Minutes of the Meeting of Tuesday, September 14, 1999

Minutes of the Meeting of Tuesday, September 14, 1999, 2:00 p.m., Octavia II

PRESENT:

Michelle Andrews
Catherine Comiskey
Debbie Diliberto
Bob Gross
Charlotte Harris
Dave Huffman
Avia Morgan
Robert Reed
Paula Ruiz-Saurage
Jay Sonier
Arthur Stern
Germayne Turner

ABSENT:

Bill Cahill
Jay Calamia
Gail Howard
Karen Shields

PROXIES:

Al Alcazar for Gail Howard
Tim Albert for Karen Shields

I. Arthur Stern called the meeting to order at 2:03 p.m.

II. Approval and/or correction of the Minutes of the August 10, 1999 meeting

MOTION was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the August 10, 1999 meeting. MOTION passed.

III. Old Business

A. June 23 parking proposal letter follow-up
Mr. Stern said the proposals sent to Dr. Eiseman concerned improvements and suggestions to be made under the old system. Because of a new alignment in both Student Affairs and University Police, the Express Card/Parking Office has been dissolved; therefore a response to the letter has been delayed indefinitely.

IV. New Business

A. Committee Reports:

1. Rec Sports - R. Reed - Jerry Hernandez was named the new Athletic Director. He will also coach the basketball team.

2. Parking - G. Turner -No meeting has been held yet and none is scheduled.

3. Fringe Benefits - J. Sonier - At the meeting of August 19th, Nan Davis was elected chair. Fr. Knoth addressed the committee and announced that the Director of Human Resources is now to be a voting member of the committee. We have been assured that the two health insurance carriers are Y2K compliant. A survey on health insurance satisfaction was mailed to all faculty and staff members at their homes. The survey is being conducted by a national company and the results will be sent to Human Resources. Also, Jim Phillips announced that Human Resources has two pc’s to view the status of Blue Cross claims. A question was raised regarding the possibility of increasing the amount of tax-deferred money to be set aside by employees in the medical special account. Loyola’s limit is $2,000 and the federal limit is $5,000 per year. The Human Resources office will research this and report back to the committee.

Ms. Harris added that the next meeting will include a report by Bearden & Guibault on benefits and what to do about rising costs. Ms. Harris answered questions on the medical savings plan, open enrollment period, and the dependent care account.

4. Jesuit/Catholic Identity - D. Huffman - The first meeting of the year will be held on September 15th.

5. UPT - A. Stern - The first meeting is scheduled for September 15th, but an orientation session was held for new members on the committee. Dr. Voigt went through the book of goals to give them a perspective of where the UPT stands before the academic year begins. Ongoing Institutional Objective #5, Staff Responsibilities, will come up in February.

B. Conversation with Faculty Senate Chair, Bernard Lee

Mr. Stern spoke with Fr. Lee very briefly. The two executive committees will schedule a meeting to discuss common goals and problems.

V. Guests

Terry Utterback, director, Office of Annual Fund, and Tom Weatherall, Director, Office of Alumni and Parent Relations

Mr. Stern introduced the two guest speakers, explaining that the departments which they head are interactive. Mr. Utterback began by announcing that the Capital Campaign raised $51,000,000 last year for specific goals. A separate campaign for Annual Fund must be held every year to supplement what tuition does not cover. Last year, the amount of restricted and unrestricted monies collected went up for the first time in five years. The unrestricted amount is used for the greatest need.

Restricted amounts are used for a specific college or program as the donor requests. "Dean teams" have been instituted to work with the deans and they have weekly meetings to help achieve goals. Loyola received a grant which allows us to get up to $60,000 in matching funds after $1,500,000 is collected. He passed around a brochure showing how important contributors are to the university. Alumni giving has increased, up to 13.7%. An increase in parent giving was also realized, and about 30% of employees gave last year. He explained that the Senior class gift lets students buy a thank you to the University. The question was brought up concerning the use of our vendor list to solicit money. The Annual Fund office makes sure our vendors know it is separate request and does not come into play for any future business. The letter to them asks our vendors to contact their friends in business.

Mr. Weatherall refers to alumni and parent giving as "friend-raising". He handed out copies of reunion bulletins which had already been mailed. The goal of his office is to engage alumni in university life and give them a chance for meaningful interaction with others in the community. They are the largest group in the Loyola community. Another way to promote interaction is through Loyola New Orleans magazine, the quarterly alumni publication. Results of a recent survey pointed out that alumni do not have a strong sense of year, but of college. This year’s reunion will be geared to reunions by college and by student affiliations. Their office’s focus will be on letting alumni and parents know what events are taking place and that they are always invited. After answering a few questions, he spoke briefly on the class agent program.

VI. Open Forum

Mr. Ray Garofalo asked to address this forum to tell his account of the recent changes to Express Card/Parking Services.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:41 p.m.