremy (jebennet@indiana.edu) or Karen (garrett@indiana.edu) by Friday, October 28.

Outreach & Advocacy Committee – Maryanne McDonnell

We had an excellent turnout for the Know Your Campus Event at the Musical Arts Center.  About 20 people were present on Thursday, 9/29 and about 15 people on Friday, 9/30.  It helped to send a reminder to those who signed up.  Thank you to Jennifer Brooks for hosting the Friday tour!

The next scheduled event is at Radio & TV Services on Tuesday, October 18th.  We will host two tours (12-1 & 4-5).  We are booked up for the noon tour, but have plenty of space on the 4pm tour.

November’s event is the new Cyber Infrastructure building.  Date has been narrowed down to November 8th or 9th.

At today’s meeting Maryanne reported that there was a good turnout for the Radio & TV Services event. A total of approximately 33 people were in attendance.

Professional Interests Committee – Tracy Bee

No Print Day is next Wednesday.  Teresa will send out an email Monday, asking PA staff to register.

Ad-hoc and Campus Committee Reports

Staff Merit Awards – Christina Lirot

This committee will have its first meeting tomorrow, October 20.

Search and Screen/Review Committees

Dean of Informatics Review

Provost Hanson’s office has asked the BPC for names of volunteers to serve on this review committee.  The following BPC members expressed an interest:  Rosanne Dye, Christina Lirot, Grant Simpson, and Patrick Smith.  Grant will submit all four names to the Provost’s office.

Special Guests:  Dan Rives and Kristen Royer, University Human Resource Services

At 4:15 Dan and Kristen joined the BPC meeting to discuss upcoming open enrollment and other benefits news.

• New for 2012 – Clinical Services – IU has contracted with IU Health, and IU Health has sub-contracted with IMA and Southern Indiana Physicians (which includes Southern Indiana Pediatrics) to provide clinics that will be  available to eligible IU employees.  There will be four sites in Bloomington – located on South Rogers Street, Clarizz Boulevard, Landmark Avenue and Sare Road.  There are also plans to add sites in surrounding counties as soon as possible.
• Open Enrollment is November 7 through November 18.  This is the window in which the following items should be addressed:
• Choose medical/dental plans for 2012.
• Add or remove dependents.
• Enroll in tax-saver benefit program – Please note that two new cards will be mailed to each household automatically upon enrollment.  Additional cards will be available upon request.
• It is important to note that in order to receive credit for the non-use of tobacco, the affidavit must be completed every year.
• Open enrollment packets are due out to all eligible employees on October 20.  Information regarding open enrollment is also available on the benefits website at:

 http://www.indiana.edu/~uhrs/benefits/2012/openenroll_2012.html.

• The administrator for IU’s prescription drug program will change for 2012.  The new administrator will be MEDCO for all four health plans.  MEDCO offers its own mail-order pharmacy in addition to having contracts will all local pharmacies.  New ID cards will be provided for the prescription drug program.  These cards will be in addition to the medical plan ID card.

Announcements

Our November business meeting will be held on November 16, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Kelley School of Business, Room 3055.

Meeting minutes respectfully submitted by Teresa Spiegel.