AP Committee Meeting Minutes: Monday, March 17th, 2014

Present: Mike Kluczyk, Kristin Linscott, Amanda Pitts (for Elizabeth Lienau), Scott Richardson , John Rosick, Jennifer Schick, Jamie Schlagel, Josh Stickney, Linda Yuhas

Absent: Valerie Jones, Kaleb Klotz, Elizabeth Lienau, Sienna Mavima, Jim Seufert, Kim Walton

AP Salary Increase Letter: Linda Yuhas

1. There will be salary increases this year.
2. Linda provided handouts and walked us through what documentspreviously mailed to AP Staffwould henceforth be available on line, where and how to gain access to them. The timeline for salary increase letters will remain the same; the letters will go out the third week of July. The letters will be password protected, probably in the same way that direct deposit notifications are. This change will reap savings in staff time, paper supplies, and postage. Staff members who have questions or concerns should feel free to contact Linda.

Ruth Stegman - Assistant Dean, Director of the Office of Community Engagement

1. The purposes of the Office of Community Engagement (OCE) are to coordinate and facilitate partnerships between the university and the community, and to measure the effects of those partnerships. Such community engagement can occur at four levels: university-led initiatives, curricular/scholarly engagement (e.g. activities connected to a class or program of study), co-curricular engagement (e.g. through a club or organization), and independent, individual engagement (engagement that is not within the context of the individuals affiliation with the university). OCE works to coordinate and quantify these different initiatives.
2. A major benefit of these community engagements is that they can lead to high-impact experiences for students (e.g. internships, research projects, etc.), which are shown to improve retention and graduation rates, especially for minority students.
3. We considered ways in which AP Staff contribute to the enrichment of society and ways in which OCE might document, celebrate, and support those efforts.
4. Q: What are the goals for OCE?
   A: The first goal is to collect data regarding all the various university-community engagements. Other high priorities are to get explicit reference to high-impact practices into the university Strategic Plan, and to foster more interdisciplinary approaches to our civic engagements.

Reports of officers and subcommittees

1. Chair Jim Seufert (absent due to conflict)
2. Civil conduct Task Force: Executive Committee of the Academic Senate has approved the Collegiality Policy with little modification. It will be sent to the full UAS on March 21, and thence to the University Executive Committee. Jim received no substantive comments from AP staff.
3. Group representatives should have received an updated list of their group members and email addresses.
4. Election nominations will be open the day of the AP Luncheon earlier than it has been in the past.

Salary & Benefits Liaison Jennifer Schick

1. Dave Smith spoke at the last S&B Subcommittee meeting to summarize data from the open enrollment period and to recap last years total health care expenses.
2. State law requires an 80 (employer) / 20 (employee) cost-sharing ratio for health care expenses at public universities. This is a tricky target at which to shoot, since its impossible to know ahead of time what the total expenses will be. In designing our health insurance plans, Dave and his office hypothetically alter different variables that affect costscontributions by the university to employee HSAs, deductibles, co-insurance, employee contributions toward premiumsand run algorithms that will predict the outcome of those variations on the cost-sharing ratio.
3. Scott shed additional light on this issue. The university's Senior Management Team is satisfied with our effort and progress toward compliance with the law. Furthermore, Scott speculates that the next most probable variable to be changed to bring us closer to the 80/20 ratio is the elimination of the university's contribution to employee HSAs. Beyond that, the next variables to change would be higher deductibles and/or coinsurance (which would have a greater impact on individuals with a lot of health care expenses), or requiring an employee contribution toward insurance premiums (affecting everyone, but more advantageous for those with a lot of health care expenses). These further alterations (beyond elimination of the HSA contribution) are unlikely to be considered for next years plan.

Awards Liaison - Valerie Jones (absent due to conflict)

1. Nominations closed on March 14. Number of nominations is as follows:
   • Achievement: four
   • Team: three
   • Innovation: three
   • Commitment to students: six
   • Commitment to diversity: three
   • Community service: three
2. Website troubles may have discouraged participation. We are looking to make improvements for next year.

AP Luncheon - Jamie, Mike, Kristin

1. The Luncheon subcommittee met to discuss an e-invitation for the lunch, the program, decorations, and seating. Committee members will be assigned to tables to facilitate conversation and answer questions during the lunch. Questions regarding purchasing and reimbursement were clarified with Scott.
2. The Luncheon is scheduled for Thursday, April 17th, 11:45-1:00 in the Grand River Room (KC 2250).

AP Forum - John Rosick

1. Jim and John met during spring break to discuss the Forum and set the agenda for same. Members of the Senior Management Team will deliver brief reports, and these will be followed by a live Q&A session.
2. AP Survey results with respect to the Forum were or are being addressed. More emphasis will be placed on publicizing the event to try and draw a larger audience. Web casting is being considered as a means to engage the Grand Rapids, Holland, and Muskegon campuses.
3. The Forum is scheduled for Wednesday, May 7th, from 11:30-1:00 in the Grand River Room (KC 2250).

Adjourn. Next meeting: Monday, April 21st, 2:30, 2201 KC. Guest speaker: Jim Bachmeier, VP of Finance and Administration, speaking at 3:00 regarding university budgets and financial outlook.

Minutes submitted: Joshua Stickney