THE ADVISORY COUNCIL ON ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY

 

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING

SEPTEMBER 9, 2004

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:  Roger Hartley (F), Bobbi Raub (F), Donald Caccamise (for Bernhard Leinauer) (F), Elliott Willman (F), Tina Byford (P), Maureen Camunez (P), William Glenn (P), Norma Ledesma (P), Tim Nesbitt (P), Viola McCormick (C), Christie Padilla (C), Ida Quinones (C), Nellie Rosales (C), Paula Ross (C), Cathy Thomas (C), Linda S. Beavers (OLC), Bette Berry (for Ida Chavez) (OLC) and Phillip Wright (OLC).

 

ALTERNATES PRESENT:  Kelly Brooks, Tammy Anthony and Candy Guzie. 

 

VISITORS:  Diana Quintana, Patricia Quintana, Brenda Shannon and Mark Medina. 

 

Tim Nesbitt called the regular meeting of the Advisory Council on Administrative Policy (ACAP) to order at 3:00 p.m. in the Conference Room of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture.       

 

Tim called for additions or corrections to the minutes of the August ACAP meeting.  A correction was made to change the sentence “Robert also served on the Classified Personnel Grievance Board” to “Mark Medina also served on the Classified Personnel Grievance Board” (under Expiring Terms on ACAP Committees, page 4, paragraph 5).  A motion was then made and seconded to accept the minutes as corrected.  Motion passed. 

 

FRINGE BENEFITS COMMITTEE:  Cathy Thomas reported that the Fringe Benefits Committee had not met.   

 

INSURANCE COMMITTEE:  Tina Byford reported that the Insurance Committee met with Mercer on September 3rd to talk about how NMSU stands.  Tina distributed a handout showing the Cost of Claims per Employee/Retiree per Month for Fiscal Years 2001 through 2004.  The summary showed:

FY 2001    cost $362.37

FY 2002    cost $367.16

FY 2003    cost $437.72

FY 2004    cost $436.92. 

Costs this FY are on the average a few cents lower than last year.  The Insurance Committee is expecting further summary numbers soon. 

The Insurance Committee will be meeting on October 5th, November 8th and December 3rd – the first Friday of the month – at 11:30 in the Employee Health Center Conference Room. 

Our health insurance will be going out for bid again this Spring.  Tina asked that if we had any items that we would like considered for the bid to pass them on to the Committee. 

 

A Wellness Committee has been started on campus and Laurie McKee is the head of it.  There will be a Wellness Fair on campus in late October. 

 

COMPENSATION COMMITTEE:  Kelly Brooks reported that the Compensation Committee has not met.  At our last meeting we discussed the fact that Kelly’s term on the Compensation Committee was up and we needed to put someone on the Committee from the Professional Staff.  Kelly requested the Council to consider someone else.  Council again asked Kelly if she would serve another term and she was selected by acclimation.   

 

FACULTY SENATE:  ACAP needs a new Faculty Senate Liaison.  Tim read the job description for the Faculty Senate Liaison and any member of ACAP can be the Liaison.  Roger Harley volunteered to serve.  Roger was voted to be our new Faculty Senate Liaison by acclimation.     

 

ATHLETIC COUNCIL:  Phil Wright reported that the Athletic Council has not met.  He told Council that on September 18th the University would be dedicating the new Fulton Center.     

 

CAMPUS PLANNING:  Mark Medina gave the following report.  

The Campus Planning Committee met on September 1, 2004 in the OFS Conference Room at 3:30 p.m. 

Agenda items included:

1.                  Approval of a new water storage tank construction project.  The project was presented by Richard Kaselow.  The existing water storage tank is east of the University, across I-25.  The tank is thirty-tree years old.  The interior conditions of this tank are very poor and require a lot of repair to meet standards and current needs.  The plan is to build a new water tank with additional reservoir close to the existing tank.  They also plan to repair the old tank and use it too.  The anticipated cost is two million dollars.  Ben Woods will request the monies for this project from the upcoming General Obligation Bond in November.  The Committee approved this request. 

2.                  Approval for a phase of the Children’s Village Playground Project to be funded by a $100,000 Legislative appropriation steered by J. Paul Taylor.  The Committee approved this request. 

3.                  Approval of a new parking area for the Children’s Village on Williams Street near Sam Steele Way was presented.  Concerns were brought up about the safety of the children being dropped off and picked up in that area.  Vehicle’s turning east onto Williams Avenue from Sam Steele Way may be traveling to fast to slow down for the children.  There is also a bus stop in that area that may also cause pedestrian congestion.  Putting in speed bumps or putting 15 mps flashing lights were suggestions to slow the traffic.  An alternate suggestion was to utilize a drop off zone within the planned parking area next to the building and eliminate some of the space close to the building.  This item was tabled and will be researched further.  Information may be available at the next Campus Planning Meeting. 

4.                  Approval of Milton Hall Patio Level Restroom Renovation Project.  This is the patio area that can be entered from the west end of Milton Hall, up the stairwell or from the building entrances.  The primary purpose is to meet the ADA specifications.  This is part of the 1.4 million dollars for ADA upgrades.  The Committee approved this request. 

5.                  Approval of Locust Street Extension Project.  Rich Macrorie was to give this presentation but it was tables for future evaluation because the funds have been redirected at this time. 

6.                  Approval of the Mushroom Exhaust Unit that currently sits beside EC II.  The request is to move this exhaust system to the first floor of Hernandez Hall at the south end.  The concerns were noise factors, by products or emissions control.  The noise is minimal because of the limited operation of the system and so are the by products.  The Committee approved this request. 

Ben Woods asked if anyone had any concerns that they thought might need to be brought up at a future Campus Planning Committee Meeting.  A presentation or update was requested from Steven Lopez in reference to current and future parking plans on campus.  He acknowledged the concern and said he would make a presentation at the Committee’s request.  

 

ALCOHOL USE COMMITTEE:  No report. 

 

NAMING COMMITTEE:  Bobbi Raub reported that the Naming Committee had not met. 

 

BUDGET COMMITTEE.  Tim introduced Patricia Quintana to the Council.  Patricia serves as the NMSU Government Affairs Director.  Pat talked to us about things that are going on in Santa Fe and about 3.3 million dollars in new programs that will be presented at the next Legislative session.  Figures and rumors that we will hear will  change on a daily basis.  President Martin will be spending a great deal of time is Santa Fe during the up coming sessions.  Pat wants to keep the Council informed of what is going on in Santa Fe and suggested that if we have any questions that we can call or e-mail her office. 

One of the things that the Governor wants to happen is the elimination of CHE and the setting up of an advisory board with a Secretary of Education.  He also wants to restructure higher education and distance education and do assessments to find the strengths of the various universities and provide more funding for the strongest areas of each university across the state. 

This will be a 60-day session and the Governor has 21 days after the session ends to act on any proposed legislation. 

 

PARKING CITATION HEARING PANEL.  The panel has not met.   

 

ENERGY CONSERVATION COMMITTEE.  No report. 

 

CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY TASK FORCE.  The Committee has not met but a questionnaire should be coming out in October.   

 

ADMINISTRTATIVE COUNCIL AND REPORT FROM THE CHAIR.  The Executive Board will meet with President Martin at 11:00 on Friday, October 8th.  President Martin will meet with ACAP at our next meeting on Thursday, October 14th. 

 

OLD BUSINESS:  Election of Classified Voting Member to Replace Mark Medina.  Mark Medina has been promoted to a Professional position and needs to be replaced by with a Classified representative from the Alternate Classified ACAP members.  All the Alternates (Carla Casas, Annette Esqueda, Ann Nieto and Beatrice Pacheco) have agreed to service out his term if elected.  Council voted by paper ballot and selected Carla Casas to replace Mark as a voting member to the Council. 

 

NEW BUSINESS:  New Bi-Monthly Pay Check System.  Tina Byford talked to the Council about the new payroll system that will be started on January 1, 2005.  The new payroll system will be part of the Banner system that the University will be implementing with the new year.  All employees will be paid twice a month and a list of the pay periods can be found on the web pages. 

 

Policy Changes Approved by the Board of Regents.  Diana Quintana pass around and reviewed a handout listing policy manual changes that were approved by the Board of Regents in July.  Significant additions/revisions include:

            2.11 (ch. 2 pg. 11)  Auditors, Internal.  Clarification to reporting lines for the Office of Audit Services.

            2.15 (ch. 2 pg. 13)  College Budget Committee.  Policy establishing a budget committee for each college. 

            3.75 (ch. 3 pg. 15)  Personal Use.  New policy concerning cellular and/or mobile telephones. 

4.30 (ch. 4 pg. 20)  Hiring.  Policy statement covering “Dual Career Couples” and “Job Sharing”. 

5.15.40 (ch. 5 pg. 7)  Appointments.  Change term “Adjunct” to “Affiliated Faculty”. 

5.25 (ch.5 pg. 18)  Compensation.  Change in faculty compensation policy to provide more flexibility in the distribution of salary dollars.  (Does away with the base 10 dollars.)

7.04 (ch. 7 pg. 3)  Domestic Partners.  New policy establishing benefits for domestic partners. 

7.05 (ch 7 pg. 4)  Educational Opportunities for Employees and Their Families.  Addition to section “Recognition of All Employees Earning Degrees” to include full-time tenure track faculty. 

7.15  (ch. 7 pg. 8)  Insurance.  Change in coverage effective dates.  (Resulted from Banner changes.) 

 

Establishing a ReportLine/EhticsLine/Hotline for the University.  Brenda Shannon, Director of Audit Services passed around a handout regarding the Anonymous Reporting Program (Hotline) that will hopefully be implemented at NMSU. 

            The University hopes to obtain Executive Administration’s support in the creation of an externally managed hotline in order to help create and maintain an ethical workplace.  The proposed Ethics Policy will be introduced in Fall, 2004. 

            Organizations suffer tremendous costs as a result of occupational fraud and abuse.  It is estimated that the typical US organization loses 6% of its annual revenues to fraud and abuse.  Tips are the most common method for detecting fraud.  By going outside for the service for the hotline, it is hoped that people will feel more comfortable about calling and reporting problems and concerns.  Confidential reporting mechanisms reduce fraud losses significantly. 

            Hotlines are good for more than fraud.  Other hotline advantages include improved compliance with laws, regulations and institutional policies, identify serious issues early and reduce liability and demonstrate due diligence. 

            Brenda asked for an ACAP member to serve on their committee.  Bobbi Raub and Bill Glenn will serve as members on the committee. 

            ACAP requested that Brenda give her presentation on fraud and ethics in the workplace to ACAP.  Brenda agreed to give a presentation and a date and time will be determined and announced soon. 

 

Volunteers for Selecting the Robert’s Award Recipient.  Tim requested volunteers to serve with him as a selection committee for the Robert’s Award.  Bobbi Raub, Cathy Thomas, Paula Ross and Tim Nesbitt will serve as the selection committee. 

 

            Tim Nesbitt will serve on an Awards Committee with Diana Quintana’s office.  The Committee will develop guidelines for employee awards so that the process is consistent. 

 

With no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned. 

 

 

 

___________________________                              ________________________

Paula Ross, Secretary                                                          Norma Ledesma, Chairperson

 

 

The Council has approved these minutes. 

 

 

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NOTICE OF NEXT MEETING

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2004

Fulton Center

3:00 P.M.

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