Call to Order – Chad Willis
Treasurer’s Report – Abigail Miller
T-Shirt sales – more will post in December
Donations are always open! Staff Council is trying to create an endowed fund!
Staff Shout-Outs – Heather Kristoff
Ashley Ricks, Administrative Assistant II
Kelsey Nichols, Administrative Assistant III
Reyes Angela Stowe, Administrative Assistant II
Staff Suggestions – Leslie Burgess
Committee Updates
Staff Experience, Leslie Burgess, Justin Cantu & Juan Gomez Ortega
Baby Changing Stations installed in JCK
Marketing, Events, and Fundraising, Abigail Miller
T-shirts: email expected to go out next week re: pick-up location.
Sights & Sounds is happening again this weekend! The Damphousses will be there!
Council Effectiveness, Melissa Herrera
Survey – working on suggestions to present to Executive Council
UPPS, Krystyn Fleischauer
Completed 5 reviews: 1 brand new policy, 3 current policy reviews, 1 pen-and-ink change policy.
Upcoming policy review regarding electronic recording of written communications in the workplace
Elections, Scholarships, and Awards, Christine Love
Need to fill Historian vacancy
We will need to hold a special election in January to elect additional members.
History & Archives, Committee Member
Open Discussion – Chad Willis, Chair
Opened the floor for comments: staff indicated not feeling safe to speak up and have their voice heard.
A question was posed regarding what the Staff Council has accomplished recently. Answers provided were advocating for baby changing stations in JCK and sharing all concerns submitted to the parking services consultants. We are limited in getting responses if a concern involves confidential information or if we have to wait for a response from the department. Many suggestions are not able to be resolved immediately.
Announcements - Chad Willis, Chair
Tip of the month: TXST Libby Audio Book Access
Announcements
Cookies and Punch After Lunch – details to come!
A great way to meet Staff Council and enjoy some refreshments!
Bowl Bus – more information to come!
VetTix – veterans can get tickets for the bowl games for the fees only!
Update and Response to Recently Submitted Staff Concerns - President Kelly Damphousse, Eric Algoe, and Brett Last
Kelly Damphousse, President
Student Retention has increased.
Run to R1: Well on track to achieve R1 status in the next evaluation year 2027.
Number of graduate students has increased.
Research funding has increased.
Receiving applications very early compared to previous years.
Round Rock has grown 65% since 2022.
Economic Impact report is coming out soon. Highlights include generating $7 billion to the Texas economy!
Eric Algoe, EVP for Operations and CFO
Increased minimum salary to $30,000.
Enrollment increases have allowed for salary increases.
The number of benefits-eligible staff has increased by 384 staff positions and 344 faculty in the past three years.
We brought in a consultant firm to review staff classifications and pay ranges. Now 99% of our positions are within the market range.
No longer have a merit pool – we now have data which provides supervisors with a way to deal with equity and compression issues, along with merit, to help VPs make decisions regarding pay changes. Compensation will continue to be our highest priority.
Brett Last, AVP, HR and CHRO
Hiring – created, reclassified, and filled 582 positions. An additional 13 positions have been added below a supervisory role.
Childcare – this is a challenge for the community. Have partnered with local community to try to address this.
Kudos & Karaoke – try to encourage staff to attend and for those who are in essential offices to attend in a staggered schedule
Social media – they will be coming up with a guideline that will be able viewed to everyone. There have been little issues that actually need to be addressed. They do not have someone who is monitoring social media, but if they get a complaint, they will investigate. There will be a Q&A document.
Always keep in mind that social media is for the wide public.
Don't post anything that you can't shout out loud or wear on a shirt.
There are lines between speaking as a private person and as an employee of TXST.
Print Shop: efforts were made to make the shop more effective and profitable. The decision was made to close so the University could use funds more wisely. They could not communicate this as effectively as they anticipated due to a technical issue. Marcomm continues to look at communication and working with outside vendors.
Questions or Comments Addressed from the Chat:
Damphousse: Spoke on free speech and said no one is monitoring people's social media, but when they get complaints, they must investigate. You cannot just say that you do not represent TXST and be able to speak or say anything.
Algoe: Parking Services has said they had 435 people pay for their old tickets yesterday at the 70% discount.
Damphousse: He wants people to attend events, and if people are being blocked from events, he encourages people to let Eric and Brett know to help with the issue.
Algoe: Student-to-staff ratios are hard to comprehend due to every institution having different names for everything, but they have hired a 3rd party review of the institution.
Last: People getting paid more as new hires than people who were already there. The merit change was geared toward trying to help this issue, and HR needs to help evolve to try and help this issue. An engagement survey is going to be released by a 3rd party regarding an employer of choice survey.
Parental leave: They are looking into a 3rd party benefit that someone could opt into to get assistance with parental leave.
Closed Session
Discussed January activity and special elections to replace members.
Abigail motioned to close the session at 12:33PM and Kaycee seconded the motion.