University Governance

Task Force on Employment Benefits

Minutes of Meeting of 29 October 2008

Governance Office Conference Room, Strong Hall

Present:  Campbell, R; Crowe, W. (chair); Grosshans, K.; Jansen, K.; Vannaman, M. (ex officio)   

Excused:  Elmer, S.; Nalbandian, J.

Crowe opened this third meeting of the task force at 1 pm.  He noted the unavoidable absence of two members because of other commitments.

The revised minutes of the meeting of 24 September 2008 were approved as distributed.

Crowe reported that Prof. Nalbandian had sent an e-mail to him in recent days to submit, with regret, his resignation from the group because of other, pressing commitments.  Crowe will report this information to Marianne Berry, chair of SenEx, and notify the Governance Office to update the roster for the group.  He then reported on a productive meeting that he had had with Prof. Berry, who encouraged the task force to prepare an interim report and seek time with SenEx to discuss possible next steps.

Crowe asked for discussion of the data from the “Great Colleges to Work For,” provided by Deb Teeter of the Office of Institutional Research and Planning, and distributed immediately following the previous meeting.  All understood that this study was not conducted by KU, did not survey University Support Staff or student employees, and that it is uncertain how much statistical validity can be ascribed to the data.  Still, all agreed that the evidence –both the numerical data and reports of free form comments—was helpful.   It was noted that the issue of tuition waivers did surface in the report.

Crowe noted that his interim e-mail report, based on informal contact with Prof.  Nancy Kinnersley, President of the Faculty Senate, about possible consideration by the Regents of some benefits issues related to tuition waivers was found to refer to a specific proposal unrelated to benefits generally.

Crowe restated his proposal that he draft an interim/progress report for University Governance, especially to sharpen discussion of approaches that might be taken going forward to ensure clear understanding between SenEx and the task force.   Members noted that, in any event, the evident downturn in the economy suggests that any proposals for action that would entail additional costs would almost certainly “not find traction.”  There was support for proposing a more considered, strategically focused, and professionally led, study—perhaps at the Regents level—in the same spirit, but with some different emphases, as the study done last year for the State of Kansas by the Hay Group.    The group noted that there are various sources of data—of potential relevance—that should be considered in such a study, including the workplace climate study done in recent times. [Note:  Crowe notes that the earliest that such a meeting can take place is likely to be February 3, 2009.]

                The meeting adjourned at 2 pm.  

                The next scheduled meeting of the task force is November 12th, 1-2 pm, in the Governance Office conference room.

Respectfully submitted:
WJ Crowe