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November 2001 Town Meeting Minutes:
To go directly to a section of the minutes, select from the options below. The minutes in their entirety exist on this page Welcome and announcements
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Welcome and announcements -- Egidio Leitao, Assistant to the Dean, School of Social Work We have new forms for soliciting suggestions. Please disregard the due date. We'd really like to hear from you. Egidio also pointed out the Tip Sheet and called for ideas from others. If there is anything you do on a daily basis for which you know a nifty shortcut, or use websites that perhaps are not known to others, please contact Egidio or Janice. Administrative Updates : Nancy McCowen, Exec. Assistant to the President - New Handbook of Operating Procedures....What's New About It The revision of the Handbook has been a long-term project that began in 1999. The President appointed Nancy in August of 1999, along with a committee, to review written policies. Their goal was to revise the Handbook by centralizing all policies. Also, there were no actual procedures in it. The Committee spent two years composing procedures and policies, some of which had never been stated explicity, e.g. the family leave policy, harrassment, etc.. Not having a written policy meant that UT wasnít compliant in some areas. What people have in their hands are all policies that have received final approval. The final approval is waiting on military leave policy. Nancy referred to the website as a way to answer the question "What' New?" The web and print versions will match exactly. Paper updates will be made and should be added to the binders, discarding the old policies. Policies will be added and discarded in total instead of in sections as was formerly the procedure. The Administration/Policies/Administration database is searchable. The old versions are archived. The old material is on gray pages, new material in orange. They will eventually phase out the gray. The V.P. responsible for a given section will be noted. "Scope" means who the policy applies to: benefits eligible, faculty, staff, etc. How to use a policy is also described. Also attached are glossaries for terms, such as "benefits eligible employee" or documents that employees must provide. Also explained are everyone's responsibilities for employees, departments, etc. There is also an explanation of whose authority is required for approval. There will always be a "For Assistance" section, usually a web site. They left out phone numbers because every single change has to be approved all the way up the line, so it's easier not to put material that dates quickly. Nancy encouraged everyone to use the site to inform new employees and update current employees.
Lon Heuer, Internal Audits Compliance Training -- Differences Between Faculty and Staff About 3700 people have completed the modules; about 100/week. He appreciates the level of participation. They started in July and he has visited each VP to describe what the modules are and what they need employees to do. They held off on academic areas because they were still working with some Faculty Council Committees. There are some differences between faculty and staff. Every employee is encouraged to complete the training in areas that are relevant to their duties. They are asking employees to complete modules, which usually takes an hour. For faculty they were concerned about their time and they revised a Standards of Conduct module that can be signed on line. Faculty are not being exempted from compliance or knowing the rules. They are being allowed to sign a statement saying they understand the rules. They hyperlink to on-line training and they are encouraged to complete the training. Some of the Deans' offices have encouraged those faculty with administrative responsibility to complete the training, e.g. chairs, etc. They are making an allowance for time, but not in requiring employees to know the rules. They do not monitor whether faculty or staff skip the information and get straight to the review. The bottom line is that they are asking people to be aware that there are rules, and they are providing useful information. They strive for flexibility for everyone. Rod Caspers, Office of University Relations - Orange Santa Rod was unavailable, but sent a representative. Cindy Shimbert talked about Orange Santa. She noted the volume of response recently to Longhorn Halloween and has hopes for a similar success for Orange Santa. While they don't want to overtax people, they do want to help families have a happy holiday season. They are focusing on young children and pre-teens. They find that these are the things they run out of at the store: CDs, certificates to the Gap, etc. In the handout is a copy of the flyer in English and Spanish. She asked that all departments make these available to everyone. She can provide white copies to make more flyers if anyone needs them. The deadline is Dec. 3 to Luther Johnson. It's not based on salary, but rather on need. There is also a website. It is spotlighted on staff and faculty home pages. They will collect donations at basketball games, 12/4 and 12/5. They will have a new Santa costume!! Unworn!!!! Can volunteer on-line. You'll get an error message if a slot is full. Call them if you need an alternative volunteer opportunity. Departments can focus on a specific age group. This year, they will be in Belmont 528, over twice the size as last year's space. They will keep decorations to a minimum, as the ceilings are 20 feet high. They want to have an open house for donors. Cindy stressed that UT is a community and it's important to have an opportunity to help each other. Please do NOT wrap gifts.
Diana Lockhard, Special Billing -- Spring fee bills, staff education benefit Diana reviewed the handout with information about spring fee bills and SS 2 documents. These are due 12/12. Please get SS2s in now, along with employment waivers. Students get waivers or reductions in out-of-pocket costs. Students get voided if these paper waivers are not in. They are required for the student to receive the benefits. She has a calendar in the handouts. Students whose classes are cancelled must re-register and may face a late fee. They cannot be sending out e-mail reminders to all students. She encouraged departments to check their records and with the students to verify that their registration is complete. This is online and readily available for students. Fee bills can be confirmed over the web, new for fall semester. Changes are instant on the web. Tuition loans are also available now online. They do not have to come in and sign for it. For the first time in her 12 years, the lines stayed in the lobby without snaking out into the hall. This is good. Encourage students to use the web. She has instructions for SS2 documents, along with websites. Forms can be downloaded. Forms can be mailed, but this isn't a good idea with the deadline so close. Students bring forms to them and they recalculate their fee bill right then. Staff education benefit: This pays for up to 3 hours of tuition. Application form is on line and that is listed on the handout, too. They send out 40,000 bills. Please encourage students to take care of everything. Closing - Egidio stressed using the new form for suggestions. The Town Meeting Planning Committee will do its best to get the requested information to the meetings. We need to know what the audience wants to know about.
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19 February 1999 |
