ADVISORY COUNCIL ON ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY
August 11, 2005
MEMBERS PRESENT: Kurt Anderson (P), Tammy Anthony (P), Roseanne Bensley (alternate for
Maureen Camunez) (P), Dario Silva (P), Kelly Brooks (alternate for William
Glenn) (P), Norma Ledesma (P), Tim Nesbitt (P), Sandra Moreno (C), Jane Boykin
(C), Beatrice Pacheco (C), Tom Rubadeau (C), Nellie Rosales (C), Paula Ross
(C), Russell Hardy (Branch), Linda Beavers (alternate for Ida Chavez) (Branch)
and Phillip Wright (Non-Branch).
ALTERNATES PRESENT: Roseanne Bensley, Kelly Brooks, Linda Beavers, Genevieve Bauer, Steve
Hussman and Ida Quinones.
GUESTS: Jim Anthony (Fringe Benefits Committee).
The August meeting of the Advisory Council on
Administrative Policy (ACAP) was called to order at 3:00 p.m. in the Associates
Room of the Zuhl Library by Tim Nesbitt.
Tim called for additions or corrections to the
minutes of the July meeting. A motion
was made and seconded to accept the minutes as written. Motion carried.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Handouts of the following Committee reports were
e-mailed to ACAP members.
FRINGE BENEFITS: Jim Anthony reported that the
Fringe Benefits Committee has not met.
They will resume their normal monthly meetings starting August 17th.
BUDGET COMMITTEE: Maureen Camunez reported that the
Budget Committee has not met since our last ACAP meeting.
INSURANCE COMMITTEE: Tina Byford reported that the
Insurance Committee would begin meeting again in September.
COMPENSATION COMMITTEE: Kelly Brooks reported that the
Compensation Committee has not met.
OLD BUSINESS:
ETHIC POINTS. The Ethic Points issue will be tabled
until our next meeting in September.
GROSS PAY DISTRIBUTION. The gross
pay distribution issue was specifically discussed at the employee open forum on
August 3, 2005. Jennifer Taylor made a
presentation at that meeting that reflected the written explanation that was
presented to ACAP. Further discussion at
the current ACAP meeting occurred. It is
the conclusion of ACAP that concerns have been sufficiently explained. It is clear that managements response is that
the Banner system appropriately complies with payroll laws and therefore the
gross pay distribution methodology will be left as it is currently being handled.
MEMO TO PRESIDENT MARTIN REGARDING BRANCHES AND BROADBANDING. Tim handed out copies of a memo dated July 15 that he sent
to President Martin. The memo is as
follows:
The
following advisory items were identified for your consideration at the July 14,
2005 Advisory Council on Administrative Policy (ACAP) meeting.
1. It appears that there is a movement
within the realm of Higher Education in
2. Regarding Broadbanding, ACAP advises
that additional testing would be beneficial.
ACAP received a report from ICT that praised the benefits of the
system. ACAP membership agreed that the
Dona Ana Branch and the NMSU Library would be two excellent units in which to
further test Broadbanding.
As usual we stand appreciative of your support of
ACAP and it’s efforts to represent the staff here at NMSU.
NEW BUSINESS:
Open Forum. On August 3rd, NMSU held
the first of what is hoped will be several Open Forums in which President
Martin and other administrators talked and answered questions from
employees. Discussion followed regarding
the first Forum. Those attending the
Forum felt that more microphones were needed.
It was hard to hear sometimes, especially the questions being asked from
the floor. It was suggested that there
be a phone line or an e-mail address established so people who can’t be there
have a way to participate. It is hoped
that the next Forum can be held in the middle of October and it was the feeling
of the Council that many people are anxious for the next one. It was also mentioned that maybe ACAP might
be able to receive questions that people would like to have asked through our
webpage. ACAP recommends that potential
topics be identified and posted on the ACAP website prior to the forum.
Administrative Council Highlights. There was no
Administrative Council meeting.
Next Open Forum: The next Open Forum will probably be held
sometime in the middle of October.
Announcement of New Alternate Member.
Ida Quinones
has agreed to serve as our new Classified Alternate member.
AFSCME. ACAP has received several e-mails
to our webpage concerning a possible vote to unionize. People want to know how close we are to
having the issue come to a vote, who conducts the vote, who pays for the vote
and what will the dues be if the union is approved. Tim supplied copies of several emails to
Bruce Kite (NMSU legal council) to prompt a response to several questions
previously submitted to NMSU administration.
Copies of those same emails were supplied to ACAP members at the current
meeting.
Tim handed out a copy of a memo
from Vice President Ben Woods sent to All University Employees on August
11. The first paragraph of the e-mailed
memo welcomes everyone back for the new fall semester.
The remainder of the memo is as
follows:
As
you may be aware, there has been an ongoing effort for the past 12 months to
organize university employees for the purpose of union representation. At a recent employee meeting, some suggested
that the university restate its position with regard to these activities. It seems appropriate to do so, especially as
we begin a new academic year.
The
Board of Regents and the administration of
It
is important that all university employees are aware of their rights as
employees, as well as the rights available to union organizers to conduct their
business. This is an area that is
closely regulated and we want to ensure that all involved comply with all laws
and regulations.
Employees
of NMSU have the right to form, join or assist a labor organization for the
purpose of collective bargaining under provisions of the New Mexico Public
Employee Bargaining Act. Employees have
the legal right to sign a union authorization card, but also have the right not
to sign one. A union authorization card
is a legally binding document by which an employee relinquishes his/her right
of individual representation in the workplace in exchange for exclusive
representation by the union.
Provisions
of the N.M. Public Employee Bargaining Act allow unions to bargain in good
faith on wages, hours, terms and conditions of employment. However, there are limitations. Any agreement that requires the expenditure
of funds is contingent upon specific appropriation of funds by the Legislature
and the availability of funds. In
addition, the retirement programs included in the Educational Retirement Act
are exempt from bargaining.
The
following information is provided to assist our employees in responding to
contacts they may have with union organizers on campus.
1. Employees have the right to
organize and be free from reprisal, threats, force or promise of a benefit if
engaged in efforts to effect unionization.
2. Employees cannot be questioned
about their involvement with unions or how they plan to vote in a union
election.
3. Employers are prohibited from
laying off or refusing to heir employees in retaliation for engaging in labor
organizing efforts.
4. On-campus solicitation is governed
by NMSU policy (Section 3.92 of the NMSU Policy Manual, available online at http://www.nmsu.edu/manual/ , which requires prior
authorization for all organizations seeking permission to conduct activities on
campus. The Campus Activities Office is
the point of contact.
5. Employees may not conduct union
business on university time, and union representatives cannot conduct union
solicitation in university facilities or work areas during work hours. Union business and solicitation includes
soliciting union membership and/or attendance at union meetings. This constitutes personal business and is not
permitted during work hours on campus.
6. Employees are free to attend
meetings, discuss union issues or gather in the university setting to discuss
union matters during lunch, break times and all other non-working hours.
7. Employees may not use university
equipment to conduct union business or solicitation. This includes e-mail, the university’s mail
distribution system, telephones, copies, vehicles, etc.
8. Union flyers or literature may be
posted at university facilities in accordance with university policy regarding
the distribution of printed material (Section 3.63 of the NMSU Policy Manual).
It is important that managers,
supervisors and employees understand the rights and responsibilities of all
parties in this issue. If you have
questions regarding this matter, please contact Diana Quintana, Director of
Human Resources or Mack Adams, Assistant Director of Human Resources/Employee
Relations, at 646-2420.
Discussion
followed. Questions were asked at the
Open Forum about the union. Genevieve
Bauer offered to get the answers to the questions that were being asked. After additional discussion it was agreed
that we should comply with one of the suggestions that came from the August 3
open forum to post the questions and answers on a website maintained by both
NMSU and AFSCME. Michael Hites was
instructed by President Martin to complete the website.
Report From the Chair: Tim handed out the following
report.
Two major events occurred since our last meeting
that I think need to be presented to the membership of ACAP.
1. On August 3, 2005 ACAP Executive
Committee met with Dr. Peter Mcgrath and Dr. Sam Smith at the request of
President Martin. The purpose of the
meeting was to provide input to the President to these two former university
presidents. President Martin requested
that several groups meet with this team to provide a mechanism to gather input
to improve NMSU. The following items
were discussed.
a. ACAP’s purpose and mission was
explained.
b. A brief history of the past several
years was reviewed.
c. ACAP reviewed our goal to improve
communication.
d. The team asked for our advice to be
given to the President.
Continue an open forum to improve
communications.
Standardize
“advisory group” status, i.e. paid secretarial position
and a place
at the regents’ table.
Provide
leadership training focusing on training managers to manage.
2. On August 3, 2005 ACAP moderated
the first open forum. Some action items
for ACAP were identified.
a. Ensure that Administrative Council
Minutes are included in ACAP minutes for inclusion on our website.
b. Host/moderate future forums.
Other:
Phil Wright said that he could no
longer serve as our representative on Athletic Council because his second term
is ending. Bernhard Leinauer volunteered
to serve on Athletic Council and will resign from the Energy Task Force.
In
the near future we will vote on replacements for all the standing committees
that ACAP has representatives serving on and whose terms are expiring.
Our
website has many, many improvements.
Members were asked to visit the site and make any suggestions for
improvements or changes.
Our
by-laws need to be revised. Norma
Ledesma, Jane Boykin, Phil Wright and Paula Ross volunteered to serve as a
committee to revise the by-laws.
Discussion
followed on the importance of ACAP members to attend University functions such
as the Open Forum and the upcoming Convocation.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to send a request to
supervisors that they allow ACAP employees and encourage other employees to
attend such functions. ACAP members are
elected by their peers and should attend these functions as representatives of
other University employees.
Tim
announced that the airplane purchase has been scrubbed.
We
still have a Pistol Pete and he will be revealed sometime soon.
With
no other business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.
THE COUNCIL HAS NOT APPROVED THESE MINUTES.
Paula Ross, Secretary
Tim Nesbitt, Chair