Call to Order - Chad Willis, Chair
Treasurer’s Report – Abigail Miller, Treasurer
Check the latest budget report.
AI Awareness Training – Chad Willis, Chair
The new AI training just launched and is mandatory for all staff. Complete it by August 28! As a mandatory annual training, it will likely be repeated in a few months with the other mandatory annual trainings related to merit eligibility.
Staff Shout-Outs – Heather Kristoff, Secretary
Jordan Goble, System Support Specialist II, Department of Curriculum & Instruction
Carlos Garza, Facilities Management Technician, Facilities
Emily McKenzie, Buyer III, Procurement & Strategic Sourcing
Kristina Ayala, Senior Administrative Assistant, Academic Engagement
Employee Engagement Survey – Alicia Barthel, Executive Director for Talent Strategy, HR
Listen --> Learn --> Act
Conducting an employee engagement survey by Gallup opening September 21 through October 2 for faculty and staff to provide candid feedback about your workplace experience. Learn more on the HR website.
Your responses will be confidential and no individual responses will be shared with anyone at Texas State.
Committee Updates
Staff Experience, Leslie Burgess, Justin Cantu & Juan Gomez Ortega
Mold in JCK: Specific concern has been addressed. Any further reports, please submit to EHSREM.
Marketing, Events, and Fundraising, Allison Pufal
Reviewed survey and debriefed regarding the July retreat
Council Effectiveness, Amy Aguirre
No updates
UPPS, Krystyn Fleischauer
Reviewed 11 UPPS documents in June/July including 3 staff related policies.
Elections, Scholarships, and Awards, Heather Kristoff
Welcome to the incoming members!
Voting for executive board will be completed in the closed session.
History & Archives, Ashley Knopp
New members expressed interest in the committee. They will be meeting to review documents soon.
IT Updates – Whitten Smart, Special Assistant to the VPIT, Information Technology (ws15@txstate.edu or on Teams)
AI licenses – ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, etc.
IT Procurement Form: pay for individual licenses if you want access to them – will be transitioning soon. AI Tools Hub has the pricing.
Microsoft Copilot chat is going to stay the same, available to everyone (the first one when you open M365, it is not embedded in the programs). The Copilot license covers the embedded version within software.
Staff will be notified when licenses are expiring.
All AI tools are scoped for us, so you can use tools.
Workday – new ERP
First phase: HR, finance, payroll – begin January 2027, transition November 2028
Second phase: student information – begin January 2029, transition January 2031
Txst.edu/workday
To nominate a person for the committee: email workday@txstate.edu
Everyone has access: Google Drive, Sheets, Meet, etc.
Not gmail, not calendar.
Microsoft will remain. We will have both!
Gemini – like ChatGPT, can create “gems” as agents that can be shared
Notebook - research and note taking tool
Within Canvas – Google Assignments; Gemini – allow instructors to share Notebooks and gems with their courses.
If using Google Chrome and have a profile, make sure you are logged in to your work account.
Announcements – Chad Willis, Chair
Wednesday, August 12, 11 AM – 1 PM Snow Cones in parking lot between JCK and Theater building
Mobile Mammogram Bus – September 30
Employee Wellness Fair – Tuesday, October 13 in LBJ
Motion to adjourn: Abbi Miller Second: Krystyn Fleischauer. Motion carried.
Closed Session – Staff Council Members only
Motion to suspend bylaws for voting within meeting. Motion: Krystyn Fleischauer Second: Abbi Miller. Motion carried.
Move to amend the previous motion to suspend bylaws for voting to allow voting by email for budget and exec board elections. Motion: Krystyn Fleischauer. Second: Casey Samples. Motion carried.