Members Present: Carpenter, Choate, Davis, Dillon, Harris, Hooper, Klein, and Russell

Members Absent: Jackson, Jared, McMillan, Short, and Zimmerman

Others Present: Bell, Duggin, Pogue, and Watson

Chairperson Harris called the meeting to order at 2 p.m. The meeting began with remarks by President Bell.

The Admissions Office reported that the number of applications for fall 2002 is up 560 from this time last year. It appears that Tech will have another record enrollment this fall.

The Clerical and Support Appreciation Brunch will be held at Walton House on April 24. President Bell stated that favorable comments were received from last year’s event, and he hopes everyone can attend the Appreciation Brunch this year. The Bells look forward to hosting the event.

President Bell congratulated Bobby Mitchell, custodian in Facilities and Business Services, as the February 2002 Ambassador; and Vickie Mayberry, secretary in the Mathematics Department, as the March 2002 Ambassador.

Currently, there is a proposed ‘D.O.G.S.’ (Downsizing our Government) budget in both the House and the Senate. The House version of this budget would cut over $93 million from the budget, including $3 million from Tech. The cuts would eliminate all Centers for Excellence across the state. The Senate version of the budget is very similar and includes a sales tax increase. There has also been discussion of the proposed state lottery, but it is questionable if higher education would benefit from these funds.

There is discussion of an increase in tuition this fall, but at the moment, no consensus has been reached on a specific percentage for increase. Along with the increase in tuition, there is also a new requirement for students to have meningitis shots on or before the first day of school. Procedures for implementing the shot requirement and associated costs have not been finalized at present.

The new Human Resource web page is now live on the Internet. The website will be a useful tool to all campus employees. President Bell asked Ms. Pogue to brief the group on the web page.

Ms. Pogue stated that the goal of the page is to be user friendly to all Tech employees. Available on the site are forms for printing, listing of contacts for information, and information about job classifications and job descriptions. Information pertaining to employee awards programs and the names of recent award recipients are also disclosed on the page. A committee member suggested that computer terminals be made available to employees in the Food Service and also Facilities areas to allow easy access to the information available on the Human Resources website. President Bell will pursue the matter of computer terminals in these areas.

Several suggestions related to instructions for navigation and the use of the web page were discussed.

Suggestions received in the Idea Boxes were circulated with the meeting’s agenda. Chairperson Harris distributed responses to the suggestions for review and inclusion in the minutes of the meeting.

Financial Aid—A suggestion was made to add another person to talk with at the Loan Office in Financial Aid. Dr. Holbrook provided the following response to this suggestion:

Two staff members are assigned to student loan processing and service. Either of these staff members or one of the directors can assist with student loan questions. TTU students can access the TTU Eagle On-line web, or Eagle line telephone systems using their TTU PIN number. At this location, they can then access their personal loan data provided at Tennessee Tech.

All of the Federal Stafford student loans are processed through the U.S. Department of Education, which has an award winning web site for students to use. General information including "frequently asked questions," downloadable forms and sample repayment calculation tables are available there. In addition to the general information provided, students may use their federal PIN number to access their personal loan history and balances. All of this information and much more may be accessed through the TTU Financial Aid web site at www2.tntech.edu/financialaid/.

The TTU Financial Aid Office encourages all current or prospective students to become familiar with the many services and types of information available to them on the Financial Aid web site. In addition, if a student wishes a personal conference, further clarification or forms, or even a video review of the loan programs, the receptionist will be happy to arrange an appointment with one of the loan staff or professional personnel in Financial Aid.

Tree maintenance—A suggestion was made to trim trees around the quad so the limbs don’t scratch the top of vehicles. Mr. Terrell Key in Facilities responded that plans are underway to have trees trimmed as weather and time permits.

Common calendar—There is discussion of TBR schools going to a common calendar. Would this mean that TTU would no longer force employees to use annual leave days at Christmas time?

Ms. Pogue responded that last year MTSU, TSU, and APSU adopted a common calendar necessitated by a Geier stipulation. Now, the TBR is recommending that all TBR schools adopt a common calendar system. Tech would not be required to have the same actual schedule during the semester, but the start and end dates of the semester would be the same as other TBR institutions. Also, when Tech employees were surveyed concerning the required annual days to be taken during the Christmas and New Year holidays, only one negative response was received. The holiday schedule is disseminated to employees in a timely manner to allow for planning of the use of required annual days.

A member of the committee reported extreme heat and cooling fluctuations in the kitchen area of Food Service and suggested the possibility of placing a unit to control the heating and cooling in the kitchen. There was also the concern of the very strong sewage odor in the kitchen. President Bell reported that the odor is being dealt with, as quickly as possible, but to totally resolve the problem, major construction to the drainage system must be completed. Facilities will be contacted in regard to the heating and cooling problems.

The meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m.

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