University Advisory Council at Western Carolina University
Home | Contact | Western Home
 
 

Home
Mission
Meeting schedule
Minutes
Reports
History
Submit a concern
 
 

2001-2002 Annual Report
Submitted by Robert L. Orr, Chair
 

Introduction

The University Advisory Council (UAC) was created to promote the identification, discussion and resolution of issues affecting all constituencies at Western Carolina University. During its second year of existence, the UAC impacted the entire campus community and led the way in strengthening the exchange of ideas, concerns, actions and activities between all governance organizations.

The issues covered in 2001-2002 include:

    • university policy on student academic probation and suspension
    • university policy on the academic appeals process
    • student retention
    • faculty and staff benefits
    • conflict resolution
    • leadership development
    • parking
    • student discount cards
    • Western Carolina University's strategic vision, and
    • the campus shuttle service.

In addition, the Council refined its purpose and function while internally examining the officer election process, redefining the Leadership Committee, refocusing the Communications Committee, fine-tuning the tracking and resolution of Council issues and reviewing the Executive Committee's member selection criteria.

Council Activities

September

    1. Created a solution for tracking and resolution of issues to ensure majority and minority opinions are properly presented to the Chancellor.

October

    1. Reviewed The 2001 Report of the Task Force on Academic Issues Related to Retention.
    2. Investigated the revised Health Services plan.
    3. Assisted the University Calendar Committee in gathering responses/reactions to closing the University for July 4th.
    4. Examined Western's recycling process, which resulted in the formation of the Social Security Task Force. (This group includes representatives from Facilities Management, the Computer Center, the Registrar’s Office, as well as students.)

November

    1. Examined the Student Academic Appeals Procedure, since the Student Handbook, the Faculty Handbook and the University Catalog each listed a different set of procedures.

December and January

    1. Revised the UAC election process.
    2. Reviewed the student appeals and academic suspension process.
    3. Assisted the Staff Forum by supporting its recommendation for a campus beautification event.
    4. In addition, the Leadership Committee was extremely active during this period, refining its mission, planning several leadership events, arranging guest presentations and planning a leadership retreat.

February

    1. Student Government representatives presented the Student Discount Cards.
    2. Assisted in promoting that the campus shuttle service is for faculty and staff, as well as students.
    3. Reviewed the revised UAC officer election process.
    4. Casey Hurley, Chair of the Faculty Senate, briefed the UAC on their restructuring efforts, collegial review process and the faculty's response to the report from the Task Force on Academic Retention.

March

    1. Welcomed Clifton Metcalf, Vice Chancellor for Advancement and External Affairs.
    2. Supported the Staff Forum's recommendation to place plans for a campus beautification day on hold due to budget concerns.
    3. Chancellor Bardo shared retention information from The Pappas Consulting Group, Inc. which identified three areas of concern: advising, housing and student life.
    4. The Chancellor also asked the University Advisory Council to help educate the campus community as to how building and renovation projects can continue while positions are being eliminated.
    5. Moved to adopt the proposed officer election procedures.

April

    1. Welcomed Dr. Thomas Franke, Western's first Chief Information Officer.
    2. Viewed a presentation by Human Resources on the Office of State Personnel's Career Banding.
    3. The Executive Committee was asked to examine the Communication Committee's role, purpose and structure. The Communications Committee will remain in place, but meet on an as needed basis (probably 1-3 times per year). Also, Debie Connelly will invite the communications officers from each university governance organization to be part of the committee.

May

    1. Reviewed the Strategic Vision document created by the University's Strategic Planning Task Force.
    2. The Executive Committee recommended to change its membership election process. The proposed change facilitates the interchange of ideas between constituencies and provides the various governance organizations greater input into the Executive Committee.
    3. Elected the following members to serve as officers for the 2002-2003 academic year: Chairperson - Nancy Dillard, Vice Chairperson - Tori Ellison, Secretary - Chris Hall, Leadership Chairperson - Kathy Wong and Communications Chairperson - Debie Connelly.

Committee Reports

Leadership Committee

In concert with the Department of Human Resources, the UAC Leadership Committee assisted with recruitment efforts and the introduction of the Leadership Institute. The Leadership Committee also developed a mission statement including campus-wide leadership values that exemplify the philosophy and standards set by the committee in regard to leadership development.

On November 27th, Development Dimensions International (DDI) presented a teleconference for faculty/staff interested in management and leadership principles. About a dozen attendees had a lively dialogue with staff from DDI who shared their philosophy, outlined benefits of their version of management development and defined possible next steps for Western's Leadership Institute participants.

Since the committee is relatively new, there seemed a real need to redefine their role/responsibilities to all constituencies in planning further activities for the year beyond the Leadership Institute. On February 5, Bruce Berger, a faculty member in the Marketing & Business Law Department of the College of Business, did a half-day visioning workshop for the committee, the UAC Executive committee and invited guests. The workshop's purpose was to more clearly define the committee’s strengths, weaknesses, alignment with the organization, goals/objectives and next steps. Eighteen participants focused on leadership development and the committee’s role in fostering effective leadership within its constituencies (Administration, Faculty, Staff & Students). The information gleaned from the workshop was used to formulate a plan that was presented to the Executive Council in order to solicit support for a needs analysis, as well as for other ideas generated at the planning session.

A needs analysis is being developed and refined with input from Institutional Planning and the Educational Leadership program. Using information garnered from the needs analysis, supplemented by an open forum, the committee will develop a 1-2 year plan for activities to be conducted and/or sponsored by the Leadership Committee.

Communications Committee

At the beginning of the year, the Communications Committee met on a monthly basis to ensure the mechanisms put in place during the first two years of the organization were working properly. The group also evaluated communication channels already established–the university governance web site, the UAC newsletter and other constituency newsletters.

A newsletter will be published twice a year, once in the fall to update all of the groups as to what happened during the summer and what plans, ideas and problems the UAC will assist with during the year. The spring issue will summarize UAC accomplishments.

The committee recommended that its membership be refined to include the communication officer from each constituency. They can relay information both ways, to and from each of the groups and would have a system in place to disseminate information immediately if the issue warranted. The committee will only meet once a quarter unless otherwise needed.

Health Care Committee

Initial analysis of the health insurance enrollment changes from October, November and December of 2001 indicate changes in coverage are occurring among all employees instead of clustering among the lowest salary grades as had been suspected. After meeting with Peg Shafer from Western's Human Resources office, the committee gained a better understanding about why changes in health coverage are not occurring as initially expected.

Peg Shafer provided some insights reminding the committee that the lack of wholesale changes did not indicate people had not considered dropping or altering their coverage. Rather, the lack of large numbers of altered enrollments was due to a complicated set of factors including a lack of expertise concerning health care issues, a lack of time to actually investigate alternatives, a two month wait to obtain guaranteed outside health coverage and others. Employees with Family Coverage actually saw a decline in their incomes, $625 cost of living increase - $1,011.84 increase in health insurance premium for the year. Western's benefits package is harming the institution's ability to recruit new faculty and, over the long-term, will also impact the ability to recruit new staff employees, especially in high tech fields. The Committee is planning to hold several events to give the campus community opportunities to exchange ideas concerning health benefits issues.

Social Security Task Force

The Social Security Task Force was formed to address concerns about the disposal of documents containing social security information. There is no current policy regarding the handling, distribution and shredding of documents containing social security numbers. Recognizing this is a University-wide concern; the Staff Forum passed the issue to the University Advisory Council for action.

The University Advisory Council formed a task force in the fall of 2001 to better shape the issue and to recommend solutions. The Social Security Task Force has researched disposal and privacy issues and continues to examine whether more documents are being printed containing social security information than necessary. In addition, they are reviewing examples from other universities and various departmental policies regarding the handling of this type of information.

Conclusion

The University Advisory Council has worked closely with all governance organizations. The Council formed strong bonds with Student Government through the sharing of information and assistance on projects such as the Campus Shuttle Service and the Student Discount Card. Revising the student appeals and suspension policies gave the UAC an opportunity to work closely with the Faculty Senate. Interaction regarding health benefits, as well as the Social Security Task Force have created quality dialog and cooperation between the Staff Forum and the UAC. An increased amount of communication between these diverse groups is developing and redefining relationships. The result of which is a solid governance foundation based upon mutual respect and a collaborative spirit.
     
     
 
Copyright © 2005 Western Carolina University