September General Meeting

Dr. Cheryl Sawyer from the School of Education presented “Good News, Bad News: The Times they are A-Changing”. Change is constant and inevitable. Along with curiosity and anticipation, change can also bring apprehension, anxiety and stress. The presentation help to gain an understanding of the emotional roller coaster involved with change.  Change requires time.  Adjust your attitude to deal with change and have patience.

October General Meeting

Nancy Weise from Human Resources presented on the benefits of change.  Serving UHCL for 14 years, Nancy has been instrumental in implementing many university changes.  She shared with us how these changes have been positive factors shaping the entire campus community and how we all play an important role in UHCL's future.

November General Meeting

Dr. Staples came to this joint SSA/PASA meeting to discuss the recent university weather-related closure.  The importance of getting out messages in a timely manner was emphasized.  The two sources of information are the UHCL Hotline (281-283-2221) and the UHCL Website.  The Hotline is updated 15-20 minutes after a decision is made. Employees should not rely on news reporting television/radio stations for UHCL closures. Since UHCL serves a large geographical area, if UHCL is not in danger, it is possible and likely that the university will remain open even if other areas are flooding.  Staff members must make personal decisions to stay home or leave work early when inclement weather threatens safe travel.

January General Meeting

Dr. Anthony Jenkins presented “Times have changed”.  Because of landmark Supreme Curt cases, we have seen a shift in the demographics of our students.  Higher education is available to almost everyone and as a result we are seeing more older students and more first generation students coming to college. How can UHCL accommodate this shift?  We can become a change agent; a university that is constantly changing to keep up with current trends.  For effective institutional change, the organization must become a transitional facility and should anchor new approaches in our university goals.

February General Meeting

Dr. Jeff Lash from HSH presented “Change and the Geography of Texas Fieldtrip”.  Each year Dr. Lash takes a group of students on a field trip so that they can learn about Texas Geography hands-on.  Change is an important part of planning the field trip as each year something is different.  The biggest changes recently have been brought about by the grant Dr. Lash received from National Geographic this past fall.  We look forward to hearing about this year's trip!

April General Meeting

Chuck Crocker, Associate Director of Career Services presented on the changes that are happening in Career Services.  In addition to the traditional services they have provided.  He also spoke of where they are going and what changes they are implementing.  One change is that their emphasis has become more collaborative with the different schools and organizations on campus.  The second big change is a change in perspective.  They are now focusing on using a strengths-based approach to helping students develop their skills as they begin to search for employment.  He also went over the different staff members and what their responsibilities include.

June General Meeting

Michelle Dotter and Dr. Staples presented to the SSA and PASA in the June joint meeting.  Topics covered ranged from tuition and enrollment, to repair of the Arbor building to hurricane preparedness.  Dr. Staples said he would rate this year’s Legislative session a 6 or 7 on a 10 point scale because of Tuition Revenue Bonds, Higher Education Assistance Fund, Special Items, and Formula Funding.  Also, staff compensation (yay) was discussed.  A total of 3 ½ percent will be given this year.  2 percent will be across the board raises the other 1 ½ percent will go to Pay Plan Adjustments.  They also hope to add money to the M&O funds over the coming years. For more information on what was discussed in this very important meeting, see the meeting minutes for June of 2007.

July General Meeting

Nancy Weise presented on the changes to our benefits this year.  The most important change this year is with our short term disability benefits.  The cap has been removed and employees will now draw 66% of their actual monthly salary.  Nancy also informed us that ERS wants benefits to be as equal as possible so they are in the process of auditing employees to ensure that everyone who is insured is eligible to be insured.  Currently people are being audited at random, but enough errors have been found that ERS is going to continue auditing.  ERS is also encouraging people to use their online system for summer enrollment.  Dependent information doesn’t automatically roll over so it will have to be re-input into the system.  If you aren’t making any changes than you don’t have to do anything.  ERS has to notify every state employee that health insurance benefits are not guaranteed.  Also Nancy W. encouraged members to use the ERS wellness website.  It has a lot of handy tools as well as information to help you be more proactive about your wellness.