NORTHEASTERN STATE UNIVERSITY
Minutes of Faculty Council Meeting
Friday, December 8, 2006

A.  Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by President John Yeutter in SL129.  There was ITV access at Muskogee, Broken Arrow and Tahlequah.

Council Members in attendance: Harriett Hobbs, (Library), Rick Matzen (Science & Health Professions), John Milbauer (Liberal Arts), David Scott (Liberal Arts), Dan Sisk (Science & Health Professions), Denise Deason-Toyne (Business & Technology), Gary Wickham (for Alan McKee, Optometry).

Council Members in attendance in Broken Arrow: Mayrene Bentley (Liberal Arts), Pam Christol (Science & Health Professions), Pamela Louderback (Library), Joan Wipf (Education)

Council Members in attendance in Muskogee: Joyce Van Nostrand (Muskogee)

Council Officers in attendance:  John Diamantopoulos (Vice President), Linda West (Secretary/Treasurer), John Yeutter (President).

Guests:   Kim Cherry (VP Administration)

Invited Presentations
 [Council will set aside time at the first of each meeting to visit with President Williams, VP Academic Affairs Bigbee and/or VP Administration Cherry should they be able to attend.]

Vice President Cherry addressed the group.  She addressed the document submitted by Yeutter about added benefits for NSU Faculty that would not cost the University.  See document: NSU Employee BenefitsNov2006.pdf
1.  Flexible Spending Accounts.  There is now a longer grace period for using these accounts.  The new rules give employees 60 days to spend and 90 days to reimburse past the first of the year.

2. and 3.  Roth 403(b) and 457 Choices.  Yeutter will help VP Cherry look at both of these new changes.

4.  High Deductible Health Plans and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)  VP Cherry noted that several groups are looking at health insurance now, including OSEEGIB and our group of colleges.  She noted that our dependent payments are out of line and they are trying to work with OSEEGIB to get some answers.  There was discussion of OU's self funding and then change to Aetna.  OU is developing an RFP and all the state groups may join them.  There is a Regional Business Officers Group Insurance Committee that will look at the issue in January.  We have a member on the statewide task force, Sue Catron.  Also, Gary Wickham remains on the Regionals committee.  We will be getting information from these groups. It is a nation wide problem.  We will be looking at the best plan and types of plans available. 

At a State Business Officers meeting, they discussed starting to compare dependent and employee fee waivers across the board to bring them into line.

There was a question about an employee receiving additional money if they elect not to carry the University insurance plan.  There are a lot of sides to this question since we want to provide insurance.  It is not under consideration at this time.

A. Committees and Standing Reports
     1. Minutes of 11/01/06 meeting. 
Minutes of the November meeting were reviewed and the list of members present was corrected.  Christol moved to approve the minutes as corrected, it was seconded and the motion passed.

    2.  Spending Report
We spent $20 for phone service and $55 for travel last month.  There is $4,300 left in the budget.

B . New Business
    1.  Possible Community Forum with Tom Beavers of OTRS
   
       UCO has asked Tom Beavers to speak to them.  We could co-sponsor an event with the local OEA group to get area teachers to attend.  There was discussion of whether to hold the event at the Armory or the Net Auditorium.  We could issue press releases about the problem in advance.  Yeutter will work on it.
   
      
C.  Old Business

    1.  Tenure Timing

          There has been no chance to talk to VP Bigbee about this.  VP Bigbee had noted that there is confusion about the timing.  There have been different terms written into some contracts.  Some faculty have been hired with the first year probationary and not counting toward tenure.  There was discussion of having written notification of when actions are taken.  The process is secret until the end according to the RUSO manual.  There were questions about when Instructors on temporary contracts move to permanent status.  There are different practices across campus about the first year being tenure track or not.

    2.  Employee Benefits
          Covered by VP Cherry, see above.

    3.  Health Care Costs
          See VP Cherry's comments above.

          There was more discussion of health care costs.  Wickham can get a breakdown of costs and outlay per school.  The Regional Insurance Committee got a good deal on life insurance during their study in 2004/2005.  The committee will be looking into health insurance this year.

          There was discussion of HealthChoice and covered benefits.  HealthChoice does not use cost containment features.  This could be a reason our premiums are so high.  There is still speculation about the relationship between OSEEGIB and Harrington Benefits.

    4.  Printed Schedules

          We need to know where we stand on this.  The online version is current.  The printed version is used for recruiting.  We recommend that cost measures be explored:  reduce the number of printed copies, update the map, and sell advertising.

D. Other Business
      
       1.  Bentley asked that we pursue the question about employees opting out of University paid insurance and receiving money instead.  The Council decided to put the issue back on the table.

E.  Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 4:25 p.m.

Next meeting, Friday, February 2, 2007, 3:00 p.m.

Submitted by Linda West, Secretary-Treasurer
2/27/07