Staff Senate

at Missouri State-West Plains

You are here: Home / Minutes / Staff Senate Meeting Minutes March 9, 2023

Staff Senate Meeting Minutes March 9, 2023

by

Date/Location:

March 9, 2023 – 10:30am via Zoom

In Attendance: Bryan Moore, Alexandra Graham, Sheila Barton, Mandy Collins, Trace Winfrey, Alyssa Collins, Trish Smith, Alex Cochran, Pam Tate, Mikala King, Yvonne Bowers, Barbie Mustion, Mike Scheidt, Joan Wright, Mel Steele, Christina Kerley, Cindy Bridges, Kelly Becker, Kris Brinkerhoff, Jennifer Walker, Heath Lair, Angela Marcak, Mark White, Krista Lair, Erica Puckett, Garland Barton, Sophia Skinner, Nancy Leeper, Deana Bell, Vickie Petkovic, Lauren Willis, and Donna Monticelli

Approval of Agenda – Motion to approve agenda, seconded, and motion carried

Approval of February Meeting Minutes – Motion to approve the February 9, 2023 meeting minutes, seconded, and motion carried

Chancellor’s Report

  • Budget: Continuing to work on it. 5% increase in pay raise a possibility for July, plus a pool of money for merit increases, but that’s tenuous, legislature and state appropriations looks to be approving a 7% increase in appropriations. However, because we didn’t meet enrollment goals, we are in a deficit for next year. We are encouraged to keep trying to help drive enrollment, especially with the international scholastic contest and the district music event. A townhall will likely be coming in mid-April to talk about budget. Most of the open positions have been frozen to try to mitigate the hole in our budget. Inflation and other costs are going up. Looking at tuition increases and common fee increase. Tuition increase about 5%

President’s Report (Bryan Moore)

  • New President Elect?
    • No nominations yet
  • Staff Senate President stipend?
    • In conversation with Dennis
  • Contribution to OZH mammography unit update
    • Making progress – OZH sent in a W-9, and once they are set up as a vendor in our system, the money will be sent. Expecting pictures to be taken, for publicity.

President Elect Report (Vickie Petkovic) – no report

Secretary Report (Kileene Collins) – not present

Treasurer Report (Alex Graham) – $1,990.39

Department Updates, Announcements, and Committee Updates/Reports

  • Committee Reports
    • Public Affairs Committee
      • Dear Staff Senate,

As you know, the Interscholastic Contest is scheduled for March 31st. The Public Affairs committee have invited 55 schools from the Southcentral Missouri and Northcentral Arkansas to participate in this academic competition. As new schools enroll, we predict 200+ students will attend. This year, we would like these students to experience our campus community and to learn about what we offer here. Therefore, we are planning on having a barbecue, information booths, and activities around campus before the award ceremony to give them opportunity to see some of the facilities as they interact with current students, staff and faculty.

We are reaching out asking for some help to ensure the event runs smoothly and students enjoy their visit. Below is the Sign-up Genius for your consideration:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D48ACA72EA3FEC07-interscholastic

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me or to any committee members (Jessica Barton, Barbara Caton, Lindsay Hill, Carla Neff, Alex Pinnon, David White, and Larry Noller).

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Ana Estrella

  • Departmental Reports
    • Human Resources (Alyssa Collins)
      • Paty Figueiredo has been appointed Head Athletics Coach for Women’s Volleyball.
      • GAP Update: Scot Scobee, director of human resources, will be facilitating a leadership workshop with the GAP team on Friday, March 10
      • Free Employee Wellness Programs:Employee Wellness is offering several free virtual programs this spring. Presentations include Nutrition Talks, Mercy Wellness, mental health sessions, and women’s health topics. Visit the Employee Wellness website for additional information. There will be an opportunity to win a gift card from Drago College Store.
      • Financial Education Workshops: Corebridge financial, formally AIG and one of Missouri State University’s 403(b) deferred compensation plan providers, would like to offer financial workshops to employees on the WP campus. If you are interested, please review the attached list of available workshops and email your top three preferred topics to Alyssa.
      • Employee Appreciation Luncheon: The annual employee awards ceremony will be from noon to 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 17, in the Magnolia Room at the West Plains Civic Center. All full-time faculty, full-time staff and part-time staff (non-students) are invited to attend. Please arrange for department coverage.
    • Workforce Development (Sheila Barton)
      • March 18 Painting class – Faux Stained Glass Barn Quilt. Seats are filling up fast.
      • Osha forklift training tomorrow.
      • Going to Couch next week
      • Employer Fair had a lot of big employers present – Caterpillar, Howell-Oregon, Arlee, etc…
    • UCP (Keri Elrod)
      • Lifeguards are needed. Lifeguard training will be March 17-18, April 22-23, May 20-21. Cost of the class is $25.00
    • University Advancement (Rachel Peterson)
    • IT (Kris Brinkerhoff)
      • New Grizzly Den coming. Will look more like the new My Missouri State. Ours goes live after the end of the semester

Upcoming Events & Important Dates: For a complete list of events please go to https://calendar.wp.missouristate.edu/

  • 3/10/23 Dedication ceremony for the new Looney Hall lecture room @ 1:30pm – to be named in honor of Dr. Marvin Fowler
  • 3/17/23 EE Appreciation Luncheon @ noon, in the Magnolia room at the WPCC
  • 3/24/23 District Music Competition on campus – utilizing Melton, Lybyer, and Looney

Next Meeting: April 13, 2023 at 10:30am via Zoom

Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 11:00am