Council of Academic Professionals
Thursday, June 2, 2016, 314A Illini Union
Meeting Minutes submitted by Elizabeth Rockman

Attendees:  Kristina Miller (1), Mike Garvey (2), Amy Hovious (2), Andrew Reynolds (4), Dustin Yocum (4), Rick Atterberry (5), Wendy White (5), Elizabeth Wahle (6), Teresa Steckler (6), Tanisha King-Taylor (7), Mindy Spencer (8), Mike Bohlmann (9), Melissa Madsen (9), Ravi Ramrattan (10), Elizabeth Rockman (10), Beth Hall (11), Jeffrey Stein (11), Deb Stone (ex-officio)

1. Call to Order – Chair Mike Bohlmann called the meeting to order at 1:15 p.m.

2. Public Comment – None.

3. Chair’s Remarks – Mike Bohlmann noted there was still no state budget, and that the Senate Executive Committee was discussing the Governor’s appointment of John Bambenek (Adjunct Instructor at UIUC) as the faculty member to the Illinois Board of Higher Education, and other universities were also very upset.

4. Review and Approval Previous Month’s Minutes – Jeff Stein made a motion to approve, and Wendy White seconded; motion passed.

5. Procedures and Elections Committee – Annual CAP election: The nominations process was overseen by Melissa Madsen, Tracy Parish, and Elizabeth Rockman.  The following offices for ballot were uncontested, and the results were as follows:

• Chair:  Jeffrey Stein
• Vice Chair:  Tracy Parish
• Secretary:  Elizabeth Rockman
• Grievance Officer:  Tanisha King Taylor
• Assistant Grievance Officer:  Wendy White
• At-large Member:  Rick Atterberry

Elizabeth Wahle made a motion to accept these uncontested nominees, and Ravi Ramrattan seconded; motioned passed.

The following offices were put to a vote, and the results were as follows:

• CAPE Awards Vice Chair:  Ravi Ramrattan
• Communications Officer:  Mindy Spencer
• Communications Committee:  Beth Hall (more members may be needed)
• Procedures and Elections Committee:  Betoel Escobar and Richard Gegg (more members may be needed)

6. Announcements:

Kristina Miller announced that next year’s CAPE Awards Reception is scheduled as Thursday, April 6, 2017, though in past years has been subject to change based on the Chancellor’s schedule.

7. Communications Committee – Nothing to report beyond the fact that Melissa Madsen said she has many CAP brochures to hand off to the new Communications Officer.

8. Grievance Officer Update – Beth Hall noted there were no new grievances this month; one was heard last month in closed session, for which a report will be amended for some factual corrections before sending to the Chancellor.

9. Academic Human Resources Report by the Associate Provost for Human Resources

Budget Update – Deb Stone said another legislative session had passed with no state budget.

Other Updates – Deb gave more clarity on the new Fair Labor Standards Act changes effective January 2017 related to the exemption of overtime pay and reporting for individuals, as the salary threshold will be changing to $47,476.  There will be exclusions to the new ruling, which is being worked out now.  The regulations are clear what duties do and do not fall under this threshold for removing the exemption.  A detailed DDDH communication will go out when more is known, and there will be information sessions for Deans and Department Heads.  For this ruling, overtime funds would only be disbursed at half-time for these salaried employees.  The rules impact some Civil Service Exempt employees as well as Academic Professionals.  For AP’s this accounting would be based on a 40 hours week.

Beth Hall asked if comp time would be allowed.  Deb noted that comp time would likely not be allowable, and that the UI has pretty generous leave benefits.  Rich Atterberry noted that Business Managers would likely lobby for comp time to be applied.  Deb noted that if it were to impact a day in the week, that could constitute a change in work schedule, and also that this timeframe is a longer implementation window than the anticipated December 1 deadline.  Beth asked for more clarification about the difference in flex v. comp time.  Deb noted that HR Working Groups would be working on many issues, including communications and training.  Jeff asked who could provide expertise on this, and Deb said either herself or Jami Painter in University Administration.

10. Report from Academic Professional Senators; and Senate, Campus, and University Committees –

Melissa reported that the 7^th Senate Review had met three weeks prior, and would meet again next week.  They have been working on this for three years, and seem receptive about three additional campus districts receiving representation.

Rick Atterberry note that the Senate is concerned about the number of open Dean positions.

Kristin asked about the Chancellor Search, and it was noted to have Tracy ask Darcy to attend a CAP meeting to update on the process.

11. Orientation for New CAP Members and AP Senate Representatives – The PowerPoint presentation will be shown next month by Rich Gegg. Otherwise, information was provided related to expectations:

• If CAP members cannot attend a CAP meeting, notify Jeff Stein and Elizabeth Rockman
• CAP members are encouraged to join CAP Committees, Ad Hoc Committees, and other CAP efforts

12. Unfinished Business – Kristina noted that CAP helps with the All Employee Expo, and Amy Hovious volunteered to help with that effort.

12. Orientation planning for new CAP members and AP Senator representatives – Orientation is in June.

13. Unfinished Business – Tracy Parish noted that he talked with Katie Ross of Benefits, and that she clarified the status of the in-network payments issue. Individuals are encouraged to call their benefits provider.

14. New Business –

Rick Atterberry pointed out that the pay by phone parking option can allow for 15 minute increments rather than two hours, but our campus does not yet allow for that.  Beth Hall said that Parking is thinking of changing companies.  Parking may be asked to provide updates at a future meeting.

Jeff Stein discussed the Open Source Policy, and how that may impact research roles, including for AP’s who are evaluated on publications.  Journals may all have different requirements for their work, and they have copyrights.

15. Closed Session for Privileged Information/Grievances – No closed session was held.

16. Adjournment – Ravi Ramrattan made the motion to adjourn, and Tanisha King-Taylor seconded; motion passed.  Meeting was adjourned at 3:05 p.m.