TOPICS DISCUSSED
-COUNCIL MINUTES
-INTRODUCTION OF NEW HUMAN RESOURCE REPRESENTATIVES
-REVISION OF EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH PROCESS
-REVISION OF STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND OPERATIONS
-LETTER TO DR. McINTYRE FROM EMPLOYEE COUNCIL
-DISCUSSION ABOUT CONTRIBUTING TO A SCHOLARSHIP
-FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER
-TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
-ADJOURNMENT/NEXT MEETING
 

COUNCIL MINUTES
The minutes of the June 21 meeting were read and approved as sent.

INTRODUCTION OF NEW HUMAN RESOURCE REPRESENTATIVES
Ona Youmans introduced Karla Shugart and Dennis Defa to the Council.  Karla is the representative for Student Affairs & Enrollment Management and for University Relations.  Dennis is the representative for Business and Financial Affairs.  (Pam Zupan is the representative for Academic Affairs and the President’s area.)

REVISION OF EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH PROCESS
The revision of the Employee of the Month and Employee of the Year process was tabled because not all of the committee members were present.  The Employee of the Month for June was not chosen for the same reason.  Next month the Council will pick Employees of the Month for June and July.  The suggestion was made that we should notify the campus community about the Employee of the Month by email instead of waiting for the minutes to be published.  The Council thought that this was a good idea.  The Employee of the Month Nomination form will be revised to include this statement:  After the nomination form is received, it is sent to the nominated employee’s supervisor for the supervisor’s comments.  http://www.cwu.edu/~hr/hrforms.html#Other

REVISION OF STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND OPERATIONS
The committee for revising the Statement of Purpose and Operations for Employee Council has nothing to report at this time.

LETTER TO DR. McINTYRE FROM EMPLOYEE COUNCIL
The Employee Council drafted a letter to Dr. McIntyre, which clarifies the intended purpose of the Employee Council.  The body of this letter reads:

At the June 21, 2001 Employee Council meeting, the Council appointed an ad-hoc sub-committee to review and update the Employee Council of Civil Service Employees Statement of Purpose and Operations.  The Council believes this is a good time to clarify the intended purpose of the Employee Council.

The Employee Council is an information and advisory body only.  The Council has no power to make appointments or to take any other action that is binding upon the administration or the Board of Trustees.  According to the current Statement of Purpose and Operations,

The basic purpose of the Employee Council shall be to provide civil service employees with a means of receiving timely information and a forum for contributing ideas to the decision-making process in matters affecting their working environment, benefit plans and the functioning of the University.  However, the Employee Council does not perform the functions of organized labor.

There have been some questions from the WFSE Union regarding “representation” on the part of the Employee Council.  According to WAC 251-14-020 Employee organization filing requirements:  “(1) Any employee organization authorized to represent employees before the (personnel) board or in collective bargaining with an appointing authority must first file with the director a notice of intent to represent employees.”  The Employee Council is not an “employee organization” as that term is used in the HEPB rules and, therefore, is not required to register with the Director of the HEPB.  As stated previously, the Employee Council is not authorized to represent employees before the personnel board or in collective bargaining.

Also, there has been discussion regarding the Employee Council being a joint employee-management committee.  RCW 41.06.540, Joint employee-management committees, states:

Meaningful and effective involvement of employees and their representatives is essential to the efficient and effective delivery of state government services.  To accomplish this, agencies shall use joint employee-management committees to collaborate on the desired goals of streamlined organizational structures, continuous improvement in all systems and processes, empowerment of line level employees to solve workplace and system delivery problems, managers functioning as coaches and facilitators, and employee training and development as an investment in the future. If employees are represented by an exclusive bargaining representative, the representative shall select the employee committee members and also be on the committee. In addition, the committees shall be used for improvement of the quality of work life for state employees resulting in more productive and efficient service delivery to the general public and customers of state government. Nothing in this section supplants any collective bargaining process or provision.

The Employee Council is not a joint employee-management committee.  The joint employee-management committee at CWU is the joint labor relations committee, which meets on a regular basis to collaborate on the issues related to RCW 41.06.540.  Because the Employee Council consists of civil service staff only, it does not constitute a joint employee-management committee.

We hope that this information has clarified some of the issues that have been repeatedly brought up over the years and the Employee Council’s view on these issues.  We have attached the current copy of our Statement of Purpose and Operations for your information.  We will send the revised copy of our Statement of Purpose and Operations after the Council has adopted them.

Council members endorsed this letter to be sent to Dr. McIntyre with copies going to Abdul Nasser, Ona Youmans, Rich Corona, Dale Hubbard, and Dennis Defa.

DISCUSSION ABOUT CONTRIBUTING TO A SCHOLARSHIP
Kari Taylor, Chair of Employee Council, made the suggestion that the Employee Council should consider contributing to a scholarship.  Kim Thomas, Delegate for University Relations & President area, pointed out that we should not be competing for funds with the Central Investment Fund, which provides scholarships.  The Council agreed that it would be good if the Employee Council did some kind of fundraising activity that would raise funds to contribute to an existing scholarship fund.

FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER
Sharon Parker, co-Employee of the Year, sent a letter addressed to Dr. McIntyre and the Employee Council members.  Ms. Parker was grateful for the honor bestowed upon her and proudly displays her plaque in her office.  She was also grateful for the cash award.  Sharon donated a portion to the CWU Foundation and the balance to an education account for her grandchildren.

Colleen Rose passed out a draft list of next year's Employee Council delegates.  There are still a few positions to be filled, so the list will be published later.

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
Attention Managers and Supervisors!  Take advantage of this training opportunity: Dave Smith, from Employee Advisory Services, will be presenting “Simplifying Supervision”, on October 10, at 1:00 p.m.  Assess your strengths and weaknesses for working with troubled employees, and learn what to do to correct your weaknesses.  Identify, document and confront chronic employee performance problems.  Use the "Five-Step Process" to work with employees who are not performing satisfactorily.  Sponsored by Human Resources Training & Development, this four-hour workshop is offered at no charge to CWU employees.  Register by calling the Training Office at 963-2288, or sending an email to hutchinl@cwu.edu.

ADJOURNMENT
Kari Taylor announced that the meeting would adjourn at 4:00 p.m. at which time we would walk over to the SUB to accompany the parents, who have come for the freshman orientation, to President McIntyre's lawn for a reception.

NEXT MEETING
Next month's meeting date has been changed to 2:00 p.m., August 23, 2001, in SUB 209.  If you are a delegate and cannot make the meeting, be sure to notify Colleen Rose and to let your alternate know so she/he will attend.

PRESENT:
Kim Thomas, Business and Administrative Support: Unit A
Nancy Bradshaw, Business and Administrative Support: Unit A
Mike Posada, Business and Administrative Support: Unit B
Karol Barker, Dining Services
Pedro Garcia, Housing & Residential Services
Kari Taylor, Instructional Support: Unit A, Employee Council Chairperson
Gene Wilson, Instructional Support: Unit A
Leona Lindvig, Library Services
Kerry Slaughter, Library Services
Dorothy Tenney Plant and Facilities
Ginger Linnell, Enrollment Management, Employee Council Secretary

ABSENT:
Debbie Nethery, Instructional Support: Unit B
Vernon Bier, Plant and Facilities
Al Edler, Plant and Facilities
Celia Johnson, Student Services and SUB: Unit B

ALSO PRESENT:
Ona Youmans
Colleen Rose
Karla Shugart
Dennis Defa