Administrators, Supervisors, and Professionals Council (ASP)—Northwest Florida State College
Meeting Minutes--7/21/11
The meeting was called to order by Pat Bennett at 2 PM.
Members Present: James Adams, Pat Bennett, Sylvia Bryan, Terry Comeau, Julie Cotton, Penny Cox, Greg Eller, Janice Henderson, Wanjiku Jackson, Sam Jones, Gregg Laird, Doug Picklap, Nancy Pyle, John Rickard, Bev Sandlin, Iris Strunc, Greg Tulenko, Mike VanDyke, Aimee Watts, K. C. Williams
Dr. Handy Information
1. Board of Trustees Meeting on 7/20/11
A. The Board approved an MOU with Okaloosa County for establishing a pet friendly
shelter during hurricanes. Sam Jones, Facilities Director, stated his objection to this
MOU. However, Dr. Handy explained that this is a law that came about as a result of
many deaths during Hurricane Katrina. Approximately 68 people, who were turned
away from shelters because they could not bring pets, died as a result. Federal
law now requires that pet shelters be established. The MOU requires that the County
return S Building classrooms that are used as pet shelters be returned to NWFSC in the
same state as they were when taken over.
B. Board of Trustees Policy Change- The BOT make a change to our policy on religious
holidays. The current policy was a bit broad and needed to be clarified. The policy
will now allow students who miss class for recognized religious holidays to complete
assignments and exams. Departments will have the first decision on what is a
recognized holiday with Dr. Handy being the final say in disputed department rulings.
C. Discussion about paying bad debts. The college wrote off approximately $75,000 in
bad debt this year. New Federal Regulations require colleges and universities to pay back PELL grants of students who receive the award and then leave the institution
before completing classes. The institutions are then responsible for trying to recoup
those loses. If the institutions can’t recoup the funds, they must write-off the losses.
Due to the bad economy, we are losing more funds than in the past. We have about a
50% increase in PELL’s at the college due to the poor economy. Our record is still good
with only a small percentage of our students defaulting. Defaulting on PELL does affect
a student’s credit record. When they return to college, they cannot receive any
financial aid until they repay the money owed.
D. In the executive session of the Board of Trustees meeting discussion was held on the
Dr. Richburg case. Next week’s hearing before an administrative law judge has been
cancelled at the request of both Dr. Richburg and the college. Both sides have agreed
to mediation next week. If an agreement can be reached in mediation there will be no
trial. If an agreement is not reached, Dr. Richburg will be deposed and the trial will
move forward. Dr. Richburg is scheduled to be deposed in Tallahassee on Thursday,
July 28th. Many NWFSC staff and Board of Trustee members have already
been deposed. Dr. Handy sees the mediation request as a good sign that this issue may
be settled soon.
2. Purchasing Institutional Memberships- In the past the College has only paid for
institutional memberships to professional organizations and for periodicals. There are
instances where individual memberships are cheaper and will allow us to receive
periodicals needed for classroom instruction. Dr. Handy is now handling all requests
individual memberships. Where these save funds for the college, he will approve the
individual membership. Currently all institutional memberships should be flowing
through Dr. Handy’s office. Over the past year Dr. Handy has eliminated unused
subscriptions and saved approximately $20,000. Janice Henderson stated that she will
compile a list of institutional and individual memberships that the LRC purchases and then
with Dr. Handy.
3. There has been a slight increase in student complaints to the President’s office. Dr.
Handy requests that all departments try to be as positive as possible with students and
try to handle complaints patiently.
Questions for Dr. Handy
Doug Picklap asked how many councils the college has and what representation SGA has. He also asked about the involvement of the community.
Answer: Executive Council, Faculty Council, Administrator, Supervisors, Professionals Council, and Staff Council. Several members of each council will meet together during Opening Week to discuss issues. The SGA president meets regularly with Dr. Handy and is a member of the ASP council. Dr. Handy, Dr. Goetsch, Julie Cotton, other staff members are members of numerous community organizations, including the EDC, Chambers of Commerce, and service clubs. These staff members share college information at the community meetings.
Dr. Handy’s final remarks:
Staff council members have asked to have a quarterly meeting with officers from each council. The first meeting will be during Opening Week.
Dr. Handy asked for input on the reaction to the summer schedule. Julie Cotton stated that our council members will be receiving a survey shortly to complete regarding summer hours. Dr. Handy would like data from all college departments on the summer schedule. Janice Henderson reported that the LRC was busier on Friday afternoons this summer.
Janice Henderson asked if we are tracking how busy departments that were open found Friday mornings. Dr. Handy said several departments are collecting data, but that there were few students and few phone calls during Friday mornings.
Sylvia Bryan asked if there is any consideration to going back to a full five-day schedule for year round. Dr. Handy responded that this is doubtful.
Other Council Business
Pat Bennett asked for a motion to approve minutes from the 3 previous meetings. Janice Henderson moved that the minutes be approved. Doug Picklap seconded. Motion carried.
Julie Cotton will send out the survey monkey survey on summer hours. All members were asked to complete the form.
Pat Bennett stated that the ASP Council website has a section for comments and suggestions. Members are encouraged to put any items for the agenda on that site. The items will be forwarded directly to Pat Bennett and Julie Cotton. Items can be submitted with your name or anonymously. Please post items at least one week prior to the meeting date.
Julie Cotton will ask Ron Walls to send out an automatic reminder 10 days before each meeting.
ASP Council meetings will be held the 3rd Thursday of each month.
Sylvia Bryan encouraged everyone to attend NWFSC’s summer production Big River this weekend.
Terry Comeau asked about the Staff Council meetings. It would be helpful if they would have a scheduled date each month so that supervisors could make sure to have office coverage that will allow their staff members to attend. Supervisors also need to know if all career service employees are included on staff council. This will be discussed at the joint meeting Opening Week
There was also discussion that some people are in both categories of faculty and administrator/supervisor. They would like the option of attending some faculty council meetings and would like to receive the faculty council agendas. We will discuss at the joint meeting during Opening Week.
Sylvia Bryan requested that we receive a list of all Councils and their meeting dates.
Nancy Murphy –Human Resources Issues
Nancy Murphy, Director, Human Resources joined the group to talk about HR issues and to answer questions. She addressed several areas:
1. Workers Comp. –
Emergency: Call 911. Send employee to nearest emergency room. Drug test is
standard procedure. Better to err on the side of caution than take a chance even if
the employee is saying he/she doesn’t need an ambulance.. Make sure to notify the President’s Office and John Rickard in Physical Plant that an ambulance is on the way.
Non-Emergency—If an employee is injured on the job and does not have symptoms immediately he/she can seek medical attention at a later date. The employee should go to HR and complete a Workers Comp. form and then go to Gulf Coast Immediate Care. Gulf Coast Immediate Care is contracted by the college to handle our Workers Comp. cases.
2. Terminating a part-time employee
At the end of the employee’s contract, tell them you are not renewing the contract.
Do not give a reason. It is appropriate to tell them that their services are no longer
needed and to thank them for their services. If the employee keeps pushing for an
answer, you can refer them to HR.
3. Accident Report and Incident Report
Accident reports are for use for employees. Incident reports are used for students
and non-employees. The forms are located on the new web-based forms site at
https://it.nwfsc.edu/forms/ Routing should be correct via the web, but you should
check to make sure the forms have been received by the appropriate people. Incident
reports go to PPF (Physical Plant and Facilities) It has been requested that labels be
added to the top if each form showing for whom they should be used. Penny Cox will
work with Greg Tulenko and Lisa Spikes to see if this can be done.
4. Part-time Hourly Contracts
Contracts for part time staff should be in HR every year by July 1 even if the budget is
not yet set. Adjustments for raises can be added after the budget is approved, but HR
cannot send out employment letters without a contract.
5. Health Insurance Changes
Current health insurance rates are in effect until December. Expect an 8% increase in
health insurance rates for next year. It is not expected that we will include vision and
dental as part of the package. It will be separate coverage. There is a possibility that
at some time we would leave the consortium for our health insurance, but not at this
time.
6. Changes in Taxes
Tax table changes every year. Social Security changed last year and will change again
this year.
7. Florida Retirement System
New law took effect July 1, 2011. HR will automatically deduct the 3% from pay
checks. No employee signature is needed since this is a state law. Some other parts of the new law are retirement is 33 years instead of 30 years and age 65 rather than age 62. If someone comes to NWFSC with prior years in the state retirement system, those years will be honored.
Around the Room
Bev Sandlin—CEDC is looking for enrollment. The enrollment is down, so please help get the word out. Many in the community think that our center is only for students and employees. They don’t realize that enrollment is open to anyone in the community. Children must be 2 ½ and independently toilet trained.
Wanjiku Jackson- Opening Week the Career Resource Center (CRC) will have an open house. Faculty and staff can come in and take career assessments and learn about the services of the CRC. CRC staff can assist students with specialized resumes if those are needed.
K. C. Williams—Art gallery is open during Big River and then will close until fall.
Nancy Pyle—New system called Who’s Next is being used in Niceville and FWB Student Services. It is computer software that tracks students who are waiting to be helped. It also shows if students are waiting to apply, waiting for advising, or waiting for other services.
Penny Cox—Opening Week will begin on Tues., August 16. Schedule and workshop descriptions will be sent out to All NWFSC shortly.
Julie Cotton—Leadership Institute will add a new course this fall—Business and Professional Development Training. This is a non-credit course similar to Prime Time courses. The course will include hard skills, soft skills, public speaking, customer service, etc. and is listed in the fall Schedule of Classes.
Mike VanDyke- Learning Technologies will be set for distance learning finals July 29 and July 30.
Next Meeting: The next ASP meeting will be held on August 18th during Opening Week. The meeting will begin at 2:30 due to Opening Week workshops. It will begin as a joint meeting with the Faculty Council, so that Dr. Handy and Dr. Jarrell can address both councils. After their remarks, the councils will meet separately in LRC 128 and LRC 131 for their business meetings.
Meeting was adjourned at 3 PM.
Submitted by Recorder, Penny Cox 7/25/11