STAFF ADVISORY COUNCIL

June 11, 2008 Minutes

Executive Committee:
Stephanie Panion, President, spanion@du.edu, x13464
Kathy Aliaga, Vice President, katherine.aliaga@du.edu, x13284
Grace Fisgus, Secretary, grace.fisgus@du.edu, x14049
Nicky Bruckhart, Treasurer, nbruckha@du.edu , x14241
Karl French, Webmaster, karl.french@du.edu, x12121

Members in attendance:
Kathy Aliaga, Facilities
Craig Bach, University Advancement
Nicky Bruckhart, Athletics & Recreation
Meaghan Burns, Human Resources
Ethan Crawford, Graduate School of Social Work
Jennifer Emmett, Bursar’s Office
Grace Fisgus, Denver Research Institute
Karl French, Office of Research & Sponsored Programs
Jason Kellermeyer, Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Tonnett Luedtke, Daniels College of Business
R.J. Mauro, Penrose Library
Tina Miller, University College
Marty Neary, DU Bookstore
Stephanie Panion, Graduate School of Social Work
Karen Paul-Massaoka, Morgridge College of Education
Renee Teixeira, Engineering and Computer Science

Meeting called to order at 12:05 pm.

1. May meeting minutes were approved as written.

2. Announcements
a. Treasurer’s Report
i. $7,374 is in the treasury.
ii. $82.35 was received from Cartridges for Kids.
iii. A $300 contribution was made from the Staff Benevolent Fund to the Timber
Dick Fund.
b. Cartridges for Kids: There is now a drop-off location in the College of Law, making 7
locations. New Schedule: Starting in September they will visit five locations each month
(the heaviest donation locations). Smaller pick-ups will be made every other month. No
pick-ups in July. They will pick up from 7 locations in June, then 5 in August.
c. SAC Award nominations: The deadline for nominations has been extended to
August 1 in order to get more nominations in those categories with very few nominations
to date. To date we have 2 Red & Gold, 1 Department, and 8 Staff award nominations.
There will also be nominations accepted for the SAC Member of the Year. The final flyer
will be done soon. Members are requested to circulate the flyer in their departments.
Winners are honored at Convocation; those nominated will get a certificate as well.
3. Old Business
a. Picnic.
i. The price of the meal will be $9.25.
ii. Jason circulated the cover of the booklet listing members/years of service.
 iii. There will be a collection of canned items for Food Bank of the Rockies. They
will provide containers.
iv. SAC members are requested to wear their SAC polo shirts.
4. New Business
a. SAC Representative Elections: Members serve for a two-year term on the Council. The
attendance list was passed that included the terms of each member, and members were
requested to take note of when their term expires. If it is set to expire this year, Stephanie
will e-mail the member to see if they will run again or if they want to find a replacement.
b. DU Book Club: Craig Woody suggested starting a staff book club to include faculty,
staff and students. There would be one meeting per month, with refreshments.. Send
Stephanie any ideas for this club. More information will be forthcoming.
c. SAC Minutes and Google: One member was concerned that attendees at the meetings
are listed in the minutes, and then their name shows up if anyone ‘Googles’ their name.
She requested that attendees not be listed. If necessary, we could have a separate version
of Minutes on the website without the names listed, however, it was noted that all
members are listed on the web site in order to provide contacts for staff so the name will
still show up on Google. After discussion, it was decided the names could stay. If
anyone has concerns, please e-mail Stephanie.
d. Battery recycling: A question was raised if SAC could handle recycling of batteries in
addition to the cartridges, cell phones, etc. After discussion, it was decided that
because of the chemicals involved and the issues with storing used batteries, SAC
would not pursue recycling of batteries. It was suggested the Sustainability Council
may handle recycling or provide information about it on their web site. Karl will bring it
up at the next Sustainability meeting. SAC will check whether there is an 800# we
could list so people have a resource for recycling used batteries.
e. The Sustainability Council is being encouraged by Vice Chancellor Woody to investigate
ways to save energy, electricity, gas, etc. Members can take suggestions back to their
departments. Discussion continued about ways to accomplish this, such as:
i. Flex scheduling: Some workers are shifting to a 4-day work week to save gas,
energy, etc. A question was raised whether SAC would be interested in writing a
proposal to have a 4-day work week. It was brought up that many departments
must work a 5-day week. It was decided that departments can make their own
decisions about the work week.
ii. Taking Light Rail and using the shuttle. One issue is that the shuttle runs only
every ½ hour from the station. A suggestion was made that it should pick up
every 15 minutes. Riders can call the Shuttle number for a special pick up,
however, they do not run in the summertime or on weekends, making taking
Light Rail to DU inconvenient in some cases.
iii. Dress down days during the summer so air conditioning could be reduced.
Stephanie said the Deans will likely make the final decisions. SAC cannot make
a proposal for 4-day work weeks or dress down days.
iv. A survey could be put on the Sustainability web site to get suggestions
regarding ways to save energy. Karl invited members of SAC to attend the next
Sustainability Council meeting if they are interested.
v. Karl will e-mail the Chair of the Sustainability Council listing these suggestions.
He will provide the date of the next meeting for those interested in attending. If
SAC members have any additional suggestions, they should e-mail Stephanie
with their ideas and she will forward them on to the Sustainability committee.
f. Increase in pay for work studies. This is to level the playing field regarding hours and
pay per hour. The pay scale for work study assistants was discussed. Jason circulated a
pay comparison sheet. The issue is that in some cases the pay would be more than some
 staff make. It was noted work studies can work only 6 hours a week so they work only
until they use up their award. Some work studies are required to work more hours at less
pay per hour to use up their award. If you have questions, contact Financial Aid.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:50.

The next meeting will be held July 9, 2008 in the DuPont Room, Mary Reed.

Respectfully submitted,

Grace Fisgus, Secretary