Members Present: Kevin Burchett, Colleen Harris, Michael Hooper, Diane Klein, Debbie Peek (chairperson), Mark Reagan, Donna Russell, and Brenda Smith. Others Present: President Robert Bell, Karen Case, Debbie Combs, Sharon Hartman, Sue Pogue, and Terri Watson.

Trip to Japan: Gloria and I recently visited our sister university in Japan, Dohto University. Unlike Tech, Dohto is privately held and owned by their Chancellor, Dr. Jun Sakurai. In honor of my first year as President at Tech, Chancellor Sakurai invited Gloria and I to visit and requested that I speak at their opening ceremonies. As a result of the trip, twenty-five (25) of their students will be visiting our campus this September to explore the possibilities of a yearlong exchange/internship program.

NASA Trip: In late March, a number of the engineering faculty traveled to Kennedy Space Center in Florida to watch the shuttle launch of Discovery. Over the past six months, we have been working to reestablish and create a series of relationships with NASA. We currently have three contracts with the space administration and are in the process of developing five to seven more. This will bring quite a bit of additional funding to the University.

Visits to Nashville and D.C.: We have been spending time in Nashville and Washington, D.C. soliciting funding to construct a new building for the Nursing School. We anticipate a state decision on the matter within the next three weeks. Within that time period, legislative committees will present proposals to the full House and Senate for appropriation assignments. We have requested planning funds for this year with the hopes that we will have a newly constructed building by 2005. The issue of housing the School of Nursing during the interim period will be addressed when funding has been approved.

Senator Bill Frist has offered to propose federal legislation; he submitted an appropriations bill last week. If passed, the appropriation would come from the federal budget and would be for $12 million. Federal funding is not expected, but we will continue to work hard and follow up with this option.

Child Development Lab: On May 9, it was decided that the Jere Whitson Building (JW) will be rehabilitated and used for the School of Nursing. The Child Development Laboratory (CDL) will remain intact in its current location. A letter of notification was mailed to parents today informing them of the decision to continue the CDL program. In order to make JW capable of housing the School of Nursing, renovations estimated at $100,000 will be necessary. The School of Nursing will retain their accreditation and continue to teach clinicals. We are glad to be able to finally give some finality to both the School of Nursing and to the CDL.

Congratulations to Faculty, Staff, and Students: The Tennessee Higher Education Commission honored Sue Ellen Odom-Burduck--secretary in English, and a TTU student--Noreen Grisolano as recipients of the Love Outstanding Community Involvement Awards. The awards were presented at a reception on April 18 in Nashville.

Andy Case is the recipient of the 2001 Derryberry Award. Andy is the son of Karen and Steve Case of Cookeville.

Five individuals from Tennessee Tech were honored for their innovative uses of technology at the recent Tennessee Board of Regents Annual Distance Learning Conference. Those honored were:

Jon Booker, Professor of Accounting
Susan Galbreath, Associate Professor of Accounting
R.J. Clougherty Jr., Associate Professor of English
Lauren Neal, Academic Computing Specialist
Jeff Plant, Associate Professor of Human Ecology

Outstanding faculty in both teaching and service for the Academic Year 2000-2001 were recently announced as follows:

Teaching Awards – Michael O’Rourke and Susan Goss
Service Award – Linda Null

Retirements: Retirements through June 30, 2001 include:

Marcia Borys, Athletics
Nancy Dixon, Information Technology Services
Dan Hearn, Music and Art
Sally Crain-Jager, Music and Art
Robert Jager, Music and Art
Bob Johnston, Health and Physical Education
Pat King, President’s Office
Linda Mulder, Library
Rebecca Quattlebaum, Department of Counseling and Psychology
Ruby Saylors, Custodian
Joe Sharpe, Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Brenda Smith, Music and Art
Albert Wilhelm, Department of English

Administrative Professional Reception at Walton House: President and Mrs. Bell implemented a change in the way they recognized the C & S staff during Administrative Professionals’ Week. Originally, a reception consisting of light refreshments was held in the Multipurpose room to honor C & S staff. However, on Friday, April 27, President and Mrs. Bell held a brunch at Walton House to honor these individuals and a nice selection of door prizes were given away. Attendance was great and President and Mrs. Bell enjoyed having everyone at Walton House.

Athletics Tickets: As noted in a recent form distributed campus-wide, athletic season tickets are now available through payroll deduction. Anyone who wishes to participate should mark on the form his/her choices and return to Personnel/Payroll before June 30, 2001.

Training: The University is in the process of purchasing three (3) videos for on-campus training purposes. The subjects include: Teamwork on the Job, Projecting a Professional Image, and Managing Your Time. Also, the equipment necessary to offer CPR and Defibrillator training on campus will be purchased shortly. More information will be forthcoming concerning this training.

Parking: As indicated in a memorandum dated April 30, 2001 and distributed campus-wide, parking hangtags for C&S Staff will be reduced from $20 to $10. Faculty/Administrative hangtags will now be $30. Tech now has the lowest fee in the TBR system for C & S staff parking.

Food Service Employee Meal Allowance: Personnel/Payroll surveyed Food Service staff regarding the retention of the current Food Service employee meal allowances. Food Service staff overwhelmingly voted in favor of keeping the food allowances as they are currently.

A member of the committee asked President Bell what would be done with the old School of Nursing building? President Bell responded that the estimated construction costs for a new building includes plans for the demolition of the current building. At this point, all inspectors, including city building inspectors and state people, who have been in the building believe that it is beyond recovery. The moisture and mildew problems would require a new roof, new walls, and filling of the basement and the current building is also built on a flood plain. Because of these problems, the building would require millions of dollars to rehabilitate.

Sharon Hartman, chair of the C & S Staff Salary Equity Committee and Karen Case, C & S Support Staff Subcommittee chair, attended the meeting to give an update on the committee’s progress. Ms. Case distributed a report from the subcommittee and asked that it be distributed with the minutes. Ms. Case gave an overview of the committee’s progress to date as outlined in the attached report. Presently, an equity plan has not been finalized, but significant progress has been made.

Donna Russell moved to elect Mark Reagan as chairperson of the SAC for the 2001-2002 fiscal year. Seconded by Colleen Harris. Motion Passed unanimously.

Diane Klein moved that Colleen Harris serve as co-chair for the 2001-2002 fiscal year. The motion was seconded by Donna Russell and passed unanimously.

Sue Pogue commented that per a question at the March 14, 2001 meeting, the accrual of annual leave is mandated by the TBR; therefore the University currently has no discretion to change this policy.

Regarding the annual leave days employees are required to take between the Christmas and New Year holidays, Sue Pogue stated that this is the same policy followed by many other schools. President Bell also noted the cost savings to the University involves lower utility costs and related security issues. If those days were optional, it would be much more difficult for University Police to monitor all buildings because of the variety of openings/closings of the buildings on campus. In the past, there have been several break-ins and reports of theft during the holiday season; therefore, keeping all of the buildings closed has become an important safety measure.

The meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m.

Attachment: C & S Staff Salary Equity Subcommittee Report

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