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UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORDSTAFF COUNCIL GENERAL MEETING – DRAFTWednesday, December 11, 2019Attendance: Christina Lapierre, Lauren Goldman, Laura D’Angelo-Gohn, Rachel Yacouby, Laura Heemskerk, Allison Poulin, Meaghan Murphy-Rennie, Kelly Anderson, Bettina Viereck, Donna Fleischer, Donna Clarke, Sean Parke, Lisa Wollenberg, Diane Purcell, Victoria Sandoval, Stacie Wentz, Marsha Gaulin, Ann Brown, Cindy Oppenheimer, Ben Ide.MinutesApproved minutes from November 13 meeting.University Committee ReportsBenefits Taskforce – Cindy Oppenheimer/Lynn Galvin (no report)Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Task Force: Christina Lapierre (no report)Resource Planning & Priorities Committee (previously known as BAT) – Randi Ashton-Pritting/Laura HeemskerkNovember 7th meeting was cancelled. Next scheduled meeting is December 12th.Staff Council ReportsFaculty Senate – Ben IdePresident Woodward; Provost Fred Sweitzer; and Jessica Nicklin, Mike Ormsby, Katie Kitchens of the Center for Student Success spoke, giving general updates on the University and their initiatives. President Woodward talked about University finances and the Strategic Action Plan. Fred Sweitzer has been crunching numbers from the Campus Climate Survey and the National Survey on Student Engagement. CSS is not just for freshmen, they will help anyone who needs assistance. CSS’ future plans include working on the sophomore experience, academic recovery, and help for transfer students. They have had 3,700 student visits so far this semester. I asked Faculty Senate to start sending a liaison to Staff Council again, a practice that fell by the wayside several years ago.Treasurer’s Report – Linda Zigmont: Balance is $1,422.98.Fundraising Committee (no report)Human Resources Development – Lynn ThibodeauHRD is just about done processing Open Enrollment and everyone will be able to see a benefit summary in the next few weeks.New Business: Guest Speaker, David Gordon, Board of Regent ChairTalked about his background with the University of Hartford, this is his 12th year on the Board of RegentsExplained the role of the Board of Regents - delegates broad responsibilities on a day to day basis to the President, doesn’t have day to day decision making powers, broad oversight powers, doesn’t have responsibility for day-to-day running of university, makes sure that president/administration/officers of university are adhering to the mission, strategy, and laws of the universityNew board member can only be brought on if voted by the board of regentsWant to make sure there is diversity of gender, race, backgrounds - want to make sure there are people on the board who understand the various industries that the schools and majors serveNeed to work on making the board more diverseCurrently 29 members, 60% male, 40% female, majority whiteCreating a board matrix - maps out the criteria they are looking for in board members, to ensure that they have as close as possible equal male and female, growing population of diverse racesBylaws allow up to 31 individuals on the board (originally 60), went from a dozen committees to 8 standing committees, of which 7 meet on a regular basisExplained that it is a hard time for higher education right nowNumber of high school graduates going downEspecially difficult in Northeast because there are so many colleges/universities to compete with, for a smaller population #1 priority is to bring new students in, and keep them (attract and retain) - increase enrollment and retain students Mentioned 6 goals within Strategic Action Plan that the President has asked people to look at1. Realizing our core academic mission for all students - make sure we provide to all students the skills and competencies they will need to be successful in the future2. Commit ourselves to a high quality experience and the success of all students 3. Promote a vibrant, safe, diverse, and inclusive community4. Become efficient and maintain profitability 5. Revitalize and continue to invest in the physical plant (furniture, buildings, technology)6. Evaluate brand identity and position strategy - we have to continue to invest in our story and how we tell our story across the country to prospective studentsNew academic programs coming to the universityIdentifying new programs that bring in new types of studentsSome new programs include: Nursing, digital media and journalism, business analytics, physical therapy, occupational therapy Looking at programs such as athletics training, nurse practitioner programsGraduate enrollment is going upBuilding relationships with businessesMBA program with CignaWorking on creating an engineering program with companies such as Stanley Black & DeckerOnline programsQuestion from staff member: How can we get enough faculty to successfully run our programs for growing enrollment? (MBA grown 84% in the last year, not enough faculty to run it successfully as it continues to grow)Board is talking about this issuePresident Woodward is working with the dean to figure out how we can bring in more full time faculty and balance financialsQuestion from staff member: What impact will tuition-free colleges potentially have on the university?Tuition free colleges have not been as successful as hoped because there are certain caveats that go with it - in NY, you get the tuition free if you commit to working in the state of NY for 5-7 years after collegeLikely that tuition free colleges will be largely community colleges – we should focus on how we can attract 3rd and 4th year students after those programsWe have the advantage of small student to professor ratio, that is something that draws our students inHave to continue thinking about how we will differentiate ourselves in the futureQuestion from staff member about salary increasesThe president has had conversations with the Board about his desire and priority to get the university to a point where we can start to have regular increases, and have increments againTrying to find that balance of ensuring profitability of the university and the need to make sure all employees of the university are well compensatedObjective is to get every employee to the median salary level as it relates to our competitive colleges and universities President is doing everything in his power to make sure there are salary increases this year, but he doesn’t know yet. Goal is to determine salary increases in early January.Explained how the budget process works: on an annual basis the president and CFO present a budget to the board, goes through many iterations, look at prospective number of students coming in, student retention, look at estimate number of students who will stay on campus, overhead costs, lock down on assumptions and bottom line. Then the board holds the president accountable for meeting that budget, regardless of unforeseen changes that may occur. Have to figure out what is affordable and not affordable based on enrollment.Concern from staff member: there is a faculty member who sits at the table of board of regents, but not a staff member2 faculty individuals that sit on the boardAt this point looking to fill the seats they have to people outside the universityFirst priority has to be getting people who have an understanding/experience in the industries that the students studyDavid Gordon suggested that he could come to more of these meetings to give staff more of a channel of communication, meet on a more regular basisRecommended that there needs to be more communication with the president/other members of the cabinet of what they are thinking, decisions they are making, because the information that people feel they are not getting is not the subject of the board, more high levelCampus News/UpdatesTIAA Monthly Enrollment Meetings & Individual Consultations: TIAA Consultant Rick O’Brien will be on campus to provide individual consultations. This meeting includes a thorough review of the plan and investment options as well as assistance in completing the appropriate enrollment forms. Rick is available for individual counseling with current TIAA plan participants and will be on campus on December 19 from 9:00 am-4:00 pm.The Women NESTS is looking for interested individuals to be a part of the group. The group is in the process of renaming the group, working on a calendar of events for 2020 as well as looking for those to sit on the leadership board. If you are interested, please email Christina Lapierre at clapierre@hartford.edu for more information.The Department of Public Safety invites faculty and staff applications for the University of Hartford Advisory Committee for Public Safety. Members of this committee partner with the Department of Public Safety, providing input and recommending strategies to enhance the University’s security policies, practices, and programs. The Advisory Committee also represents the UHart community, voicing concerns of safety and security directly to the Department of Public Safety. Any faculty or staff member interested in becoming a committee member should email Chief Michael Kaselouskas at kaselousk@hartford.edu.Next General Meeting: Wednesday, January 8, 2020Minutes submitted by Lauren Goldman, Recording Secretary. ................
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