Date: November 18, 2004
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: B-120

Members Present: William Ketchum (Chair), Bennie Sue Houck, Ann Lay, Brandon McLain (Secretary), David Stone, Sharon Hodge (Vice Chair), Peggy Romanowski, Fola Teru

Members Absent:, Linda Powell, Teresa Street, Amanda Canup, Edward Bulick, Randall Scarboro, Jeff Carter, Mary Ann Hill

Advisors Present: Dawn Ramsey

Advisors Absent: Mary Phillips

The meeting began at 10:00am and opened with a welcome to all present Staff Council members and Advisors. At this time, William Ketchum asked us to read over the October 27, 2004 minutes for approval. He then opened the floor for discussion and any for corrections to be made. After reviewing the minutes, a motion was made and seconded to accept the minutes as read.

The minutes were approved unanimously.

Sharon Hodge stated that the budget is $3,459.74.

William Ketchum asked Ann Lay about the $25 door prize for the upcoming Holiday Luncheon. Ann Lay will purchase a $25 gift certificate from Home Depot.

The first item discussed under old business was the election procedure modifications and an update from the sub-committee which includes Bennie, Ann and Ted. William Ketchum informed the Staff Council of the ballot box procedures. The ballot box will be located in Dean Barry Birckhead’s office and is secured with two padlocks on each end which require two separate keys. This will ensure only authorized members will be allowed to access entry of the ballot box. The box will first be used for collection of nominee forms by staff members. Secondly, it will be used to collect ballots. The sub-committee worked diligently on revising the recommendations for the voting process. The following is a revised version of the process.

• All voting ballots MUST be taken to Dean Barry Birckhead’s office (voting box) by deadline of 5:00 p.m. Ballots can not be faxed or emailed. No ballots will be accepted after deadline.

• NO write-in candidates accepted

• 3 persons to do counting (2 persons from the Election Committee and 1 person i.e. ex-officio and/or advisors (Mary Phillips or Dawn Ramsey)

• Designated Advisor will collect the ballots from the voting box. Each ballot will be checked against the IPED group of constituents. If there are any duplications, then the Advisor would contact the voter to verify which ballot would remain for counting.

• The process of counting the votes:
Two Election Committee members will do a blind count of each and every IPED group. The 3rd person will count the ballots again and compare to the original 2 member count. If all numbers agree, then this would be the final number of votes for each candidate.

If the 3rd person’s (the Advisor) tabulation did not agree with the 2 Election Committee members, then the other Advisor would be asked to tabulate for clarification.

David Stone asked what if nobody is nominated. William Ketchum stated that the Staff Council By-Laws allow Staff Council Members to appoint a representative from any category that is not represented on Staff Council. A discussion then began concerning challenges. The Staff Council then read over the Election Procedures as Sharon Hodge suggested that the challenge section should be revised. David Stone then asked what kind of problems have there been in the past. One of the problems in the past was nomination forms becoming lost or collected incorrectly. Peggy Romanowski decided to join the Election Procedure Sub-Committee. As the discussion continues David Stone suggests posting the list of nominees on the web site. Sharon Hodge then recommends that the Staff Council Election should be more publicized. David Stone declared that the history of the Staff Council and its accomplishments should be posted on the web site for all staff members viewing purposes. The Staff Council then agreed that nomination period should be extended from one week to two weeks. Because of the extension, the election procedures will be adjusted by one week.

Concerning birthday leave, William Ketchum will pose the following questions to the University System of Georgia Staff Council: Are other universities doing it and if so, how are they doing it?

Peggy Romanowski stated that there is a new 2004 campus map.

The only new business discussion was the housing office open house.

The next Staff Council meeting will be Thursday January 20, 2005 at 10:00am in room B-120.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:48am.