May 19, 2020

Present

Courtney Gotham, Anne Miller, Mary Jo Stevenson Antonia Spedden, Brad Kendell, Brandi Biesecker, Charlene Saeman, Deana Clevenger, Donna Rhodes, Frank Maira, Jenny Wetzel, Jonathan Hindman, Judy Staley, Karen Weller, Kate Carroll, Kim Lesher, Lisa DeGregorio, Lori Royce, Marla Minnich, Pam Kauffman, Patty Gochenauer, Phillip Cordell, Roxann Miller, Shawn Wiley, Susan Mayer, and Staci Grimes

Announcements

  • Today is Roxann Miller’s final meeting as Staff Senate Chair for the 2019-2020 academic year.
  • Roxann commented that the “Who’s Zooming Who” virtual event on Friday, May 8, 2020 was extremely well done and extended a “thank you” to everyone who worked on putting together the presentation.

Committee Reports

Administrative Council

  • No updates.

University Staff Advisory Council (USAC)

  • No updates.

Policy and Planning

  • No updates.

Sustainability

  • Staci Grimes reported that Mont Alto participated in the Sustainability Institutes Forum for the sustainability of eastern campuses the week of May 10, 2020.  The committee was able to report on some of the actions taken by the committee, notably, the inability to follow through with Green Paws due to COVID-19 and the new Sustainability Award given at the Academic Festival.

Professional Development

  • Susan Mayer thanked all staff and faculty who participated in the M.A.D.E event on Thursday, May 14, 2020.  A great amount of positive feedback was received by the PDC from the campus community.  Both speakers were enthusiastic about presenting again and encouraged attendees to contact them directly with any additional questions.  The M.A.D.E luncheon will be scheduled after campus has re-opened.

Old Business

The minutes from the April meeting were approved.

New Business

  • Anne Miller gave an update from the Crisis Management Team regarding COVID-19.
    • The return to campus is currently being discussed in various committees overseen by Provost Jones.  A plan for faculty and staff to return to campus is in development with an announcement anticipated for June 15, 2020.
    • The configuration of classroom seating in relation to social distancing is a key topic of discussion at University Park.  Multiple course sessions and class start/end times are being examined to ensure the safety of all students, faculty and staff.
    • The execution of custodial duties, such as cleaning classrooms between course sessions, must be determined.  The current backorder of sanitizing supplies is making development of these processes problematic.
    • Protocol also needs to be established for the probability that a positive COVID-19 case could begin to emerge as people return to campus.
    • Installation of plexiglass shields for forward-facing support services, such as the Bursar and Registrar, as preventative measures are also being considered.  The Mont Alto Crisis Management Team will not act independently in implementing these measures but will wait for guidelines to be put in place by University Park.
    • To date, telecommuting is continued through May 30, 2020.
    • Being cognizant of cash flow, the university has put into effect purchasing procedures that require prior authorization for “mission critical” spending through the end of the fiscal year.
    • No decision has been made regarding the returning of staff to campus over the Summer months.  All directives will come from University Park.  With the possibility of a second wave of COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania, there is a possibility that telecommuting will continue until June 30, 2020, possibly July 31, 2020.  Currently, Franklin County is still classified in the “Red Zone” with the number of COVID-19 cases relatively high per capita.
  • 2020-2021 STAFF SENATE OFFICERS Vote. Election results are as follows:        
    • Chair: Mary Jo Stevenson
    • Vice Chair: Frank Maira
    • Secretary: Karen Weller
    • Policy and Planning Committee Representative: Patty Gochenauer
    • Executive Committee Member (Alternate): Lisa DeGregorio

Open Forum

  • Brad Kendall commented on the scheduling of events for the upcoming Fall semester.  It is recommended that staff forgo submitting any event requests until a final directive is issued from University Park.   This applies to both on-site and virtual events.  
  • Renovation of the Auditorium will be pushed into the Fall semester with construction starting in June.  This may require some events to be moved to the MPR for the Fall semester.  The Allied Health Building project is anticipated to begin in August.  All other Summer projects have been delayed.
  • Donna Rhodes discussed an email that was sent to all Mont Alto faculty and staff explaining that the 5- month campus activity calendar will not be printed as it has been in the past.  The decision was not only for budgetary reasons but for accuracy and credibility reasons as well.  To utilize the online calendar and Penn State GO App; Donna created an Excel link for the submission of events, by staff and faculty, to be included in the calendar.
  • An In-house 11x17 calendar will be printed monthly to advertise activities on campus.
  • Roxann commented that, at this time, Continuing Education still has STEM camp, Delone band camp and the Mushroom Foray scheduled as on-campus events in July.
  • Continuing Education is currently working with other CE departments across the state to develop virtual summer camps.

Adjournment

Upcoming Staff Senate Meetings

  • The first 2020-2021 Staff Senate meeting will be held in September. To be announced.