Meeting Minutes

February 2019 Minutes

Minutes for February 2019 Monthly CAP Meeting
Thursday, February 7, 2019, 1:15 PM | 314A Illini Union

Attendees: Richard Gegg (1), Brent West (1), Amy Hovious (2), Mindy Spencer (3), Maggie Jarvis (3), Micah Kenfield (4), Charlie Mitsdarfer (5), Ann Jones (5), Lisa Merrifield (6), Betoel Escobar (7), Chantelle Thompson (7), Victoria Huart (8), Becky Ferrell (9), George Gottschalk (9), Nancy Walsh (10) , John Scott (11)

Excused Absences: Randy Sandone (2), Carl Baker (6), Brian Brauer (8), Jeff Stein (11)

  1. Call to Order
    • Meeting called to order by Char Hovious at 1:16 PM
  2. Guest Speakers – Tracy Parish, SURSMAC Report; Rich Winkel, SUAA
    • Rich Winkel, the president of the UIUC Chapter of the State Universities Annuitants Association, spoke on the role and responsibilities and SUAA (http://suaa-ui.org/)
      1. SUAA differs between SURS in that the State University Retirement System’s responsibility is to administer our benefits; SUAA lobbies on behalf of both retirees and current employees.
      2. SUAA has a number of legislative principles it advocates:
        1. Achieving fiscal stability as soon as possible to preserve benefits and the ability of the state to function
        2. A combination of budget cuts, budget reform, and new revenue measures working toward stability
        3. Higher Education, critical for economic growth in Illinois
        4. Competitive benefit programs to attract top-tier faculty and staff
        5. University leaders, current employees, and annuitants working together
  • There are currently some questions about how the Non-Impairment Clause of the State Constitution (Article XIII Section 5) impacts future availability of benefits for current employees as well as higher education as a whole.
  1. In the past, constitutional amendments have been proposed that would repeal the Non-Impairment Clause. While these have been unsuccessful in the past, there are concerns about the issues returning.
  2. Moving forward, SUAA will remain vigilant to ensure benefits are protected and remain whole.
  3. Staff can join SUAA – information is available online.
  • Q&A
    1. A bill has been placed to raise the current cap on increases to retirement benefits from 3% to 6%. SUAA is keeping track of this.
  • Tracy Parish spoke on current updates from SURSMAC, the State University Retirement System Member Advisory Committee
    1. New buyout plans for benefits are underway. Multiple staff are being hired to support this.
    2. An independent auditing body is potentially being established to maintain due diligence for SURS; a similar body already exists for the Teachers Retirement System
  • SURS is developing more comprehensive training and education campaign for how SURS retirement options are presented to new employees. This may take some time to roll out but remains a priority
  1. An RFP is being distributed to various providers to redesign the defined benefit plan; however, nothing has been selected at this time
  2. A new supplemental retirement plan is offered at this time, accessible only to state employees. This may ultimately become a legislative mandate; however, it is not currently mandatory for Tier 2 employees.
  3. Our current return on investment is a robust 8.2%, which is relatively on-target for market goals. SURS is currently funded for 44% of its total liabilities. There is a growing emphasis on diversity in hiring of fund managers going forward as well.
  • There is legislation pending that could potentially provide buyout plans for current employees that would allow them to rollout their current SURS retirement funds into another retirement plan.
  • A copy of the handout distributed will be available on the CAP Website.
  1. Public Comment
    • No public comment.
  2. Review and Approval Previous Month’s Minutes
    • Gottschalk moved to approve; Thompson seconds. Passed without dissent.
  3. Chair’s Remarks
    • District 4’s new representative, Amy Adams, was welcomed to the team.
    • There will be a closed session today.
    • There are several upcoming guests coming soon.
      1. Chancellor Jones is attending in April. Questions will be gathered and submitted in advance.
      2. President Killeen is attending the June meetings. Questions will be gathered and submitted in advance.
    • Becky Ferrell has received an employment opportunity outside the university in Washington DC, and this is her final meeting.
  4. Announcements
    • February 7-9 there is a very exciting dance
    • There will be a goodbye party on March 11th for Becky Ferrell at Stage 5 of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.
    • April’s meeting is on April 10th – a departure from the usual time and place. There are some challenges securing a location that both makes transportation logistically feasible and provides a reasonable space for an audience for Chancellor Jones’ attendees.
  5. Committee Reports
    • CAPE Awards Committee
      1. A list is being narrowed to six nominees and are being forwarded to the Chancellor this week.
    • University Professional Personnel Advisory Committee
      1. UPPAC met on Tuesday.
      2. There was a brief discussion on AP Engagement, including providing meet-and-greet opportunities and bringing more awareness of our efforts.
  • Legislative and HR updates were provided.
    1. Benefit claim payouts have improved by one month.
    2. A $15 per hour minimum wage is being pursued aggressively by the legislature.
  1. A Staff Engagement Program, offering 8 hours per year to existing employees to explore campus opportunities, will be launched in August.
  2. There are currently four vacant seats on the Civil Service Merit Board.
  • Academic Professional Senators
    1. Chantelle Thompson provided an update on the Senate Committee on Community Engagement. This committee is reviewing its bylaws to establish what their efforts should be.
    2. There are also recommendations to add a second AP position to the committee and to split advancement and engagement components to narrow the focus of the group.
  • Senate, Campus, and University Committees
    1. Micah Kenfield reported that the Faculty/Staff Benefits Committee had met and provided updates on the pension and benefits that mirrored what SUAA and SURSMAC mentioned at the beginning of the CAP Meeting
    2. The Senate had a meeting recently. The Chancellor spoke and provided updates on the strategic planning process.
  • Procedures and Elections Committee
    1. Becky Ferrell’s position will need to be filled – both as Vice Chair, and as District 9 reps. Election season is underway and there will be a number of very important activities to be conducted coming shortly.
  • Communications Committee
    1. A promotional newsletter is coming out this week
    2. An announcement went out regarding the parking presentation from last month
  • A new 2019 email template has been designed to match the look and feel of the website
  • Grievance Officer
    1. No open update, but there will be discussion in closed session.
  • Ad Hoc Committee on Harassment
    1. There is an upcoming committee on Times Up and the Me Too movement coming soon; however, no meetings have yet been held.
    2. There is work still underway on a procedural document for the policy on bullying.
  • There will be a report by March 1st.
  • HR Committee – Training and Employee Development Advisory Committee (TEDAC)
    1. No update.
  1. Academic Human Resources Report Senior Associate Chancellor for Human Resources
    • Elyne Cole provided a number of reports.
    • As of today, there have been 52 requests submitted to the Academic Professional Development Fund. 37 have been funded, To date, $30,070 has been awarded. In the past there were concerns about being able to utilize the fund to its fullest extent. CAP representatives should promote this to ensure as many APs as possible utilize this resources.
    • The Staff Engagement Program is starting at the beginning of next Academic Year to provide more time to answer questions and develop a list of available tours. If you know of units interested in giving tours and talks, please submit this to Elyne Cole via email.
    • There are a number of employees who have yet to designate beneficiaries for their life insurance in CMS. There can be significant delays and challenges in situations where a designee is not established.
    • There is an upcoming free retirement seminar to help soon-to-be retirees negotiate the retirement process starting on March 2nd.
    • AP Exemption Policy
      1. The full impact of the new AP Exemption Policy will not be realized until the next audit; there has not yet been a designated date for this audit. UIUC will not be the first campus impacted by this audit.
      2. In the past months of the new policy, 266 job positions have been reviewed for vacant positions. Of these 266, only 40 are being shifted to Civil Service from AP under the new criteria.
  • While this ratio may not hold when the full audit occurs, this is an initial sense of how campus will be affected.
  1. The search process under the new system has been better than anticipated and accommodates departments with similarities to the current AP search process.
  2. Representatives who are reclassified will be removed by default from their AP positions because they will no longer represent their district as an AP.
  3. Chair Hovious suggested that a representative from Staff Advisory Council could serve as an ex officio member of CAP.
  • There are four seats for the Civil Service System now available. These are brand new seats, and every time we add someone new to the merit board new dynamic emerge.
  • There have been multiple cases of measles in the area.
    1. Numerous announcements of this have gone out, and campus immediately identified students and employees who may have potentially been impacted by this student.
    2. Per the technical definition by Public Health, the two cases of measles meet the criteria of “outbreak.” Public Health controls this process and has been working with campus to evaluate affected individuals who may have been exposed to ensure they have immunity.
  • Public Health’s requirements (via the CDC) were that employees had two days to provide proof of their immunity (either due to age or vaccination). If they were unable to provide this within two days, they would be quarantined outside of work. Public Safety dictates whether they were quarantined in their home or a public location. No employees were subjected to quarantine.
  1. When the second case broke out, the same procedures occurred again with full compliance and success.
  2. On a campus of 47,000 students, only 200 students are not vaccinated against communicable students. McKinley has a list of these students to identify if they’re at risk and move through the procedures accordingly.
  3. This situation is fully resolved.
  • New videos have been released for the I Am an Illinois Professional campaign, and more are to come. This campaign will continue to showcase the efforts of our professionals on campus, regardless of whether they’re Academic Professionals or Civil Service.
  1. Unfinished Business
    • No unfinished business.
  2. New Business
    • No new business.
  3. Closed Session
    • CAP moved into closed session.
  4. Adjournment

Dates and Locations of CAP Monthly Meetings and CAP-Sponsored Events

 

Date Location Notes and Other Events
February 7, 2019 314A Illini Union Rich Winkel, Tracy Parish
March 7, 2019 314A Illini Union  
April 10, 2019 TBD Chancellor Visit
April 10, 2019 iHotel CAPE Awards
May 2, 2019 TBD  
June 6, 2019 TBD President Visit