EMPLOYEE COUNCIL MINUTES
November 21, 2002

-APPROVAL OF MINUTES
-COMMUNICATIONS
-REPLACEMENT OF NANCY BRADSHAW’S ALTERNATE DELEGATE POSITION
-ELECTION OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY
-2003 COMMENCEMENT COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE
-SELECTION OF EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
-EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH NOMINATION FORM
-OPEN CONVERSATION REGARDING CAMPUS COMMUNICATIONS
-UPDATE OF CALL TO SERVICE MEMO FROM THE PRESIDENT AND VPS.
-CAMPUS COMMUNITY BUILDING PROGRAM
-ADJOURNMENT/NEXT MEETING
-HR ANNOUNCEMENTS AND TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes were approved as written.

COMMUNICATIONS
Nancy Bradshaw submitted her letter of resignation from the Employee Council as she is leaving for a position at the University of Washington.

REPLACEMENT OF NANCY BRADSHAW’S ALTERNATE DELEGATE POSITION
Kim Thomas, from Alumni Relations, will be the new alternate for University Relations & President area.

ELECTION OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY
Kim Thomas was nominated for the position of Assistant Secretary for the Employee Council. Kim accepted the nomination and was elected by a unanimous vote. Thank you, and congratulations to Kim.

2003 COMMENCEMENT COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE
Rob Lowery volunteered to be the 2003 Commencement Committee Representative for Employee Council. Lisa Stowe volunteered to be the alternate. It was suggested that the Employee of the Year sit on stage at the honors convocation and the Employee Council Chair sit on stage at Commencement.

SELECTION OF EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
Tamara “Tami” Morrell, Office Support Supervisor for Registrar Services, was elected as the Employee of the Month for November 2002. The following statements were taken from the nomination forms:

Tami is always willing to help a student, parent of student and CWU employees. She will investigate any query “thrown” at her until she has a complete answer and or solutions. This is always done in a calm, attentive and respectful manner. She has an arsenal of knowledge regarding CWU and its regulations, resources, and employees. Her ability to help someone without making them feel stupid is a big plus. She never complains or gets upset when I ask her the same questions over and over! Tami is very easy to work for and with. She has a great sense of humor and knows how to have fun without it interfering with work.

Tami’s supervisor said, “Tami is our problem solver, she does whatever it takes to get to the bottom of the issue. She has a real talent for knowing all the policies and procedures and uses her knowledge to assist student, faculty and staff. She is very supportive of the information counter staff, always willing to jump in and help out.”

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH NOMINATION FORM
For the Employee of the Month Nomination form please visit: 
http://www.cwu.edu/~hr/forms/nomination_form.doc

OPEN CONVERSATION REGARDING CAMPUS COMMUNICATIONS
It was suggested that Employee of the Month nomination forms be placed in the SUB for students to have easy access to. This suggestion will be referred to the Employee Council publicity coordinator. It was suggested that departments that receive paper copies of the Employee Council minutes for employees without computers also post a copy on their employee bulletin board.

UPDATE OF CALL TO SERVICE MEMO FROM THE PRESIDENT AND VPS.
The Executive Board will be meeting with President McIntyre December 16 to discuss the memo.

CAMPUS COMMUNITY BUILDING PROGRAM
Each representative is to come up with one group nomination and bring it to the next meeting with a description or statement of why you want to nominate that group. This will help Employee Council define groups it will include in the Council’s Campus Community Building project.

ADJOURNMENT/NEXT MEETING
The meeting was adjourned at 3:45 p.m. The next meeting of the Employee Council will be Thursday, December 19, 2002, in Barge Hall, room 412. (Note: The December meeting is cancelled. The next meeting is January 23, 2003, in Barge Hall, Room 412.)

PRESENT
Pam Coppersmith, Business Support
Crystal Whitaker, Computing and Telecommunication Services
Dorothy Tenney, Facilities Management
Laury Berner, Facilities Management
Pedro Garcia, Facilities Management
Cheri Lince, Financial Services
Lisa Stowe, Instructional Support: Unit A
Barbara Sisko, Instructional Support: Unit B
Obie O’Brien, Library Services and Academic Computing
Sheryl Grunden, Student Affairs & Enrollment Management
Olivia Ripka, University Centers
Rob Lowery, University Relations & President
Nancy Bradshaw, University Relations & President

ABSENT
Judy McNeil, Dining Services

ALSO PRESENT
Dale Hubbard, WFSE, Local 330
Ona Youmans, Human Resources

HUMAN RESOURCES ANNOUNCEMENTS

SHARED LEAVE DONATIONS
CWU employees may donate leave to a fellow employee who is severely ill or injured (or who is caring for a family member who is severely ill or injured) and who is off work and has exhausted all personal paid leave.

The following individuals are in need of shared leave: Connie Probasco-Jacobs (Facilities Management) and Maxine Ryan (University Store).

You may donate annual (vacation) and sick leave in eight-hour blocks. A minimum balance of 80 hours of annual leave must be maintained, and excess annual leave (that over 240 hours) that will otherwise be lost may not be donated. No more than 6 days of sick leave may be given during a 12 month period and a minimum balance of 480 hours must be retained. The personal holiday may also be donated.

The shared leave donation form can be downloaded from the HR forms section of the Human Resources home page: www.cwu.edu/~hr/forms/hrforms2.htm or requested from the HR office by calling 1202. Requests to donate leave must be approved by your supervisor before forwarding to HR and are subject to approval by your department head and Human Resources.

Civil Service Reform To Be Implemented By July 2005
The following is a brief synopsis of the Summary Report prepared by the Department of Personnel in response to the recent survey on Washington State civil service reform. Approximately 4,600 employees, managers and HR professionals provided direct input through surveys and focus groups (CWU's survey totaled 110 respondents).
General design criteria, such as simplicity, ease of use, flexibility, automation and fairness, were supported by a majority of respondents. Also supported was the creation of broad job classes that are current, flexible and encourage employee development. Concerning compensation issues, respondents want the ability to consider performance in adjusting/assigning salary, with built-in protection against abuse.

The ability to apply for any job at any time was supported, as well as implementation of a fully automated recruitment process. Referral of all qualified candidates (elimination of the 'Rule of 7' and promotional preference) was also strongly supported.

Ensuring timely and meaningful performance evaluations was important to respondents. Simplification of the disciplinary process, as well as the ability to reward achievement, was part of the overall consensus.

The Personnel System Reform Act of 2002 -- whose 3 primary components are collective bargaining, contracting out, and the new HR system -- will be implemented by July 2005. This is the first time ever for a state to implement drastic change in all of these three areas simultaneously.

The full 24-page summary compiled by the Department of Personnel can be viewed at http://hr.dop.wa.gov/hrreform/results.htm.

Human Resources 2005 News 
This information is provided by the Department of Personnel in Olympia to provide important news about civil service reform. Following are summaries and links to the articles in this edition.

Civil Service Reform Update
The Personnel Systems Reform Act calls for a complete redesign of the state's human resource system. Extensive research has been completed and interagency teams have begun work on the initial design of key components of
the new system. (http://hr.dop.wa.gov/managernews/Dec2002/reform.htm)

State Managers and Employees Tell What They Want in New System
One of the most critical steps in developing the new human resource system is to ensure that it supports and is responsive to the needs and preferences of state managers and employees. In order to obtain objective, up-to-date
knowledge of those needs and preferences, the Department of Personnel conducted extensive customer research.
(http://hr.dop.wa.gov/managernews/Dec2002/customer.htm)

Research of Other Human Resource Systems
Research was also conducted to learn more about the human resource systems of other public and private sector employers to identify options, trends, and best practices. 
(http://hr.dop.wa.gov/managernews/Dec2002/hr-research.htm)

Personnel/Payroll System Poses Challenges
The personnel/payroll system is more than 25 years old and may limit the timing and scope of changes that can be successfully implemented as a result of the new human resource system and collective bargaining.
(http://hr.dop.wa.gov/managernews/Dec2002/payroll-system.htm)

Contracting Out Expanded
Contracting out of services that have "customarily and historically been provided by state employees" is no longer prohibited. Competitive contracting will be allowed, effective July 1, 2005, provided that certain conditions are met. (http://hr.dop.wa.gov/managernews/Dec2002/contracting.htm)

Change of Address
If you have moved recently, please notify Eileen in Human Resources at 1267. When W-2s are mailed in January, we want to make sure they go to your correct address.

 

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Preventing Violence in the Workplace
Thursday, January 23
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Public Safety & Police Services Chief Steve Rittereiser will be sharing information on "Managing High Risk Situations.” Gain understanding in dealing with everything from verbal conflict to violence in the workplace. Learn effective communication skills for defusing anger. Please join us for this dynamic presentation! This workshop is free of charge, and open to any CWU employee. Register by calling Training & Development at x2288, or email hutchinl@cwu.edu. 

The DIspute REsolution Consultation & Training team of Central Washington University offers several skill building sessions your workgroup, team or department can request. If you're interested in creating more effective working relationships, increasing your comfort level with conflict, and gaining some new skills, call the Ombuds office at x1466 or e-mail ombuds@cwu.edu

Sessions currently offered are:
· Active Listening
· Raising the Issue
· Workplace Behavior Styles
· Personality styles 
· Dealing with Difficult People
· Building Trust & Cohesiveness
· Civility Codes

E-learning courses
E-learning courses will soon be available to CWU employees! Starting in January 2003, for only $110 per year, employees will have the chance to take as many as 799 available training courses. 

Cost effective: If you take just one course per month, you’ve spent less than $10 per course.

For more details about e-learning courses, and a demonstration, go to http://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/traindev/elearning/index.html 

Departments may obtain one-year subscriptions for employees by contacting CWU’s Training & Development Office at 963-2288, or sending an email to hutchinl@cwu.edu.