Attending:  Pam Houston (president), Thelma Simons, Jeannette Johnson, Jill Hummels, Ola Faucher, Kathy Stiers, Jason O'Connor, Dan Consolver, John Augusto, Ray Hummert, Danny Kaiser and Donna Hultine (secretary)

Minutes:  Minutes from the October 9, 2003 Executive Board meeting were approved.

Treasurer's Report:

No change.

President's Report

SenEx Meeting – The subject of men's basketball tickets was the top item.  They also discussed the proposed plan for course/instructor evaluations on-line.  The recommendation on the Global Awareness Program passed and will be forwarded on to University Council.  This proposal recommends 3 experiences available to all undergrads including an international experience.  Kaiser asked about the discussion on the co-curricular activities piece.   Houston indicated they were still figuring out ways to verify and quantify.  There is, or will be, a half time position from tuition enhancement to oversee this. Emphasis will be placed on student responsibility.

The Provost asked SenEx to review and  respond to a draft response to the Wagle Amendment.  Once finalized, it would come from the Board of Regents.

FacEx – working a lot with faculty compression issues and salary inequities.  Houston says it makes her wish we didn't look like such a diverse group so it would be easier to consider all of us together on these kinds of issues.  Faucher pointed out that for certain titles, national data exists regarding salaries, i.e., Director of Human Resources, Comptroller, Registrar, etc.

Hummert asked if there are established titles for unclassified staff or whether they're just made up.  Faucher advised that there are established titles but that working titles can vary.  The variation within titles on salary is wide.

In SenEx meeting with the Chancellor, selective versus qualified admissions was raised by the student body president.  The Chancellor pointed out this would take a change in state law but welcomed a dialogue about it.  The student body president is interested in a more selective process which would impact the quality of students and allow the university to say they'll only allow XX number of people.  It also affects rankings.

Other issues mentioned were faculty salary compression and health insurance – the Chancellor put it back in the lap of the Health Care Commission and Budget Director.  The Chancellor had a meeting with the Governor and pointed out that not only was the block grant not fully funded , "it's coming out of our hide."  The Governor didn't seem to realize this had happened.  J. Johnson pointed out that this governor is the only one in a long time who's knowledgeable about these issues. 

Members voiced frustration at the process, bringing this up to legislators got us no response because they view it as delegated to the Health Insurance Commission.

Ola will research the process.  She noted that 90,000 people participate in the state's health insurance program, not all state employees.  They keep adding groups to try to bring down costs.

The Chancellor also mentioned that he believes the Governor won't pit K-12 against higher education.

Meetings with Provost:  Houston meets with the Provost once a month and feels like she's not being productive since he's aware of health insurance and morale issues.

Consolver said that he hears a lot about "getting out there and telling the KU story". What is the KU story?  J. Johnson noted that Janet Murguia is working on a "marketing council" with a large committee and a consultant.  Hummels and J. Johnson have participated in this effort and will be in a better position at our next meeting to explain it but thought it might be a good topic for a future general meeting.  There are four teams on this project, State Funding Team – to enhance our reputation statewide – focus on legislators and news media and Jayhawks in Higher Education; Reputation and Benefits Team; Visual Identity Team; and Enhance Recruiting Team.

Consolver asked Houston to ask the Provost what we can do now to help with this effort.

Committee Reports: 

Governance and Representation –

Nesbitt-Daly advised that this committee has met with Janet Murguia.  They're moving forward with the Wichita State type plan.  Faucher will run a new sort on unclassified positions for Houston and Nesbitt-Daly.

Professional Development – Augusto reported that Diane Del Buono's "Yoga in the Workplace" session had 12 attendees.  He reminded us that "Humor in the Workplace" is coming up and will cost $800.

Classified Senate

No report.

Human Resources Report

Faucher is asking for those interested in being advisors for a small wellness activities group.

Adjourned 1:30 pm.