Staff Senate Reports December 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 23, 2009) – University of Kentucky Staff Senate Chair Bryan Back opened the December 2009 meeting with a few remarks about Staff Appreciation Day (SAD) 2010.
Back announced that in addition to the traditional Staff Appreciation Day events, this year the SAD Commission will also coordinate a "fun night." President Lee T. Todd Jr. is supporting the event, which will be separate from SAD, but will take place during the evening of the same day.
The evening event will enable those who can't attend the daytime SAD due to work obligations time to socialize with co-workers at a university-sponsored event. At this time, details are not set, but updates will be available as planning progresses. Back said that with planning well under way for the two events, the SAD Commission welcomes additional volunteers.
Several motions from the Staff Issues Committee were brought to the full Senate and passed, including a motion asking for salary equity. Salary equity applies when an employee who has worked in the same position or its equivalent and received satisfactory evaluations for four years receives at least the salary level of the first quartile of the job. After the seventh year, the employee should be paid at least at the midpoint range of the salary range.
Another motion proposed that a memorial service be created to honor all staff, faculty, students and retirees of the university who died in the previous year.
In other action, the Senate proposed that a motion of statement be sent to President Todd, Chief of Staff Doug Boyd, Vice President for Human Resources Kim Wilson, and HR Training and Development Manager Patrice Carroll urging UK HR to adopt a policy that requires supervisors to undergo supervision training.
The Staff Issues Committee also asked that the Staff Senate request a formal update on childcare that is available on campus to UK employees, its cost, and future plans for on-campus childcare.
The Executive Committee asked for authorization to purchase an audience response system from Turning Point. The current system used by the Senate is outdated and does not offer any Senator who may attend the meeting via video conferencing the ability to vote on an issue. Senators who attend the meetings in person often have problems voting with the equipment currently being used.
Benefits Director Joey Payne and Legal Counsel Harry Dadds presented the latest changes in the university's retirement program. Effective Jan. 1, 2010, employees who leave the University of Kentucky – whether they were asked to leave, left on their own, or were laid off – will have to wait 90 days to tap into their retirement funds. The exception is for employees who are retiring; they would have access to their retirement funds by contacting Fidelity or TIAA-CREF.
Staff Representative to the Board of Trustees Robynn Pease informed the Senate that the Board of Trustees’ January meeting has been canceled, and the next meeting will be March 26, 2010. Pease also stated there would be another Work-Life Survey coming out in mid-February.
For more information regarding the Staff Senate, please visit http://www.uky.edu/Staff/Senate/.