|
 |
Professional Advisory Council Minutes – September 14, 2011 The meeting was convened at 2:30 p.m. by Mr. Pusecker.
Others present: Tom LaPenta, Jerry Cutler, Judy Allarey Minutes: The May 11, 2011 meeting minutes was approved as written. Old Business: Mr. McKee inquired if the issue regarding the ambulance, where an employee had an emergency situation and the ambulance did not arrive on time, has been resolved? This concern was shared with Public Safety and they are working with Facilities to make sure that building signs are recognizable. What is the status of the request for a crosswalk at the corner of Winslow Road and S. College Avenue? Mr. Armitage has submitted a letter to the City of Newark. They are in process of forwarding the letter to DelDOT, and asking for a review of the intersection. The members of the PAC Standing Committees for the 2011-2012 Academic Year are as follows: Steering Committee: Grievance Advisory Body Grievance Hearing Board up to Level 16 PAC University Committees Constituent Concern: Numerous Athletics coaches are concerned about visitor parking when prospective students and their parents drop in athletics to visit. They do not want to send them back up campus to secure a visitor’s pass. Parking and Transportation and Athletics have worked out an interim solution where that will not be necessary. Lack of parking in the blue lot. This has since been resolved; there are now more rows of blue parking spaces. This will be communicated to blue hangtag holders. A constituent has a concern regarding pedestrian safety in the congested driveway between Perkins Garage and Perkins Student Center. The narrow road serves as the entry for trucks using the Perkins Student Center loading dock, as the entry to the Perkins Parking Garage and as a cut through for pedestrians between Harrington Complex and South Academy Street. There are some existing segments of sidewalk there, but they are not connected and are on opposite sides of the driveway. As the constituent drives down the driveway to enter the Garage in the morning, he frequently encounters students wandering down the middle of that narrow driveway. Constituent would like to suggest either the creation of a safe and clearly-marked pedestrian route through this area or that pedestrians be discouraged from using it altogether. This concern has been shared with Public Safety. Constituent would like to share the concern regarding the $3000 limit for the Healthcare FSA. Given the greatly increased cost of co-pays, prescription drugs and other non-covered expenses, $3000 does not go very far in 2011. As I understand it, the maximum allowable limit is $5000. There is very little downside on the University increasing this limit. This concern was shared with Benefits. Ms. DeCaire asked about the possibility of making UD a smoke-free campus. This suggestion has been communicated. Hard budget lines for professional research staff. Is the intent to maintain these or phase out? Is there any trend of this happening already? There is no written policy on the funding for research professionals, and we have very few research professionals that are hard-funded. Usually, funding is external from grants or from the state. With RBB, the decision to replace a professional lies with the Dean of each college. A constituent has a question on whether the University is considering ending employee tuition benefits. Mr. LaPenta indicated that employee tuition benefits are continuing. Can we look at putting a crosswalk on N. College opposite the Hollingsworth parking lot? It does not seem possible to safely put a crosswalk with the presence of the railroad crossing in that area. This concern will be shared with Public Safety. New Business: Is there any change on the rollout of the classification and compensation study? Mr. Cutler, HR Director, indicated that they are hoping to roll out some of the initial steps by the beginning of the year, and are working on putting guidelines together between now and the end of the year. Ms. Harrell made a comment that the gym has been extra packed with the students being backed and inquired about the plans for future expansion of the gym? There is a design for the expansion of the gym the next step is finding the money. Ms. Boyer asked if the University is going to be competitive with the market with regards to the compensation review and where are we in the process? Mr. Cutler responded that the goal of the review is to develop a compensation program that will enable the University to attract, retain and engage highly qualified talent, which is essential to achieving the goals of the University. We review higher education and industry data reports to make sure that we are competitive in the marketplace. Faculty Senate Report David M. Robinson James Thornton Barbara K. Curry W. David Sincoskie For more information on the University Faculty Senate meeting please check out: Diversity and Equity Commission Report Ms. Smallwood went over a broad agenda on diversity that was presented at the meeting by Dr. Harker and others. For more information on the Diversity and Equity Commission meeting please check out: Meeting Adjourned Respectfully submitted, Reviewed by:
|