Maryland's Public System of Higher Education

I. CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by the Chair, Roy Ross and he hoped everyone had had an uneventful trip to the institution.

II. CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

No nominations for the At-Large Member of the Executive Committee were received prior to the meeting. Nominations from the floor for the position were: Andrianna Stuart, UMCP and Fran Younger, UMCES. Elected to the position was Fran Younger.

III. WELCOME

Dr. David Ramsay, President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore brought greetings. Dr. Ramsay spoke of all the new building going on at the campus. He then spoke of the problems that all academic health centers are having, but that UMBs is doing fine. He is working on ways to insure that there is a transfer of funds from clinical activities to the institution and that the faculty brings in enough funds to cover their salaries.

Dr. Ramsay then talked about the nursing and pharmacists shortages. He listed a statistic that within five years, 5% of all nurses will retire. With the pharmacist shortage, getting prescriptions filled will be in trouble within ten years. Also, with the shortages, there are more opportunities for women than ever before. The medical and dental classes are a 50/50 split of male/female.

IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The minutes were sent out via email to Council members. Everyone was able to receive them.

The minutes from September and October, 2000 were accepted with the noted corrections.

V. REPORT FROM THE CHAIR

The Board of Regents met at Frostburg State on October 27. Both Roy Ross and Larry Lauer were in attendance. The meeting was running late, and the closed sessions were truly closed and neither were able to attend. Once opened, Dr. Gira welcomed everyone and spoke about the FSU expansion that would bring large economic impact to the area. Dr. Gira wants to continue involving the community in the institution. FSU is seeking funds for their building expansions.

Larry Lauer gave his farewell and introduced Roy Ross who took over on November 1, 2000 as Chair of CUSS. Larry then reminded the Regents that CUSS has voted against collective bargaining for the last 4 years. Nathan Chapman, Chairman of the BOR, stated that Roy would have a difficult time replacing Larry.

The Regents also discussed Salisbury State University dropping the "State" from their name. The Regents are in approval with the legislative bill designating the change.

Official notification was given to the Regents that the Chancellor, Donald N. Langenberg, will be stepping down as of April 30, 2002 - 18 months from now.

Chancellor's Council was held November 6 and this meeting also ran late. The big discussion here was about the debt capacity of the system and that any debt over 1.1 billion would jeopardize our bond rating. This will make for a tighter money base - more competition, having to show need, etc.

The Chancellor's Council also talked about revising the annual leave policy for 12-month full time Faculty. They also discussed the revision of the Faculty Drug and Alcohol Abuse policy. Currently the only policy we have in place is the Governor's executive order.

VI. REPORT FROM USM LIAISON

Donald Tynes spoke about the six pertinent areas of legislation that the System is backing for this legislative session. The language for each of the six areas has been formalized. We received a copy of the proposal list. As to collective bargaining, there has been no word yet as to any bill being submitted. The Presidents has each selected a representative to be included in discussion when/if it is submitted. He then notified us that the Chair for the Regents Finance Committee will be David Nevins and the Vice Chair is Bill Wood.

In Annapolis, the Committee on Pensions took a look at the ORP legislation and had no questions. This should move forward. It does not include Morgan State University, St. Mary's College, or any of the community colleges.

Maitland Dade, has left our legislative office in Annapolis to work with Bowie State University. Ms. Dade will be difficult to replace, but it is hoped that a successor will be found quickly.

The Nonexempt Merit Award Committee has now submitted a draft and it was discussed at the Vice Presidents meeting. The Vice Presidents recommended placing the report on hold. They want to move toward a non-monetary reward system and general review of the PMP process. The Vice Presidents want the System Human Resources Committee (SHRC) to reevaluate everything. Rosario van Daalen reminded the Council that the intent of the PMP process was to provide merit reward to the employees.

The area of the new Tuition Remission Policy is still pending. When HR receives more information they will pass it on to CUSS.

The B.E.S.T. (Building Excellence through Staff Training) Task Force will be meeting on Friday, November 17. The Contingent Employee Policy's revisions are now complete. The Council will receive them at the next meeting and then we will review them at the December meeting.

VII. LUNCH IN COMMITTEES

VIII. COMMITTEE REPORTS

Benefits Committee:

The committee is continuing to work on the items stated at the last meeting. They also received a request to look into an automatic salary increase for employees who receive a degree. The Council feels that receiving a degree is reward enough, and that you can then move upward if you so choose.

The issue of Dental provider problems was raised again. We are hearing of major problems again. Please send your complaints to Roy via email and he will compile them into a report for Donald Tynes to review and forward to the appropriate state agency.

Communications Committee:

The committee has accomplished most of what they wanted to from the last meeting. The Council discussed what we would like to do for the BOR Staff Award nominees. It was decided to design a certificate commemorating their nomination for the award.

The need for CUSS Words (an abbreviated version of the minutes just touching on the high points of our meetings) was discussed by everyone. It was decided that with the minutes on the web, that the need has decreased for this publication. Need for accuracy in the minutes was discussed. Concern was expressed that sensitive issues may be recorded in the minutes that should not go to the general employee at the current time. The Council will watch for the next few months and see if there is a need to be concerned about this area.

Community Development Committee:

The committee handed out the BOR Staff Award packets and the Council went over the documents. Changes will be made and the letters to the Presidents will go out before Thanksgiving.

Compensation Committee:

The committee looked at the Towson University and Coppin State College Nonexempt salary reports not being available in these institutions libraries. We discussed different ways to make this available.

They will also draft a letter to the Chancellor and the BOR regarding staff salaries being moved into the 85^th percentile as per the Carnegie Study for Staff Salaries. Roy will check the CUSS file cabinet one last time for the original letter generated by the Council that had Sally Hearns signature. Sandy Ratke will research when the 85^th percentile was first mentioned.

The committee also discussed Frostburg State University's merit awards. FSUs representatives to the Council would like to see a list of who received increases and the dollar amount attached.

The committee is also going to look into the staffing issues across the System. They will request the information that Larry Lauer has already compiled.

IX. OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business.

X. NEW BUSINESS

The Council received a request from Maryland Manual On-Line to place a link to their website on our site. It was agreed that Beverly Morris would look into this and request a reciprocal agreement to place a link to ours on their site.

It was also discussed that the Council Members bring their favorite Holiday dessert fare to share to the next meeting. Those of us who wish to participate may do so.

XI. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 2:05 p.m. The next meeting will be held at University System of Maryland on December 12, 2000 at 9:00 a.m.