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19 October 2011

Staff Advisory Council
Meeting Minutes for October 19, 2011

Attendance:

Kelly Fitzpatrick, Linda Hunt, Mary Carr, Lynn Grady, Sheila Magee, George Darbes, Dorothy Kunzig, Jacqui West, Susan Smythe, Alex McClung, Steve Palmer, Rose Maio

Ex-Officio Members:

Sharmaine LaMar

Marr Carr convened the meeting at 9:35 a.m. in the Scheuer Room.

SAC Representative Changes

New SAC members, Rose Maio and Steve Palmer, were introduced as the new SAC representatives for Lang Circle.

Spring Fling

Stu Hain and Linda McDougall were in attendance to talk about Spring Fling. They are looking for new ideas on how to reenergize the event and have asked SAC representatives to reach out to their circles for feedback. Susan Smythe, Alex McClung and Linda Hunt agreed to work on a questionnaire that the SAC representatives can use to send to their circles.

All-Staff Meeting

All-Staff meeting feedback was positive. The library presentation by Pam Harris garnered much praise.

Staff Development Week 2012

Staff Development week will be January 10 - 12, 2012, so mark your calendars! Please send proposals and ideas for events or presenters to SDW2012@swarthmore.edu. The deadline is set for November 2nd to submit session proposals.

Staff Concerns

  • Two complaints were sent to SAC representatives about parking. The first issue involved cars being parked for several days behind Wharton and the second involved cars parking illegally in the Rose Garden Circle. George Darbes will bring both of the issues to the attention of the Public Safety Officers patrolling campus.
  • A staff member raised a concern that Parrish visitors leave the rest rooms on the top floor near the Admissions office in a state of disarray. Environmental Services is aware of the ongoing issue and anyone who notices a problem with the restrooms should send a message to "workbox" to have the concern addressed promptly. SAC discussed possible alternatives for designated visitor restrooms and these ideas will be discussed with facilities and admissions.

Benefits

There was a complaint/question from a staff member regarding the large increase in employee contributions for the HMO plan the College offers. Unfortunately rates fluctuate from year to year and the HMO rates increased more than the other plans. The college worked with our insurance broker to push the rates as low as possible.

CHOP Project

Cathy Powell has been collecting craft items for children being treated at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. SAC discussed getting involved and assisting Cathy with this project. Mary Carr will invite Cathy to attend our November meeting to discuss.

Being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:00am.

Next meeting will be on November 16, 2011 at 9:30 in Scheuer.

Respectfully submitted,
Kelly Fitzpatrick
Whittier Circle Representative