Meeting was held in Student Union Tucson Room.  President Randy Livingston presided at the meeting, and Debbie Miller (filling in for Secretary Grace Aranda) took the minutes.

Present: Randy Livingston, Kevin Law, Eva Gonzales, Lauren Bivona, Lupe Jacobo, Debbie Miller, Russ Robinson, Robin Kruse, Shana McClelland, Mike Millard, Shawn Nock, Marcy Remington, Jean Mason, Cori Cashen, Claudia Arias, Lillian Schwartz, Ruth Szabo  

Excused: Grace Aranda, Lupita Cruz, Ana Rodriguez

Absent: Carolyn Eaton, Angela Gomez, Leslie Porter, Claire Tapia

  I. Randy announced that Ruth Szabo will retire. That will open another spot for a new member.

II. Randy introduced himself and told a little bit about SAC. There are currently 15 openings for new members that we’d like to fill.    

III. Kevin introduced himself and talked about SAC’s accomplishments. See the SAC website for specific things SAC has done for the campus community as well as the Tucson community.

IV.Introductions were made around the room. Approximately 21 staff members and 1 student were present. The majority heard about the Town Hall meeting from SAC members.      

IV. Treasurer's Report - Jean Mason – No report

V. Committee Reports 

Standing:

1. Tri-University Classified Staff Executive Board – SAC Exec. Comm. – will meet in Flagstaff on Sept. 14^th with ASU & NAU

2. Communications - Cori Cashen – Short newsletter went out about President Shelton’s visit – next newsletter to come out in November. If anyone has submissions, please pass them on to Cori.   

3. Emily Krauz Staff Endowment Fund – Ana Rodriguez – No report

4. Employee Recognition - Grace Aranda – No report 

5. Human Resources - Jean Mason – No report

6. Legislative – Claire Tapia - No report

7. Membership/Liaisons – Lupe Jacobe – No report

 8. Activities – Eva Gonzales - Sept. 23^rd baseball game tickets still available; contact Lupe or Claudia for them – Sept. 15^th is the Light the Night Walk – October 31^st is the Halloween party on the mall – Nov. 9^th craft/bake sale on the mall, $20 a table for staff employees, bake sale to benefit the new children’s play area – Marcy mentioned the Santa’s Helpers program is in need of volunteers 

9. Crossroads Conference – Lilian Schwartz – First meeting on Friday, Sept. 7^th at 12:00 noon in Bio West – location, theme & speakers will be finalized

10. UA South - Russ Robinson – No report

VI. President Shelton Arrived

He began by introducing himself and reporting a 28% increase in new applications to the University. He thanked everyone for going above and beyond the call of duty during the busy opening of school with so many new students. He continued by opening up the floor to questions.

• I am concerned that the university still does not offer equality in employment. The universities still do not offer domestic partner benefits (medical, dental, vision, etc) for gay employees and those still unable to lawfully marry. Is this a priority for your administration and what is being done to pressure the legislature for change? Can we expect DP benefits soon?

There is not a lot of support in the Legislature for partner benefits. The UA is committed to pushing forward; however there seems to be no pathway for success on this issue.

·       Would the University consider more offsite Park & Ride opportunities at a lower cost with extended Cat Tran service to these lots?  Especially since there are more employees working alternate work schedules (i.e. 4-10s) because of the I-10 construction.

Park & Ride lots are a very efficient way to handle parking issues. The UA believes the Park & Ride price to be very reasonable. President Shelton would be interested in knowing which lots seem to fill up to address the issue of more space. There just isn’t enough room for any new lots to be constructed.  

·       Why can't the parking fees be in relation to our salary, such as a sliding fee? 

Sliding scale fees are very controversial. How do you define “fairness” in these cases? The parking costs seem “reasonable” here at the UA compared to other institutions. It would be more feasible to spend time to have options, such as Park & Ride or flex schedules, to hold the overall costs down. Unfortunately the state refuses to put money into parking. So we are forced to come up with alternative solutions for funding.  

·       Now that you have been on board here a full year, what direction do you see the University heading in?

November 6 is the State of the University Address. We need to continue to be a high quality, research oriented University. The phrase “improve human condition” comes to mind. We are responsible for the quality and diversity of new students. The state has been good to us this year with regard to money. We need to continue to “earn” that and show the visible value back to Arizona. The UA is interested in quality, not numbers. Salaries and benefits are also an important topic to be explored. 

·       What steps has the UA taken regarding conservation issues?

One third of the UA vehicles run on ethanol, the ILC has a sod roof, solar panels at the new Norton building. These are just a few things. A list of the things the UA does will be put together for all to view. It is believed that solar power is the obvious answer these days.

·       Why is it that there is no discount for employees who take a correspondence or distance learning course?

These units are a separate cost center and need to be self sufficient.

·       Some employees are upset by the reclassification of certain positions. For example, Administrative Associates are going to be reclassified, but Program Coordinators are not. Why is that since their job descriptions are relatively the same?

President Shelton was not aware of this and made a note to check into the situation. He did say that there is no money “laying around” for these reclassifications and that the departments will unfortunately need to find that money on their own.  

·       With regard to budget cuts, why is it that classified staff seems to be the “first ones to go?”

 President Shelton started by saying that while he feels good about the budget for fiscal year 2009, he realizes that budgetary changes often come at a cost.

"We have, in one year, eliminated a $25 million differential that we had between our recurring income and our recurring commitments," he said. "That’s good news, but I know it happened with a lot of pain."

Shelton added that he wants the UA to have a budget process that's "open and transparent," allowing supervisors to anticipate cuts and soften the impact on staff members.

• I am a part-time student and UA staff member. I utilize the tuition waiver to pay for classes, but still pay for the extra “fees” on my own. Why is it that I pay for the Rec Center fee, but am told I cannot use it because I have part-time status? In order to use the center, I am required to pay an extra fee on top of the fee I am already paying.

President Shelton was unaware of this situation. These “fees” are in place to enhance the whole University experience. He made some notes to discuss this and get a better understanding as to why this is.