June 4, 2015
Attendees: Rich Gegg (1), Kristina Miller (1), Kathleen Booth (2), Ramachandran Radhakrishnan (2), Dustin Yocum (4), Rick Atterberry (5), Wendy White (5), Theresa Steckler (6), Elizabeth Wahle (6), Betoel Escobar (7), Tanisha King-Taylor (7), Tracy Parish (8), Mindy Spencer (8), Melissa Madsen (9), Mike Bohlmann (9), Ravi Ramrattan (10), Beth Hall (11), Jeffrey Stein (11), Elyne Cole (ex-officio)
I. Call to Order – Chair Madsen called meeting to order at 1:15pm.
II. Guest Presenters
Provost Ilesanmi Adesida was invited to address the Council. Dr. Adesida expressed his admiration and appreciation for the important role APs play on our campus, and invited questions from CAP members and the audience. Topics included formation of a Budgetary Task Force, employee background checks, AAUP censure, procurement rules, budget cuts and land grant mission, potential for VSIP, departmental scholarships, and public private partnerships.
III. Public Comments – None
IV. Chair’s Remarks – None
V. CAP Officer’s Elections (Nominating Committee)
The Nominating Committee set forth a slate of officers and all were elected by voice vote:
- Chair – Mike Bohlmann
- Vice-Chair – Richard Gegg
- Sec – Elizabeth Rockman
- Communications Officer – Maeve Reilly
- Grievance Officer – Beth Hall
- Assistant Grievance Officer – NONE
VI. Minutes – May minutes approved.
VII. Announcements
A. Report from Academic Professional Senators – Faculty are concerned with new policies being developed to conduct background checks, but this concern is in part due to lack of information about the issue (some of which was addressed by Provost). No specific recommendations have been offered.
B. Senate, Campus and University Committee Reports – None.
VIII. Communications Committee
A. Newsletter –
B. Website – The last bits of content for the new CAPS website is being migrated, at which point CAP members will be asked to review and sign off on new site. Working on a shared calendar of events to plan out a year in advance for CAP meetings and activities.
C. Other (ad hoc committee on CS audit/AP reclassification) –
IX. Procedures and Elections Committee
A. Elections Results Update – District 8 Special Election is completed and Tracy Parish has been elected. A letter from the Provost is forthcoming. Officer elections were completed earlier in the meeting, but the election process would benefit from improvements. All CAP members (old and new) were introduced, and Chair Bohman thanked outgoing members for their service.
X. CAPE Awards Committee
Six awards are given annually, and the committee works through the nomination, evaluation and recommendation process. Vice chair will be elected at the next meeting, and the process starts in August. The CAP Chair (Bohman) serves as the Awards Chair.
XI. NESSIE Redesign
Wayne Stahl provided an overview of the NESSIE redesign process that is being initiated (attachment provided). NESSIE is old and needs to be revamped. User surveys in 2010 and again in 2015 show the system is hard to navigate, difficult to find things. Revision is focused on content and navigation, not integrated systems (yet). CAP members asked to volunteer services to gather information to inform redesign – a wide diverse audience is needed and a sign up sheet was passed around. Effort is being absorbed by AHR, so it is a low priority and could be a long timeline (12-18 months?).
XII. Academic Human Resources (AHR) Report
A. Budget and Academic Professional Development Fund – Comments about the budget mirror those made by the Provost. The Academic Professional Development Fund received 119 requests totaling $63,841.32 this fiscal year (largest amount ever) and has obligated $57,084.32 in awards. There have been a large number of denials this year in part due to confusion about what types of activities are eligible for this funding. There is uncertainty and to the process for Extension applications to the fund, whether the applicant should submit to ACES HR or to AHR, and the CAP website lacks clarity in this issue.
ACTION: Atterberry and Wahle will investigate and report back.
B. Other – Nothing else to report.
C. SUCSS 2015 Audit – Onsite audits start mid-June. Employees have been notified if their position is being reviewed, and departments know which job descriptions will be reviewed, but not all requests for in-person interviews have been executed. Purpose of the audit is to determine if position is correctly classified as AP (v. Civil Service), and is NOT a conversion review. When a position is created, AHR completes a rigorous review to correctly classify in the first place, and typically stands behind its classification decisions. Campus administration stands in support of the need for AP classifications. It is acceptable practice for employees to discuss classification reviews with their departments prior to the review.
Information technology sectors are once again being targeted for review, as well as development, advancement, purchasing, grants and contracts, some writing/editing positions, academic hourlies and extra help. AHR is experiencing a similar number of audits requests as in past years.
Coyle fielded several questions, and there was some general discussion regarding SUCSS audits.
XIII. AP Senate Committee Vacancies Update
Email notices are out, but if response rates are not adequate, Madsen will re-announce if necessary.
XIV. Unfinished Business
Future meeting dates – Motion made by Stein, seconded by Ramrattan, to change the July meeting to July 8, and to schedule remaining monthly meetings on the First Thursday of the month thereafter. Passed by voice vote.
Call-in Option – Motion made by Gegg and seconded by Madsen to offer a call-in option for CAP Members located off-campus for times when traveling to Champaign to participate in CAP Meetings would create undue burden or hardship. It was clarified through discussion that in-person attendance is expected of all Members located anywhere on campus, and that the call-in option for CAP Members would only be for those reps with offices off campus and only for times when travel to Champaign to attend CAP meetings was burdensome. Call-in feature would only be available to CAP members, not general attendees. Passed by voice vote.
Personal information on Public Directory (Booth) – Following up from last months action item, Booth reported that Public Affairs indicates CITES is responsible for the Public Directory, so more ciphering of how to deal with this in progress.
Open Grievance Officer Position – There is currently an open slot for Grievance Officer. Agreed by consensus that there is precedent to proceed with Grievance Committee activities with an open slot.
XV. New Business – None.
XVI. Closed Session – Privileged Information/Grievances (if applicable)
There were no new grievances and no other privileged business to conduct.
XVII. Adjournment – Meeting adjourned at approximately 4:00pm.