Staff Council Meeting Minutes
November 16, 2006

I.	Guest Presentation by Chris Andersoni
Chris Anderson, Executive Director of Educational Opportunity and
Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity provided
a presentation about the recent Michigan Tech Climate Survey. The full
Climate Survey report is expected to be available to the campus community
on December 1. Highlights included:

 -Over 40% of the campus community responded-this is an excellent response rate.
 -The committee has identified five categories of response and recommendations:

University Communications
 -Articulate the message of diversity and its importance to Michigan Tech frequently into literature

Definition of Diversity
 -What is it? Diversity has both visible and invisible aspects. We need
 to clarify and expand our definition of diversity.

Recruitment and Retention (faculty, staff, and students)
 -Should form a "job pool" with other area employers to help accommodate spouse/partner hires
 -Make diversity a priority in "critical" areas like counseling services (others listed in report)

Additional dialogue and training to improve the campus climate
 -Implement a training for supervisors
 -Clarify performance review expectations for all employees
 -Incorporate diversity into unit strategic plans
 -Include diversity in staff development
 -Add diversity skills as desirable in job descriptions
 -Expand Martin Luther King, Jr. day/week celebrations
 -Have a campus "diversity award"

Work environment and space issues
 -Need more campus-wide dialogue
 -People indicated support for diversity, but that they are mostly focused
 on their immediate work environment -Recommend regular focus groups to
 focus on work environment issues -Encourage all areas to communicate
 inclusively through images, symbols, magazines, etc.

II. Call to Order Chair Becky Christianson called the meeting to order
at 12:36 pm.

III. Members Present
Members present:  Bev Auel, Becky Christianson, Diane Garrow, 
Peggy Gorton, Rob Greehoe, and Peter Larsen.

IV. New Business
a) Family Fun Day 2007: Peter Larsen reported that the Family Fun
Day group (Pete, Rob Bishop, and Rob Greenhoe) have met with Ramona and
begun planning for next year's event. A "save the date" announcement has
been sent to Tech Today, along with a request for prizes. More information
will be available early in 2007. Family Fun Day will be March 10, 2007.

b) Rob Greenhoe asked if there was any chance we could have the
Staff Council/MUB campus calendars out earlier in the year, as he noted
many departments are already planning for the 2007-08 year. Becky said
she would talk to Arlene to see what kind of timeline might be possible.

V. Old Business
a) Becky announced that future Presidential Open Forum dates have
been set: December 12, January 25, and March 22. All will be held from
2-4 pm in the MUB.

b) Staff Making a Difference Awards update: The awards reception
was held Wednesday, November 8, 2006 from 3:00-5:00 pm. It was a small
reception but was very nice. Awardees are recognized on the Staff
Council website.

c) Becky reminded us of the scheduled 2007 meeting dates:
- Thursday, January 18, MUB 105A: This will be an organizational meeting
  and a discussion of Staff Council's future activities.
- Thursday, February 15, MUB Alumni B
- Thursday, March 15, MUB Alumni B
- Thursday, April 19 (room to be determined)
- Thursday, May 17, MUB Alumni B
- Thursday, June 21, MUB Alumni B

d) Counseling services was suggested as a possible area to ask for a
   guest presentation in 2007.

e) Inclement Weather Policy subcommittee update: An announcement from
Ellen appeared in Tech Today reminding all supervisors and employees to
be flexible with inclement weather needs. The subcommittee (Pete, Rob
Bishop, Bev, and Peggy) is going to investigate if other universities or
public schools have specific criteria that they use when making weather
related decisions. This information will be presented to Ellen.

f) Ombuds Search Committee report: Rob Bishop was not available for an update.

VI. Finance Report
Bev reported that the $9500 budget has been loaded. Current expenses
of $843.35 and other open encumbrances bring our available balance
to 8176.68.

VII. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 12:51 pm.
Minutes submitted by:  Peter Larsen, Secretary