EMPLOYEE COUNCIL MINUTES
June 20, 2002

COUNCIL MINUTES
-BULLETIN BOARD UPDATE-VOLUNTEERS
-NEW EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH NOMINATION FORM
-UPDATE ON EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH SUPERVISOR FORM
-ELECTION OF OFFICERS
-SELECTION OF EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
-HUMAN RESOURCES ANNOUNCEMENTS
-ADJOURNMENT/ NEXT MEETING

COUNCIL MINUTES
Leona Lindvig's name was mis-printed as Leona Johnson in the May minutes. The correction was noted and the minutes were approved as amended.  http://www.cwu.edu/~hr/minutes/

BULLETIN BOARD UPDATE-VOLUNTEERS

Kariann Taylor asked for volunteers to maintain the Employee of the Month bulletin board located in Bouillon Hall. Carol Mellergaard agreed to take on the task and will recruit other help to assist her.  Thank you, Carol.

NEW EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH NOMINATION FORM
The Council reviewed the nomination form for Civil Service Employee of the Month.  It had been approved at the May meeting and is now available on the web. A few minor revisions were made and the form was approved as amended.  http://www.cwu.edu/~hr/forms/EOTMnominate.doc

Karol Barker presented the letter that will be sent to anyone who has made a nomination on the old form, whose candidate is still eligible for selection. These people will be encouraged to re-submit their nomination on the new form, but in the event that they choose not to, the nomination will still be valid and the old form processed along with the new ones.  The letter was approved as amended.

UPDATE ON EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH SUPERVISOR FORM
After a brief review of the Supervisor nomination form for the Employee of the Month award, a number of minor revisions were made and the form was then approved as amended.  It will be made available on the web shortly.

The procedures for Employee of the Month will be reviewed at the July meeting.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS
The following Employee Council Delegates/Alternates were selected as the Executive Committee for 2002-2003:

Chair:  Laury Berner
Vice Chair:  Dorothy Tenney
Publicity Coordinator:  Kirsten Garland
Secretary:  Will elect at next meeting.
Assistant Secretary:  Nancy Bradshaw

The officers will take office at the September 19 meeting, but will work with the outgoing officers for the July and August meetings.

SELECTION OF EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
The Employee of the Month for June 2002 will be announced at a later date.

HUMAN RESOURCES ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Benefits Fair
This years' benefit fair will be held on Wednesday, October 30, from 11:00 to 6:00 pm, in the SUB Pit.  Please note the new hours of the fair.

PERS 3 Deadline
The deadline to transfer to PERS 3 is August 31.  The last set of training classes offered by the Department of Retirement Systems to be held on campus are scheduled as follows:
Transfer Decision, July 30, from 9-11 a.m., and 2-4 p.m.
Investment Options, August 14, from 9-11 a.m. and 2-4 p.m.
To register for classes, contact Lynn Hutchins in the Training Office at 2288 or hutchinl@cwu.edu

Shared Leave
CWU employees may donate leave to a fellow employee who is severely ill or injured or has a family member who is severely ill or injured.  "Severely" is defined as serious or extreme and/or life threatening.  Recipients must be off work and have used all their paid leave to be eligible.  Employees who wish to receive shared leave must notify Human Resources and submit a doctor's certificate.

The following individual is in need of shared leave:  Elaine Long (Student Financial Services)

Individuals interested in donating leave should request a Shared Leave donation form from Human Resources.  Copies may also be downloaded from the HR Forms section of the Human Resources home page: www.cwu.edu/~hr/forms/hrforms2.htm.  Requests must be approved by your supervisor before forwarding the form to Human Resources. Donated leave is also subject to approval by your department head and Human Resources.

Annual leave may be donated in eight-hour blocks.  Employees who wish to donate annual leave must retain at least ten days (80 hours) of vacation leave and cannot donate excess leave (that over 30 days or 240 hours) that he/she would otherwise lose at the beginning of the leave anniversary month.

Sick leave may also be donated in eight-hour blocks.  The donating employee must retain a minimum of 480 hours sick leave balance after the transfer.  No more than six days of sick leave may be transferred during any twelve-month period.  An employee’s personal holiday may also be donated.  Please call Human Resources (963-1202), if you need a shared leave donation form.

Civil Service Reform
The Personnel System Reform Act of 2002 will result in the most sweeping changes to the state’s civil service system since it was created more than forty years ago.

In addition to expanding the scope of collective bargaining, civil service reform also provides the opportunity to create a totally new, vastly improved, human resource (HR) system for state government. This includes new rules and processes for hiring, classification and compensation, performance evaluation, training, corrective/disciplinary action, lay-off, and more.

Beginning now, and over the next three years, the Department of Personnel in Olympia will be working with state employees, agency and higher education managers and HR professionals to design and implement a new human resource system for state employees. The new system will apply in total for those employees who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement and in part for those who are covered by collective bargaining.

This is a rare opportunity to create a modern system that is fast, fair, and flexible, and that will meet the needs of state employees, job applicants, state agencies, and higher education institutions for years to come.

In order to design the best system possible, the Department of Personnel, in Olympia is doing extensive research on best practices that are being used by other employers -- both public and private sector -- throughout the country. DOP will also be conducting surveys and focus groups to gather ideas and feedback from state employees, managers, HR staff, and other customers about what they would like to see in the new system.  Next month, CWU’s Human Resources Office will also be sending out a questionnaire on campus to gather ideas from Central employees.

Timelines and more information can be found on the following web site:  http://hr.dop.wa.gov/hrreform/default.htm

Training & Development
How you perform in your first position as a supervisor is critical to your professional future.  “National Seminars Group” presents “Management Skills for First-Time Supervisors”, an all day seminar, to be held on September 18 in Yakima.  Learn how to:  Motivate others to go the extra mile, handle the difficult employee, overcome resistance to change, raise your credibility and visibility, squeeze more time from your day, understand why people under-perform, command respect, effectively supervise former peers, manage a diverse team, create a high energy workplace, and more.  Cost: $179 (fourth person enrolls for free).  Call 1-800-258.7246, or go to www.natsem.com to register for this, and other courses offered by “National Seminars Group.”

If you need assistance with registration, or would like to learn about other training opportunities or resources, please contact HR’s Training Office at 963-2288, email hutchinl@cwu.edu, or visit www.cwu.edu/~training.

ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m.

NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Employee Council is scheduled for Thursday, July 18, 2002, at 2:00 p.m., in Room 228-19, Black Hall.

PRESENT
Karol Baker  - Dining Services
Dorothy Tenney - Facilities Management
Leona Lindvig - Library
Kirsten Garland - Business Support
Carol Mellergaard - Instructional Support - Unit B
Kim Thomas - University Relations and President
Nancy Bradshaw - University Relations and President
Patti Minshull - Student Affairs and Enrollment Management
Kari Taylor - Instructional Support - Unit A; Chairperson
Janette Goodwin - University Centers - Yakima