HR Department

EAC Minutes - 2012

Employee Advisory Committee Minutes     
March 14, 2012

Present: Denise Hudson, Fritz Wehrenberg, Leslie Held, Mimi Bartley, Sue Bowlin, Julie Hill, Laurie Bowers, Aaron Page, Cathy Hoch

Old Business:
Drop in the bucket last month went to Rita Watson.

Fritz is still working on the proposal to add the position of Chaplain as a permanent EAC member.

Mimi and the Evaluation Committee (Laurie Bowers, Fritz Wehrenberg & Cathy Hoch) met in February to discuss the current Staff evaluations. It was agreed the next step is to meet with cabinet to see if they are supportive. Mimi will ask Ken for a day to attend cabinet. Fritz and Mimi plan to attend a webinar on this subject on 3/31. Initial discussion: Why do we do reviews? Why are they important?

EAC members discussed summer programming. It was agreed that 2012 will mirror the three R's but from our own perspective. Staff Retention, Resources to Staff and Recruitment. Dates are June 25, 26 & 27. We'll finish the week on June 29 with the Simpson Cup and Presidents' Picnic with hard hat tours of Kent and hope the campus will turn out to mix and mingle with our alumni & friends.

Suggestions from our web comment box have included: requests for training in Word & Excel and a list of those on campus who are knowledgable in these programs; how to talk to prospective students and parents; and a leadership workshop.

Several Listening Outposts have been completed. Staff seem to appreciate the chance to talk and have someone listen. One person noted, it feels like I'm cared for. How do we "continue the conversation?" Completed: ResLife, Athletics, Admin Staff, Registrar and EWG. Scheduled: Admissions/Financial Aid, Student Development and Security. Still need: Library/Hawley, Business and IS.

The committee discussed how to take the comments, ideas and opinions and drill it down. Facilitating partners will write notes as bullts and try to categorize, then end with a narrative. Notes will be brought to the next meeting. Comments are to remain anonymous and groups will not be identified. Then we will communicate to cabinet and staff what was learned.


February 8, 2012

Present: Denise Hudson, Fritz Wehrenberg, Leslie Held, Mimi Bartley, Sue Bowlin, Julie Hill, Laurie Bowers, Aaron Page, Cathy Hoch

New Business:
Listening Outposts- The committee discussed the idea of utilizing Listening Outposts to gather a better understanding of ideas, thoughts, suggestions of our constituents. It was noted that in challenging times, the trend is that our comment boxes (both the box in Hillman Hall and the online version) are used less and we hope to learn more by going out on campus.

In pairs, EAC members will first target groups chosen based on size. Those groups and the EAC members assigned are listed in the minutes of the last meeting.

A sample list of questions were shared with committee members. A suggestion was made that it will be important to get the group out of their usual environment. If a group is large, picking a representative group can be considered.

Aaron and Julie are scheduled to meet with the Administrative Assistants on February 22. They noted this group has never gathered and is looking forward to the opportunity. Fritz offered that Holy Grounds is willing to provide drinks but will need to know a number in advance.

Drop In the Bucket & comment boxes- Denise reminded the group that the Drop In the Bucket started over with the calendar year. Those who won a prize last year are once again eligible. Staff members are encouraged to look around and nominate those going above and beyond. Also to utilize the comment boxes. Both can be found online.

Tuition Remission- Chris Frerichs is investigating the policies of other colleges regarding dependents using undergrad benefits for grad courses. He will bring his findings to the next meeting.

EAC membership- Denise revisited the idea of making the chaplain a permanent member of EAC. There was a consensus that as a leader on campus regarding caring for others, this seemed to make sense. Fritz will write a proposal to take before the cabinet.

Staff evaluations- A few years ago, a small committee reviewed the staff evaluation process and a recommendation was made by the committee to tie evaluations to Simpson's core values of community, quality and respect. Slight changes were made to the evaluations with the support of the cabinet. Mimi suggested conversation regarding the evaluation process continue and asked for a few EAC members to volunteer. Laurie, Fritz and Cathy volunteered to work with Mimi regarding possible improvements to the current evaluation process.

Summer programming- The group discussed ideas on what to do this summer as a follow up to last summer's successful week long focus and training on "Change." It was suggested that this year, we focus on the 3 R's of Recruitment, Retention and Resources.  

Old Business:
Shared Leave Time Pool- EAC is continuing to work on a policy which would allow employees to donate vacation time to a pool that can be utilized by a fellow employee who has exhausted their vacation and sick time due to an FMLA type incident. EAC had made a proposal to the cabinet but it did not pass. Members were asked to look at what was proposed and possible adjustments that could be made to make the policy workable.

 
January 25, 2012

Present: Denise Hudson, Fritz Wehrenberg, Rita Audlehelm, Leslie Held, Mimi Bartley, Sue Bowlin, Julie Hill, Chris Frerichs, Laurie Bowers, Aaron Page, Cathy Hoch

Thank you to Chris, Luke and Rita for serving on EAC. Welcome to Laurie, Cathy and Aaron. Sue will remain for another term.

2012 EAC officers were elected:
Chair- Denise Hudson           Secretary- Leslie Held
Drop in the Bucket Brigade- Sue Bowlin & Julie Hill

The new members- Laurie, Cathy and Aaron volunteered to work with members of the former Celebrate Simpson (aka Disney) committee who several years ago attended a Customer Service Institute run by the Disney Corporation. Our plan is to form a sub-committee with this group to brainstorm how to re-energize the core values that were promoted during this initiative a number of years ago. They were: Community, Quality and Respect. Once these core values were chosen, departmental discussions were held to discuss ways they could incorporate the core values into each individual work place.

EAC elected two new representatives to attend the monthly Safety Meeting ran by Campus Services. Julie and Aaron volunteered to attend.   Two reps for the Insurance Committee were also elected- Fritz and Laurie.

The committee discussed the Drop in the Bucket Awards. Cathy shared that the IRS considers gift cards cash and therefore a taxable gift so the committee will consider other rewards for DITB.

A suggestion was received to consider changing the time of Employee Council as approximately 9 staff members can never attend at the current schedule. Mimi will send a survey monkey to staff to see if another time would work better.

EAC previously received a request for staff dependents to be allowed to use undergrad benefits for graduate level courses, similar to the benefit that was approved for staff members. Staff members taking graduate level courses at Simpson can apply the dollar amount benefit of an undergrad class towards the higher cost of the grad class. Chris researched the initial proposal and will bring information from that research to the next EAC meeting- including schools contacted and their policies.

EAC will be conducting several “Listening Outposts” in the next 6 weeks. Two EAC members will meet with a targeted group and lead discussions regarding employee programming, ideas or feedback. While not every concern can be addressed or changes made, there may be ideas more likely to be shared in a small group setting. We also encourage the use of the employee suggestion box that may be found online at http://www.simpson.edu/hr/programs/suggestionsform.html

EAC committee members and assigned Outposts:
Athletics- Fritz & Sue
Residence Life- Fritz and Sue
Administrative Staff- Aaron & Julie
Registrar’s Office- Aaron & Julie
Student Development- Cathy & Denise
Admissions & Financial Assistance- Leslie & Laurie
EWG - Leslie & Laurie

Other meetings and departments may be added in the future. Possible questions-Any ideas on how we can improve the Simpson Community? From other work environments, are there programs you have liked or have worked well?

 

 

 

 

Last Updated: 5/9/12