Meeting Minutes for October 23, 2001

Present: Vicki Benson (ex officio), Kathy Blackwell (ex officio), Kevin Dorsey (Dean's Council), Tom Godell (A/P Staff Council), Linda Grace (Faculty Senate), Carolin Harvey (Civil Service Council), Patricia Hopkins- Price (Faculty Senate), Jim Hunsaker (ex officio), Aslam Kassimali (Faculty Association), Steve Kraft (Graduate Council), Andy Morgan (A/P Staff Council), Roland Person (Faculty Association), Ruth Pommier (Civil Service Council), James Swisher (Emeritus Association). Absent: Art Aikman, (ex officio), Jake Baggott (ex officio), Brian Chapman (Chancellor's Representative), James Staub (ex officio).

I. Announcements 
Jim S. reported the Faculty Association now has an ad hoc benefits committee which he will be chairing. Items under consideration will include pensions, life insurance and long-term health care.

II. Approval of Minutes of September 25, 2001 
The minutes were approved as presented.

III. Approval of Agenda of October 23, 2001 
The agenda was approved as presented.

IV. Updates from Human Resources 
Jim H. reported: a) SURS representatives were on campus last week; b) flu shots are scheduled for November 7. Human Resources is working on scheduling two additional dates.

V. Subcommittee on Health Benefits 
An update on the sick leave pool proposal will be given under Old Business.

VI. Subcommittee on Retirement Benefits and Annuities 
Steve reported some subcommittee members have had problems retrieving the [annuities survey] data on the disks they were provided. He will attempt to provide the information in a more readable form. Jim S. reported the track record of one of the providers (Sun Life) has been poor. This should be considered when a review is done.

VII. Old Business 
A) Steve reported he forwarded two memos to the Chancellor. One dealt with the motion approved at the October meeting regarding the football tickets for annuitants. The other memo addressed the potential shortfall of money in the state medical fund and the possibility of CMS being interested in opening the contract for negotiations with AFSCME. In that memo, he reviewed with Chancellor Wendler the importance of getting representation from the state universities involved in those negotiations. Steve indicated it has to come from a push at the administrative level of all the state universities, and he asked the Chancellor to raise the issue when he meets with his colleagues. Steve reported he has not heard anything back, but suspects the committee can query the Chancellor on this matter when he meets with the committee next month. Jim noted that at the last meeting he commented that football tickets were $8-9 each; however, he recently attended a game, and the cost was $13.

B) Jim S. reported at the last meeting it was requested the committee re-examine the issue of the sick leave pool proposal before an appeal is given to the Chancellor. As a result, this special meeting was scheduled. David Marx was to draft a memo to the Chancellor essentially rebutting the comments given the committee by Associate Vice Chancellor Pam Brandt. Jim S. stated he received an e-mail from David that only addressed the first of Pam's comments: SIUC already has the most generous sick leave benefit of any organization of which she is aware. While there are other universities that offer such a pool, she would be very surprised if any of these universities offer the number of days of paid sick leave already provided to employees of SIUC. Jim S. indicated David gathered some data from U of I and Western Illinois, and what he found was that for civil service employees it is about the same. SIUC faculty do receive more sick leave days than the others, but so what? If people are desperately ill and need help from a sick leave bank, that should be the overriding factor. Jim S. believed the university would not be creating more sick leave days for which the administration would have to pay; rather, it is a question of reshuffling what is already allocated among the people that need it more and the ones that do not.

Ruth reported she met with Chancellor Wendler and discussed the sick leave pool proposal. He was under the illusion that the 20 days of extended sick leave was a sick pool. She explained to him that was not the case. He has had experience with a sick leave pool and does not think it would be hard to implement. Steve asked the committee whether he should resubmit the proposal as is and note there was an initial response from the administration, as well as note the committee's belief that it would be useful for him to review the proposal given his past experience with sick leave pools. Ruth believed the Chancellor would be responsive. She also indicated that one of the points David raised in his e- mail was why there was such a discrepancy between the [50.2] and the accruable 12 days. She called Dick Kalina (Human Resources) to see if he had any background. Dick seemed to remembered rather clearly that it was Delyte Morris who, many years ago, had brought back a number of people who had retired. They were more elderly and prone to illness, so to be able to utilize their experience, skills and knowledge, he inflated the number of sick days to accommodate this group. It has not been reevaluated since that time.

After further discussion, the consensus of the committee was to forward the proposal with a new cover memo to the Chancellor for his response. Steve indicated he would phrase the memo in such a way that, based on some of the discussions that have taken place, the committee feels the proposal warrants a reexamination. Jim S. believed the committee should also look at arguments to rebut to alleviate some of the damage done by Pam's response. Trish suggested the letter from Pam be included, as well as the committee's response to her points so that she does not raise these issues again. Steve asked committee members to review the points raised in Pam's memo and provide him with discussion points he can use for rebuttal when he writes the follow up memo to Chancellor Wendler. Jim indicated that may take some time and suggested instead that Steve include Pam's memo with his cover memo and indicate the committee is working on a rebuttal to her points. Steve believed the committee could also take advantage of the Chancellor's attendance in November to rebut Pam's response.

VIII. New Business - None.

IX. Adjournment 
The next meeting of the committee is scheduled for November 27.