October 2020 Meeting Minutes | Council of Academic Professionals

October 2020 Monthly CAP Meeting
Date: Thursday, October 1, 2020
Time: 1:15 PM
Location: Zoom

Attendees: Brent West (1), Allie Arp (2), Mindy Spencer (3), Tasha Robles (3), Brandi Barnes (4), Ann Jones (5), Suzana Palaska-Nicholson (5), Lisa Merrifield (6), Doug Gucker (6), Betoel Escobar (7), Nicole DelMastro-Jeffery (7), Crystal Zulauf (8), Brian Brauer (8), William Schlaack (9), Lisa Bievenue (10), Chaya Sandler (10), John Scott (11), Jeff Stein (11)

Absent: Vacant (1), Randall Sandone (2), Dustin Yocum (4), Grant Brewer (9)

1. Call to Order – Brian Brauer called the meeting to order at 1:15
2. Guest Speaker: Meredith Moore, Sustainability Programs Coordinator
  - Meredith gave an overview of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment programs and the Illinois Climate Action Plan for 2020.
3. Public Comment
  - None
4. Review and Approval of Minutes
  - September
    - Motion to approve from Nicole. Second by Brent. No discussion. Unanimous approval.
5. Chair’s Remarks
  - Brian invited participants to join committees and considering a co-chair role. Most committees take an hour or so/month. APs voices are important, and we need eyes and ears in the community to show where we add value and where we can collaborate.
6. Announcements
  - None
7. Academic Senator Reports
8. Academic Senate Committee Reports
  - Admissions: Jeannette Elliott
    - Meeting at the end of October
  - Committees: Chaya Sandler
    - Meet 9/16. No new report
  - Elections and Credentials: Brian Farber, Brent West
    - Met recently and discussed timeline changes for student elections. Will be working on that through the year to see if they can be moved up.
  - Faculty and Academic Staff Benefits: Francis Thomas, Brent West
    - Federal government provide employers with an option to allow defer federal withholding. The University elected not do that as the taxes are still due on schedule.
    - Self-managed plan is now the called the Retirement Savings Plan. The plan is migrating to Voya and now includes a hybrid pension/401K plan. The deadline for option out is today.
  - Public Engagement and Outreach: Sarah Christensen, Lisa Bievenue
    - Met Sept 11
    - Two new public engagement staff in the Chancellor’s office.
    - Continuing to discuss how to reflect public engagement activities in a tenure process.
  - Senate Executive Committee (SEC): Brian Brauer & Brent West
    - The new mascot is the Kingfisher
  - University Statutes & Senate Procedures (USSP): Jeff Stein
    - Meeting this week
    - Items related to by-laws changes are underway.
    - No other significant AP activity at this time.
9. CAP Committee Reports
  - AP Development Fund (Open)
    - Need a chair
  - Ad Hoc Committee on Bylaws (Open)
    - Need a chair
  - Campus Administrative Manual Updates (Ann)
    - No report
  - Campus and University Committees
  - CAPE Awards Committee (Rich)
    - No report
  - Communications Committee (Lisa)
    - No report
  - Grievance Officer (John)
    - There will be closed session today
  - Ad Hoc Committee on Harassment (Mindy)
    - No report
    - Revisiting the committee progress and future actions
  - Outreach Committee (Allie)
    - Chancellor Jones will join next month
    - President Killeen will join in February
  - Officer Nominating Committee (Allie)
  - Procedures and Elections Committee (Allie)
    - District 1 and 9 have nominations to fill vacancies
    - District 11 did not have nominations and will be reopened
  - Public Safety Advisory Committee (Brian)
    - The committee will be reconstituted
  - Racism and Social Injustice (Pending OVCDI request)
    - Committee has been formed. Four working groups.
  - Special Events Advisory Committee (Brian)
    - - Reviewing request for small gatherings.
  - University Professional Personnel Advisory Committee (Brian)
    - Has not met but will be restarting.
10. Academic Human Resources Report Senior Associate Chancellor for Human Resources
  - Meeting with Chancellor about APDF is forthcoming.
  - New language about additional background check requirement for faculty being hired into tenured positions related to sexual harassment findings.
  - Systems level intimate relationships policy has been established that strictly prohibits relationships between faculty, staff, and undergraduate students.
  - Considerations about the staff expo and how to do that virtually.
11. Unfinished Business
  - Vacation Days
    - Some APs are losing many vacation days due to COVID. CAP appealed the 5-day roll over limit and requested more leniency. The concern was heard but not acted on.
  - COVID Concerns
    - State Dept of Public health is expecting COVID rollbacks for our region. The University testing program has kept local numbers low, but other parts of the region have higher positivity rates. An appeal has been made to exempt Champaign from COVID restriction rollbacks because of the proactive testing and low rate for our local. An announcement from the Governor is forthcoming.
    - Campus COVID testing will continue after November.
12. New Business
  - Influenza shots
    - Flu shots available on campus and at area hospitals.
    - AP expo. Need a chair to coordinate the CAP boot staffing.
    - Exploring interest in more coordination between Staff Advisory Council and CAP.
13. Closed Session was held.
  - Action on Grievance – No action. Requesting additional information from the Grievant
  - Election – motion to move these two candidates to the Chancellor for approval.
    - Jake Menz will be moved forward for District 9
    - Amber Munds will be move forward for district 1.
14. Adjournment – Adjourn at 2:52.
- Dates and Locations of CAP Monthly Meetings and CAP-Sponsored Events
  
  Date Location Notes and Other Events
  
  11/5 Virtual Chancellor Robert Jones
  
  12/3 Virtual

Date	Location	Notes and Other Events
11/5	Virtual	Chancellor Robert Jones
12/3	Virtual