21 September 2011
Staff Advisory Council
Meeting Minutes for September 21, 2011
Attendance:
Tami Gura , Kelly Fitzpatrick, Linda Hunt, Mary Carr, Lynn Grady, Sheila Magee, George Darbes, Janet McSwiggan, Dorothy Kunzig, Jacqui West, Susan Smythe, John Dukes, Alex McClung
Ex-Officio Members:
Sharmaine LaMar
Linda Hunt convened the meeting at 9:35 a.m. in the Scheuer Room.
SAC Representative Changes
Alex McClung was introduced as the new SAC representative for Tarble Circle and will be replacing Cathy Pescatore. Rose Maio and Steve Palmer will be replacing Cassy Burnett and Tami Gura as the new SAC representatives for Lang Circle.
Copier/Printer Contract Renewal
Final contract negotiations are currently in progress. The replacement timeframe depends on when the contract is finalized but will most likely be late October through November.
Chat with Rebecca
The feedback from staff regarding the Chat with Rebecca was positive. There was discussion about possibly doing this type of event once a semester.
All-Staff Meeting
The next All-Staff Meeting will be on Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 9-10:30 am in the Lang Concert Hall. The agenda will include: Discussion of the draft Strategic Plan and a presentation by the Library.
Draft Strategic Plan for Comment
The committee discussed the plan and the role of staff. Sharmaine LaMar encouraged the sharing of opinions and thoughts at one of the several meetings that are being held in the coming days, especially the all-staff meeting. To find more information about the draft plan and to see a list of meetings go to http://sp.swarthmore.edu.
Memorial Day/Labor Day
A staff member wrote their circle representative about possibly adding Memorial Day to the College's list of holidays. This discussion has come up before, most recently in the fall of 2009, at which time a subcommittee was formed to investigate what our peer institutions were offering in regards to holidays. The outcome of those discussions was included in the SAC minutes from April 2010 and can be found here http://www.swarthmore.edu/x59501.xml.
Pets in the Workplace
A question was raised as to where the policy on pets in the workplace discussion stood. Sharmaine LaMar shared that, upon review, the current policy really is a good one and that the issue seemed to be more with enforcement and community responsibility. She stated that the current policy does define the allowable parameters for pets at work. However, each community member must be respectful of others recognizing that having your pet in the workplace is a privilege that bears the responsibility of proper hygienic care and attention to those pets while at work. Equally as important is the need for heightened consideration of the sensitivities and vulnerabilities of fellow community members. As the policy states, all dogs must be leashed on college grounds (or, within the Crum Woods, under voice control) and community members should contact Public Safety or Swarthmore Borough Police to report violators. Where agreement cannot first be reasonably reached between community members, concerns about improper care, cleanliness, threat, or disturbance by a pet in the workplace should be reported to Human Resources. The existing policy will be amended to include this reporting guidance to Public Safety and HR. The pet policies can be found at: http://www.swarthmore.edu/x57344.xml and http://www.swarthmore.edu/x14632.xml.
Staff Development Week
Staff Development week will be January 10 - 12, 2012, so mark your calendars! A request for proposals email has gone out. So please send proposals and ideas for proposals or presenters to SDW2012@swarthmore.edu
Open Enrollment
Open Enrollment runs through Friday, September 30th. All changes must be made by 5:30 PM on this day. The college is offering a High Deductible Health Plan this year but if want to choose this plan you must meet with the insurance representative to discuss the plan in detail.
Being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:35am.
Next meeting will be on October 19, 2011.
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly Fitzpatrick
Whittier Circle Representative
