19 February 2019

Staff Advisory Council Minutes

February 19, 2019

Lynn Grady, Steve Lockard, Domenic Porrini, Susan Eager, Diane Fritz, Pamela BV, Trish Tancredi, Zenobia Hargust, Nabil Kashyap, Lauri Courtenay, Luis Alvarez, Pamela PC, Pam Harris

Special Guest - Ed Rowe, Chief of Staff, Secretary of the College

Calendar:

Tuesday, March 19                       9:00 am, SAC meeting, Sharples 209

Thursday, April 4                           10:00 am, All Staff Meeting, Lang Music Concert Hall

Tuesday, April 23                          9:00 am, SAC meeting, Sharples 209

SAC Business:

All Staff Agenda                           

Pamela PC will give a brief overview of childcare at Swarthmore and introduce Barb

Barb Milewski – Faculty Ad-Hoc Child Care Committee         presentation

Alice Turbiville – Purchasing Office updates

Greg Brown - Finance update

FSBC nominees        Rachelle Miclette from Advancement has volunteered to serve

SAC Committees & Succession planning:

                Diane & Domenic ending their term as co-moderators; SAC  seeks nominees or volunteers to serve in these leadership roles

Spring 2019 potential vacancies:

                                                                Julie DiPietro (Chester Rd) - TBD

                                                                Pam Borkowski-Valentin (Chester Rd) – staying?

                                                                Diane Fritz (Lang) – co-moderator- term ending

                                                                Lauri Courtenay (Lang) – term ending

                                                                Ben Wilson (Rose Garden) - TBD

                                                                Lynn Grady (Sharples) – open vacancy

                                                                Liz Stern (Sharples) – term ending

                                                                Domenic Porrini (South) - co-moderator- term ending

Questions/Concerns:                                               

Pet Insurance?

This is an ‘Ancillary Benefit’ [voluntary benefit] and it is under consideration however current priority and focus is the continuation of the comprehensive review of Healthcare benefits that focus on health.

Employment Posts/Salary Grade:
It would be helpful if position postings listed the salary grade or expected hiring salary range.  There are times in which I am not sure whether to recommend someone for the position because it is unclear what the salary will be.  We have also experienced cases of hiring in which we wasted a lot of time because prospective candidates were not interested in the position after they learned of the salary range. I propose that HR list the salary grade or expected hiring salary for each open job on the "Employment" page.  If that is not possible, I propose that the information be made available in a password protected page to any Swarthmore employee.

Chart by job ‘family’ will be posted by July 1, 2019 per Pamela PC

HR is in the process of including salary grades to job postings; will see soon

Trico Parking:
"Our understanding is that BMC, HC and SC have an agreement that faculty/staff from any one of the schools can park in faculty/staff parking at the other schools.  It would be great if the public safety staff at each school could be made aware of this.  I've been going to Haverford and Bryn Mawr often this year, and just got my third ticket from Haverford yesterday.  (I appeal them online, and they always respond that the officer didn't know so ignore the ticket, etc.)  My Bryn Mawr colleague got his third ticket from Swarthmore this week.  He says when he appeals, Swarthmore says to not worry about the ticket. Others have experienced the same thing. It's kind of a pain that this keeps happening and I wonder if there could be a Tri-co education campaign to make everyone aware of where parking is allowed for Tri-co staff."

Diane reached out to Mike Hill

Mike Hill has promised to speak to colleagues at BMC and HC.

Clarify with Mike which Parking Lots at the Trico are available to staff.

Retirement & HealthCare
“Swarthmore staff retiring who have reached age 60 are eligible to remain on the College’s health plan after they retire.  I’d like to ask whether the College would be willing to offer this same benefit to staff who have 25 years or more of service but haven’t yet reached age 60.

Per John Cline in Benefits: “An employee must be age 60 with 10 years of service in order to qualify for retiree benefits.”

Dining Hall: Places for staff to eat lunch is limited due to 1) tables at Essie’s taken up by one student or, 2) students leave their belongings on the table and then disappear.

Anthony Coschignano response:  There is nothing scheduled at this time.  We will have a town hall to discuss things at some point and people will hear an update and they can always provide feedback through that process. We have collected over 600 surveys, 505 personal interviews. lots of stakeholder meetings, and other methods.  So right now, we have to synthesize this information. If people have other ideas have them feel free to continue to share.

As a community, we should participate with the Dining Hall redesign process. Please contact Anthony Coschignano (acoschi1) or Susan Eagar (seagar1) if you’re interested in helping to make beneficial changes.

Hotline/Weather Notifications
Mike Hill will be using LiveSafe for emergency and weather notifications. If the college declares a weather day a message will be sent out through LiveSafe, posted on the website and a message on the hotline.

HR will no longer send weather related announcements.  Public Safety has assumed this responsibility using the LiveSafe system.  
 

Winter Gathering -”it would be nice if staff didn’t bring baggies to take back food; some staff are not able to arrive until later”.

Taking food is discouraged. Hot foods should be eaten at the event per the risk of salmonella.

We are sustainable - plastic is not encouraged.

The food is staggered (not brought out all at the same time) for individuals who arrive later; we want to be sure there is enough for all.

 

Spring Gathering - Winners of raffles should be aware they will be taxed, even if it is just for a t-shirt –they may want to opt out of the win.

            This is not the rule verbatim but the IRS requires organizations to indicate   when prizes are awarded and a tax is applied.  The item is considered income.  However, in most cases, departments will cover the cost of the  tax.  In the example of the Spring Gathering, Human Resources pays the tax and no action Is needed on the part of the individual.

Discussion with Ed Rowe (sitting in for Val Smith)

How do we let the community know we exist and who we are? Pamela B. and Nabil are working on the new SAC website.

Promote SAC at Hiring Introduction/Orientation - let staff know their circle.

Domenic recommends walking around and talking to members of the circle to encourage feedback or participation.
 

Minutes Discussion:

When minutes are sent out, have a line that defines SAC. “SAC’s primary function is to serve in a listening and communicating capacity on behalf of both staff members and the College Administration.”

SAC representatives could disseminate minutes to their circles.

Promote SAC at All Staff Gathering

Send an email to Faculty-Staff Digest with link to the website - make note that the minutes are posted. “Questions and Answers are included in the minutes”.

SAC Image:

SAC has a ‘negative connotation’ on campus. How do we develop a proactive/positive image?

Role of AAC and SAC? Potential for closer collaboration or shared annual meetings.

SAC Priorities:

Website redesign

Recruitment and succession planning