November 2007 Meeting minutes

Minutes of the Pleasantville/Briarcliff

Administrative Staff Council Meeting

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Butcher Suite, Kessel Campus Center, Pleasantville

Announcements:

* Community Meeting today Wednesday, 11/07/07 at 12:20 PM Gottesman Room

* Tools for Radical Democracy 11/08/07 at 7 PM Gottesman Room

* National Career Development Month, Co-op Career Services M – F Programming. All are welcome.

* Looking for speakers for the Council calendar.  Upcoming guests include: Dean Lisa in December,  Aisha Moyola, Government and Community Relations in January and President Friedman in February.  We are still looking to fill the calendar, so please contact Peggy with suggestions.

Treasurer’s Report:

*  There are no changes this month.

Committee Report:

* Benefits Committee – Fran defers to Michele Russo.

* Middle States Representative – Karen Desantis updated the council on the progress.  The meeting will be held this Friday (11/09/09)    Those who are interested in participating in the group are encouraged to contact Karen at kdesantis@pace.edu

* Faculty Council Representative – Karen Desantis reported on the Joint Faculty Council Meeting held this Friday 9/9/07 to discuss faculty handbook.  Board of Trustees asked for 3 individuals but only Marie Werner’s name will be submitted as faculty felt that she is the best candidate.  Council has motioned to remove the 1-800 number.   President Friedman was present.  There was a motion for there to be a Westchester Vice-President.  Ad-hoc committee formed to examine what the position would be, what would the salary would be, what the reporting structure would be.  Report to be submitted in February. Rubina Schepp (VP Marketing and Communications) reported on current enrollment (2,018).  We have met our enrollment goals this semester.  The new view book is out.  All campuses are prominently showcased.  Registration procedure revision.  Provost Brackett spoke on ways to retain students to bring down the amount our students know.  Pace Fulbright’s total 8 this year, more than Georgetown.  Karen will link material to the minutes with the.  SGA President spoke.  Organizations will have their own web pages.  SGA will be naming the rest of the campus roads to help people navigate the campus.  Concerns that there is no School of Education Dean and that there are students who may not graduate with a permanent Dean.  Faculty tone can help retain or lose a student, so it is important to be positive.

* A staff member asked that is the issue of immunization records come up?  Many students are complaining of roadblocks.  There has been confusion between the MMR and Meningitis waivers.  Discussion about health confidentiality took place.     Several staff expressed concern about process issues and lack of human resources.  Michele responded with information about number of unfrozen positions (currently 66) and the process by which positions are unfrozen. 

* Service Committee – Dan Botting reminded has been in touch with CLOUT.  We will be providing support for the CLOUT toy drive.  (Insert web site) We are looking for people to donate supplies and we are looking for drop-off points for people to be able to drop those toys.  Volunteers came forward including, Elaine-Kessel, Michelle- Woodward, Karen – Library, Aisha-Law School.  Any questions contact Dan Botting at dbotting@pace.edu

New Business:

Guest Speaker: Michele Russo, Administrative Staff Council Web-page

November Open Enrollments - 11/27- 12/10  (for Life Insurance, Dental and Flex-spending)

* Email communication

* Staff will be able to retrieve forms on line on HR page

* Flex-spending will be for a short session– 1/1- 6/30 coverage

July Open Enrollment – July 1

* The university will now have open enrollment in July, rather than in the winter

* Health Insurance changes

* Dental changes

* Flexible spending changes

Flex Spending

* Reimburse medical and dependant care

* Checks on a semi-weekly basis

* Debit-card system where you swipe the card rather than be reimbursed

* If you have over calculate we now have a grace period until 3/31.

* Reimbursement can be direct deposited if you decide.

* Short plan year max $2500, least $100

Dental

* Dental cost increases POS 4%  Delta 6%

Oxford Issues

* Vision: Oxford:  Examine reimbursement $50 (every year) Glasses $70 (every 24 months)  General Vision (www.generalvision.com) is also a part of Oxford:  Free eye exam (every 24 months) contacts or glasses up to $150 (every 24 months) 

* EKG coverage:  If your doctor gives you an EKG as part of you regular exam it will be rejected.  If you have a health condition, it is pre-op, or if you take certain medications it may be covered.

* Labs:  Oxford now contracts with Lap Corp, instead of Qwest.  If you are looking for a location you can look it up at www.labcorp.com  if you are in an in network, you are not held responsible, out of network, you need to make sure it is a LapCorp.

Prescription

* Change of tier system from cost of medication rather than by generic, etc.

* Monitoring this very closely

* Pharmacy Manager system

* Look at Tiers and possibly enter a 4th tier

Next Council Meeting will be held at 8:30 AM on December 5, 2007 in Butcher Suite