Time For A Break

Hi Everyone,

Here's wishing you all a restful and enjoyable break--stay warm and well.

See you all January 2nd!

Joanne

Fond Farewell

The Dana Medical Library must say goodbye to Shirley Bolkum, who retires at the end of December after 35 years of service. We'll miss her very much, but we hope she thoroughly enjoys her newfound free time!
Best Wishes, Shirley, and Congratulations!

Off and Running

Hi Everyone,

This month's Staff Council meeting on December 5th was an action-packed session!

First we elected Eileen Hanerfeld as Council President: she is a long-time member and past president, who has served UVM in many roles. There's a very nice write-up about her in the current View.

The Salary and Budget Committee also presented the FY09 Salary Recommendation for Unrepresented Staff: four percent across the board with one percent available for merit and another one percent for compression and market.

Next, Al Turgeon, Executive Assistant to VP for Finance & Enterprise Services, and Estelle Maartmann-Moe, Special Assistant to the Dean of Students for Pandemic Planning, gave a very interesting presentation on "Pandemic Flu Planning at UVM".

Here is the Powerpoint file we were given as an outline for the presentation. If you only have time to read one thing here, please survey this document! You'll see that they're planning in-depth for some very serious situations, and proposing some very serious and far-reaching responses. Considering the ramifications of these actions to staff, you may want to seek out more information on the overall plans.

As a starting point, here is the link to a section of UVM's Emergency Management website. The links in the left hand column contain additional information, including how to contact the planning group. I urge you to go through the embedded links spread over all the listed pages to examine the planning group's information sources, and assess how they are using the data they gather to form conclusions and action plans.

The presentation itself included few references or footnotes, and no bibliography, but referred us instead at the end to the Emergency Management website(see link above). I asked during the question period whether those embedded links on the various web pages to various agencies and documents comprised the Planning Group's complete set of resources. They said yes. Another Council member asked if this rather narrow order of described possible events was the only scenario being planned for. Their answer was that the early warning system was so reliable, that they felt sure that events would unfold as they had planned. They encourage all staff to take the responsibility to create a home plan for themselves.

We've been given the latest Board of Trustee Summary Reports--I've linked the reports in the right side column, as usual. Please try to read some of them! They may seem like dry reading, but they document and describe some big financial planning for the near and farther future of the University. If you'd prefer a summary, there is an article also in the recent view titled: Trustees Change Debt Policy, Approve Capital Projects that provides a clear synopsis of the actions taken and approved.

And Finally: Hip-Hip-Hooray!

The Council office has found and given us the authorized text of the procedure followed to address an issue submitted to the Council by a Staff Member. The Communications Committee made the request, and it was deemed important enough to release it to the full staff body.

I wasn't able to outline the process for you before because I didn't know all the steps myself. But, now I have the information, and so do you! It's already up on the Council website under Staff Council/Forms and Applications/Contact Sheet, or linked here in a printable format.

Now, that's enough for one Friday!


have a good weekend,

Joanne

Winter Beginning

Hi Everyone,

I hope everyone had a refreshing holiday break! Now it's time to get ready for winter: the next Staff Council Meeting is scheduled for December 4th, at noon in the Livak Ballroom at the Davis Center. Here is the Agenda; if you would like to attend a Staff Council meeting, this one in particular would be a good choice. The Salary & Budget Committee will present the FY09 Salary Recommendation for Unrepresented Staff, and chairpersons will be taking questions regarding the committee reports.

All the reports are brief, and worth taking a minute to read. Even if you can't make it to a meeting, or aren't terribly interested, you'll get a picture of the breadth of the issues affecting staff that are being worked on right now. It never hurts to be better informed today than you were yesterday.

Links to the submitted reports are listed below:

Benefits – Marilyn Eldred
Communications – Jon Reidel
Education & Professional Development – Cat Woodward
Internal Affairs – Lorie Clairmont
Recreation – Ida Russin
Rules & Elections – Rodman Cory
Employee Environment & Facilities – Todd Stewart (not reporting this month)

[On a totally different topic, if you look to the right under the static picture that I change every 2 weeks or so, you'll see a slide show of all the images I've used so far! Learning how to do this is already giving me ideas for some neat future uses, so keep an eye on that space!]

If anyone has a topic of particular interest or even a question, feel free to contact your representatives or the Council Office directly. Or, come to the meeting yourself and speak up at Public Comment time! Remember, all of the Staff Council meetings are open to the whole community.

Enjoy the change of seasons, and thanks for checking in,

Joanne

November Breezing By

Hi Everyone,

It's been a very interesting week for the Staff Council--our Full Council meeting was held on Tuesday November 6th. Our elected President formally resigned from the Council for family and medical reasons, so we are facing another election to fill that position. This generated considerable interest in the actual election process--we are required to use the procedures prescribed by the current bylaws, but after much discussion at the latest Council meeting, the consensus was that this section of the bylaws needs updating.

Our own Dean of Libraries and Learning Resources, Mara Saule, attended the meeting and gave a very interesting presentation about the UVM self-study and re-accreditation project. She asked us questions similar to those used in the open forums being held around campus to gather input about the university experience from the community:

What did we consider to be UVM's most valuable strengths?
What did we personally like best about UVM?
Where did we project UVM going in the next 5 years?
What needs to happen to make that projection come true?

Then we were asked for a soundbite that would advertise UVM and still fit on a bumpersticker!


She encouraged us to encourage our units to also contribute their thoughts and impressions of UVM, which can be done online at an easy-to-reach accreditation blog. There is also a website for more information on the entire process with links to the regional accrediting body New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC).

The committee chairpersons gave their progress reports on their individual projects, aspects of unit communication were discussed, and Rose Laba reported on Task Force II. Task Force II deserves attention because its charge is to " determine the level of need, if any, for an activities center with a focus on the areas of event planning, health and well-being, college athletics, and student activities such as intramurals and exercise space... Based on their findings, the task force will offer recommendations on three of any project’s most critical components: cost, size and location." (This information is quoted from the View of August 28, 2007) Task Force I resulted in the Davis Center project, so Task Force II could potentially have at least as great an impact on campus and on campus life as did its predecessor.

The Communications Committee is making some headway on what we consider our primary project: compiling scattered information about the Staff Council and its functions into one coherent set of documents in one accessible web location (with an added printable pdf format). That way any staff member who needs information about any Council functions--for example, what the process would be to submit an issue for council consideration, or how to join a committee--will have what they need to make informed decisions. Second, we would create a brochure and bookmark outlining this information, that would be available in print and electronic form. Based on demographic information from HR, copies of these would also be available in several of the non-English languages spoken among our staff community.

Our chairperson Jon Reidel is gathering the content for the documents from the website and the places in the Council Office where they're stored, and several members will help sort and edit the compilation. I am looking into what translation services are available at UVM. Up to this point the search has been near-Byzantine, but people are beginning to get back to me at last. Hopefully I'll have some sensible recommendations soon!

Believe it or not, the Thanksgiving Holidays are in less than two weeks--it's time to get ready in earnest!

Have a good weekend,

Joanne

November Begins

Hi Everyone,

The agenda for tomorrow's meeting (Nov. 6, 12:05pm in the Livak Ballroom) is posted on the Council website. Our own Dean, Mara Saule, will be addressing the council about UVM's upcoming Self Study and Accreditation! The committees will report on the progress of their individual projects; in particular the Salary & Budget Committee concerning their work on Salary Pool Increase Recommendation.

I strongly recommend checking out the November Staffline--it is several pages longer than usual, and contains some committee reports about current council issues as well as information about campus and recreational events. The correct URL to access it is contained in the second E-mail from the Council office that came around. The link is still broken on the Council website, but I've included the correct ones to both the November and October issues right here:
November Staffline: http://www.uvm.edu/~stffcncl/staffline/November2007.pdf
October Staffline: http://www.uvm.edu/~stffcncl/staffline/October2007.pdf

In Council news, our President Zancy VonHooks has resigned from that elected position due to her continued absence for family/medical reasons. Our elected Vice President Karla Nuissl has stepped up as Acting President, and there is a note from her about that in the November Staffline as well.

My offer to our group still stands: I can post a copy of the notes I take at the Staff Council meetings for those who'd like a timely but unofficial preview to the official minutes-just let me know.

More later,

Joanne

Campus Master Planning Committee - Request for Participation

Hi Everyone,

The Staff Council Office asked us to share with you all an important request from Linda Seavey, Director of Campus Planning Services (CPS):

"As you are aware, the University has adopted a 2006 Campus Master Plan that provides a strong framework to guide the land use and building/landscape design decisions for future physical growth and development. As part of the campus master planning process, the University formed and charged the Campus Master Planning Committee (CMPC) to serve in an advisory role in the development of the CMP and to review all projects impacting the "land" to ensure compliance with the CMP. The CMPC representatives are chosen specifically because of their functions at the University and their role and knowledge in dealing with facilities and the infrastructure of the institution.

Staff representation is integral to the function of this committee. With the retirement of Michel St. Germain, the CMPC would like to extend an invitation to Staff Council to select a representative for membership for this important work impacting the long range vision of the institution. If possible, it would be helpful to select a Staff Council member whose professional/educational interests are in land use planning, architecture, environmental initiatives, etc. Once a representative is selected we have some "orientation" materials that will help this person understand the role of the committees and a synopsis of the major review components of the CMP."

It is not necessary to be a Council member to be appointed to this position!

Anyone interested who feels qualified can give their name to a Council member for submission to our vice-president Karla Nuissl. Please act promptly, as the committee meets in early November. Interested parties may obtain a full committee membership list by emailing Beth Wright at beth.wright@uvm.edu.
Note- For more information and contacts see: Campus Master Plan

Please consider, and thanks!

Joanne

Council Updates

Hello Again!

Our full Staff Council meeting was held on Tuesday, October 2nd, and opened with a brief address from President Vogel. He praised the work of the previous Staff Council, and hoped that the new one, in its reorganized and enlarged format, would be equally effective in increasing the value of staff contribution to the effort of organizing and projecting the voice of the University.

A brief Q & A session followed, and we made a point to thank him on behalf of all the staff for the extra time off over the winter holidays. Then we all trooped out into the sunshine to have a group photo taken. It was an informative meeting; the staff reps to the Board of Trustees committees made their reports, and all the committee chairs gave brief summaries of their group's preliminary discussions. Everyone had creative and useful ideas for the upcoming year's projects.

Here's where I ask for help! I could use some feedback: how interested would people be in a preliminary report on the Staff Council meetings? Authorized minutes don't get approved until the next scheduled meeting, and then they get posted to the website on a schedule I'm not familiar with yet. (the most recent set posted as of today are April 2007)

If people would like a summary sooner, I can write up a brief overview from my personal notes--I'm allowed to do that as long as it's understood that it isn't the final "authorized" version of the minutes. But posting that also takes up time and blog-space, so I'll wait to hear if there's any real interest in it first.

My contact information is in the right-hand column (note: e-mail is faster), or brave souls can post a public comment to this post: clicking on the post's title "Council Updates" will open a "Post a Comment" link at its foot. Put your comment in the box and choose your identity level (yourself, Other, or Anonymous). You can preview it first or just publish right away. Don't be scared off by the "Comment moderation " statement at the bottom--I enabled that to protect us from spammers, etc.

Thanks in advance for the input,

Joanne

October Gets Rolling

Hi Everyone,

Here are a few housekeeping items:

The October Staffline is now available!
In addition to its usual interesting articles, it contains the offer of an early discount for the UVM community on First Night Buttons(Half Price!) and tickets to shows at the Flynn and Memorial Auditorium. The offer only is good until October 31st, so try to check on it soon.

The committees are gradually getting their membership lists and schedules posted to the council website. Two are already up and hopefully the rest will follow soon. Short bios of members are also being posted as links under their names on the main list.

Next, as mentioned in the last post, the Communication Committee met on 9/27/2007, and discussed several items we'd like to address this year. Among them was how to modernize and increase the ways members can receive the Staffline without losing old methods that are still useful. Another was the need for a standardized and accessible location for basic information about Staff Council functions, policies, and procedures.

The planned January roll-out of the new UVM website template could provide a good timeline for us to get those updates ready at the same time, if possible. Towards that goal we also wondered if the Council office could consult the TechCATS (from the CTL), for advice on posting information to the Council website in the new template.

Overall it was a very good discussion, but I won't take up your time listing all the topics right here--I've put the Summary written by our Chair in the right-hand column with the other linked documents.

We meet again this coming Thursday, October 11th, and I'll let you know how the plans have progressed-

Have a good week,

Joanne

October Begins

Hi Everyone,

We now have the agendas for the upcoming full Staff Council Meeting set for October 2nd at noon. A copy is linked here. We're hoping in future to get them posted a week prior to the meetings, so that people with interest in the topics can arrange to attend if they wish.

The committee chairs' Preliminary Updates section of the meeting should be quite interesting, because they'll be presenting summaries of their committee's proposals for the upcoming year's work. I'm eager to hear what the other committees have planned! The Communications Committee has had its first meeting and I can outline the results of those discussions after they've been presented to the council.

Thanks again to everyone while I learn my way through all the rules and procedures. I can post some more informative updates after the meeting.

On the apple front: Terence Bradshaw from the UVM Horticultural Farm sent me a list of the estimated times the different apple varieties would be available at their Friday sales--I put the information in a chart that people can view.


Have a great week,

Joanne

Friday Updates

Hi Everyone,

First, just a reminder that next week from Sept. 24th to 28th, is Staff Recognition Week. If you haven't seen a schedule of planned events, here is a link to a copy--people who are reaching a 5-year/increment anniversary please take special note.

For more discounts and events, check the Discounts & Events link on the Council website.

The full Staff Council membership list is now posted on the website, along with contact information. Individual committee memberships are still being established, along with meeting schedules--making these arrangements takes a little longer with a larger group, but everything should be set soon! Membership lists and meeting times will be posted on the Staff Council website under the individual committee links and in the Staffline. I'll be serving on the Communications committee, which will meet on the 2nd Thursday of each month.

Don't forget that except for the Executive Board, all committees may be joined by any staff or faculty member, retiree, or student! Please consider joining one (or more!) and contributing to the overall good of the community. Meetings are also open to any interested UVM community member.

Stay tuned for further updates and have a very nice weekend,

Joanne

Summaries, Reports, Etc.

Hi Everyone,

I'm passing along the Summary Reports from last week's Board of Trustee meetings. They were given to us this week, and contain some interesting information about decisions and future plans for UVM.

I'm still waiting to hear exactly where this sort of document gets archived, so that I can provide correct directions to access them. Until then I've saved the files on a website that I'll link to from here (see Right-Hand column)--that way people can read them now, if they wish. (Many thanks to Lida for the location suggestion!)

When I get the official locations, the links can be updated.

Have a Good Weekend,

Joanne

Apple Time!

UVM Apple Sale

The UVM Horticulture Research Center continues a fifty-year tradition this season with the opening of Apple Sales on September 14th. Sales will occur every Friday through October from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the farm. Available varieties will change each week as the ripening season commences.

Apple pricing this year is $1.00 per pound for all of our varieties. Bulk orders and interdepartmental purchase are welcome. Apple sales proceeds help fund research and education programs at the Hort Farm every year.

Please contact Terry Bradshaw at 658-9166 (note this is a 658# and not a 656#) or via email to tbradsha@uvm.edu.

September 2007

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to the first installment of Staff Council Updates!

This posting will contain basic Council information, but I hope following posts will bring news of current developments and events throughout the 2007-2008 academic year.

The Council website is a good source of information, and it should be getting better soon with the upgrades planned for the coming year. To be as accurate as I can, I'll refer to the website or the Council Office for questions concerning rules, responsibilities, policies, advisory recommendations, and any other information requiring a Council approval by vote.

If there is any topic not addressed or not clear, or if a person has any questions, please feel free to contact a council rep--if we don't have the answer, we'll find it for you! Anyone may also contact the Staff Council Office directly, by calling 6-4493 or via email at staff.council@uvm.edu.

Don't forget to check the current Staffline for upcoming classes, Wellness events, recreational discounts, the agenda for Staff Recognition week (Sept. 24th-28th), and much more.

See you soon,

Joanne


What is the Staff Council and what does it do?

"The Staff Council addresses topics and issues of concern for UVM staff employees."
"The Staff Council and Staff Council Committees submit recommendations and requests to the Administration for review. " (Requests & Policy Recommendations)

Representatives' official responsibilities are outlined in the first article of the Council's Constitution:

1.11 To listen to, pursue and respond to the ideas and opinions of staff employees;
1.12 To convey these ideas and opinions to the university administration;
1.13 To advise the president of the university or his/her representative(s) on all subjects that affect staff employees;
1.14 To inform staff employees of issues and policies affecting them.

Staff Council members must also serve on at least one of these 9 committees:

1. Benefits
2. Communication
3. Education and Professional Development
4. Employee Environment and Facilities
5. Executive Board
6. Internal Affairs
7. Recreation
8. Rules and Election
9. Salary and Budget

Please Note: Except for the Executive Board, membership on these committees is open to ALL members of the UVM staff, faculty, retirees and students!

If you have an expertise to contribute or even just an interest, please do consider joining--no previous experience is necessary, and community input is not only welcomed, but actively recruited.

Applications are available at the Staff Council office, or on the Council website under Forms and Applications.



Who Are The Representatives?

The current Staff Council membership list is published in the latest issue of Staffline which contains a lot of useful information this month. (Past issues are archived on the Council website)

Meetings this year are scheduled for the first Tuesday of each month, and except for executive sessions, are all open to the community.


Elected Officers & Committee Chairs

Zancy VonHooks, Staff Council President 2007-2008

Karla Nuissl was elected Vice President for 2007-2008

Committee Chairs for 2007-2008:

Benefits: Marilyn Eldred
Communications: Jon Reidel
Education & Professional Development: Cat Woodward
Employee Environment & Facilities: Todd Stewart
Internal Affairs: Lori Clairmont
Recreation: Ida Russin
Rules & Election: Rodman Cory
Salary & Budget: Deb Bryan

Committee assignments for regular members should be available soon.