AUBURN UNIVERSITY
ADMINISTRATIVE & PROFESSIONAL ASSEMBLY
August 2, 2000 - 1:00 PM (approved)
Dixon Conference Center Ballroom A
Page 1 of 3
Call to Order: Kevin Robinson, Chair, called the meeting to order at 1:04 P.M. Assembly members present were: Judy Allen, Ralph Foster, Kathy Harmon, Mickie Jacob,
Greg Lund, Michael Miller, Larry Moore, Kevin Robinson, Mary Lou Smith, and Burnette Tolbert, Joe Aderholt, John Asmuth, Janine Slick, Tom Sparrow, Anne Stewart, and Teresa Vest.
Review and Approval of Prior Minutes: The minutes from the May 3, 2000, Assembly meeting were reviewed. Foster made a motion to accept the minutes as written; second by Lund.
Officer Elections
Elections of officers for the 2000-2001 year were held. Elections were held for the positions of: Chair-Elect, Secretary, and three at-large members of the Executive Committee. Stacey Bozeman, Amy Douglas, and Mary Ann MacKenzie, all Senior Auditors from the Office of Internal Auditing were on hand to distribute ballots and count votes.
Nominees for Chair Elect were: Greg Lund; Miriam Brown Pepinsky; John Asmuth. A run off was held between Greg Lund and John Asmuth. Asmuth was elected as Chair-Elect.
Nominees for Secretary were: Kathy Harmon and Anne Smyth (Stewart). Harmon was elected as Secretary.
Nominees for the Executive Committee were: Kathryn Jarvis, Janine Slick, Mary Lou Smith, Greg Lund, and Ralph Foster. Slick and Lund were elected on the first ballot and a run-off was held between Smith and Foster. Foster was elected for the final position on the Executive Committee.
The Executive Committee for 2001 will be:
Chair Ellyn Hix
Chair Elect John Asmuth
Past-Chair Kevin Robinson
Secretary Kathy Harmon
At-Large Ralph Foster
At-Large Greg Lund
At-Large Janine Slick
A list of AP Committee Appointments for 2000/2001 year was distributed to the Assembly for their approval. Robinson pointed out that the nominations and elections committee, based upon a survey sent to all AP employees, selects candidates to fill vacancies on our AP standing committees. In the past the Assembly has waited until October to approve these appointments; however, the Executive Committee decided to vote on these today in order to allow these committees to meet beginning October 1. To wait until the fall meeting in October or possibly in November would cause a delay with these groups beginning their work.
Recommendations for Standing Committee Appointments are as follows:
Professional Development Welfare
Pat Deery Dennis Drake
Vern Russell Talitha Norris
Jessie Shealey Mary Ann Taylor-Sims
Grievance Calendar and Schedules
David Hodge Stacey Boseman
Ernestine Morris-Stinson Amy Douglass
Linda Sayers Kathy Harmon
Jan Thornton
Kim Trupp
Nominations and Elections
Pending action of the Executive Committee
Tom Sparrow made a motion to accept the list of nominees, seconded by Janine Slick. The assembly members signified acceptance by voicing an "aye". These appointees will start serving October 1, 2000.
Proposed Constitutional Amendment to Grievance Policy & Procedures: About one week prior to this meeting, Robinson had forwarded a copy of the Grievance committee report to all the assembly members for review. The grievance committee recommends taking Article 6 out of the AP constitution (Article 6 is the grievance policy) and maintaining this document outside the constitution. The rationale for this is that it would make it easier to update. As it stands now, if we wanted to make a change to the policy, we would have to call a constitutional meeting and have 3/5ths of all the AP employees in attendance approve the proposed change by vote. There have been some minor adjustments that the grievance committee has wanted to make at various times but they are not allowed to make those changes. Robinson pointed out that what he wanted to do today was get feedback from anyone attending today, especially the assembly members, as to what they think of the grievance committees proposal.
Ralph Foster, Chair of the Grievance Committee was on hand to answer questions and help clarify languages and procedures that would have to be followed should the AP employees desire to pursue this action. One item of interest is that if the policy is pulled from the constitution there will still be a three tier process. Meaning that any changes to the policy would have to be reviewed by the committee, made up of 15 AP employees, their recommendation would then be forwarded on the Executive Committee and then ultimately to the Assembly for final vote.
Robinson announced that he had asked for feedback from prior chairs and that he had heard from three; getting three different suggestions, going to say that he felt that we had four options:
1. Do nothing - leave the policy in the constitution
2. Add a modification clause to the constitution that would allow changes to be made to the policy. This action would require a constitutional meeting.
3. Re-write and leave the policy in the constitution.
4. Remove the policy from the constitution and insert the languages that the Grievance Committee has submitted in their proposal. This would vest the right to maintain it with the Grievance Committee and the assembly.
Foster addressed questions/concerns from Assembly members stating the committees rationale for their recommendations that would streamline the process. With employee relations ever changing the need for a more efficient method of handling grievances is needed to address issues with a faster response time. It was noted that there has not been a formal grievance filed with the Grievance Committee since 1997.
Kevin Robinson polled the assembly regarding their preference of the options listed above. The majority of preferred option 4.
AP Assembly Elections: During the first week of September elections for new assembly members will be held. The ballots for new Assembly members will be sent to all Administrative and Professional employees. Everyone is encouraged to vote and return your ballots. These will be your representatives and we need for you to be involved, help motivate your co-workers to return their completed ballots as well.
In closing, Robinson thanked members of the executive committee for their efforts and input support during this past year. Looking back over the past year we saw an increase in attendance at Assembly meetings. The Assembly heard from a wide variety of AU stakeholders including State Senator Mike Hubbard, President William Muse and Jimmy Samford, President Pro Tem of the Board of Trustees. The relationship with the other representative employee groups the Staff Council and the Faculty Senate is good. The combined efforts of these three groups on issues will be most beneficial and plans are underway concerning tuition assistance for spouses and dependants. AP Welfare Committee is looking at ways to have a leave bank established to assist employees in need of this. No doubt goals established for the coming year will continue to be met.
Robinson stated that plans are underway to have an orientation session with the newly elected Assembly members prior to the Fall 2000 meeting. This session will cover items such as the AP's history, role, prior accomplishments, and future objectives. As he pointed out, in the past, people are elected to the assembly and effectively start "green" at the fall assembly meeting. A meeting with all the elected members prior to the fall meeting will better prepare the members for their service to the Assembly..
Motion to adjourn made by Allen and seconded by Tolbert.
Respectfully submitted
Mickie Jacob