The Professional Staff Association held a general meeting on Jan. 28, 1999, in room 1001 EC. Members present included Julie Tomsho, Harry Cooke, Bo Glenn, Sallie Neville, Anne Williams, Marian Baer, Doug Allen, LaDonna Goodson, Mike Fein, Jeremy Fisher, Karen Less, John Beall, Sue Asp, Sandie Loyer, Judy Barkley and Margaret Allen.

President Karen Less called the minutes to order. A motion to accept the minutes of the last meeting as e-mailed was approved.

Anne Williams reported on the work of the Executive Planning Commission. She said six task forces have been meeting. At the end of February, these task forces are expected to report. In March, they will present their findings to the entire commission. Harry Cooke suggested that the entire campus be made aware of the task force findings and recommendations before they are passed along to the full commission. This would give the entire campus a chance to provide feedback. Jeremy Fisher, who is leading this effort, said he would support such a procedure.

The group then discussed the need for better signage on campus and the lack of action on this matter. It was noted that there is a request for new signage funds in the capital budget request, but that it is unlikely to be funded because it does not rank very high on the list of requests. The amount of money being requested is in the neighborhood of $10,000 to $15,000. Margaret Allen suggested that rather than wait for the request to receive capital improvement funds from the county, the college pay for the signs out of operating funds. She said the cost could be spread out over two to three years if necessary. The PSA adopted a resolution calling on the administration to follow this plan to expedite the placement of signs on campus.

Sallie Neville reported on a staff development task force chaired by Dr. Charles White. She said the task force is considering recommending or requiring a certain number of professional development activities each year for all employees. These activities would be agreed upon by the employee and his/her supervisor each year and would be documented. The number/hours of professional development would vary depending on the classification of the employee. Sallie said she had also voiced her concern that any staff development plan be tied in with a career track, enabling employees to move up within the organization. She said this idea had not yet received support from the administration. A discussion followed about the nature of activities that would be counted.

Karen reported that she had requested in writing to Dr. Dunbar that the PSA have a representative on the hiring committee choosing the new director of human resources. However, she did not receive a response, and the hiring committee is now meeting. The group agreed to meet with the new HR director soon after he/she is hired to express our goals and priorities.

Karen also reported that she and Margaret had discussed with Linda Phillips the need to train at least one computer technician on Macintosh computers. She seemed open to this idea. Julie Tomsho said this was a priority, and a technician would be sent for training as soon as possible.

Karen also reported that the PSA's request for an Intranet page on the college server had been granted. Margaret volunteered to maintain this page. The group then discussed possible items to be included on this page. Doug Allen asked for e-mail notification when new items are posted.

Karen then introduced the topic of the newly formed N.C. Community College Instructor's Association and its efforts to lobby for higher salaries. The group appears to be making some headway. The PSA discussed the need to also have our voices heard during this term of the Legislature. The group approved a motion to send letters to Gov. Hunt, President Lancaster and legislative leaders asking that any salary increase approved for the community college faculty use the term "community college employees" rather than "community college faculty" to make sure that all employees share equally in the benefits. Margaret will draft this letter.

The group then discussed how to get performance pay from the county commissioners. Everyone agreed that at this point, our request did not appear to be going anywhere. The group voted to ask Dr. Dunbar for permission to address the county budget committee and the county board of commissioners regarding our request for performance pay.

Harry then discussed the Intellectual Property Subcommittee of the campus Computer Committee. He encouraged interested members to participate. He is serving on this subcommittee and agreed to represent the PSA.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

Submitted by,

Margaret Allen,

Secretary