Committee Meetings and Minutes

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eStaffing Committee

Meeting Minutes

Current Status of Minutes: Final
Date	February 28, 2012
Time	8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Location	SVC 133

Members Present
Kathy Galaviz, Glen Hunt, Donald Morris, Dianne Olla, Charles Quinn, Gaye Lynn Scott, Hazel Ward
Guests Present
No guest attendance has been recorded.

Item # 1:	Review of Minutes from Dec. 6, 2011 eStaffing Committee meeting
Presenter	Andrew
Discussion	The December 6, 2011 minutes were approved.

Item # 2:	Review of eStaffing Exemption Request from Biotechnology dept.
Presenter	Andrew
Discussion	The Department Chair and Dean were unable to attend. The Committee reviewed the exemption request and provided a provisional rejection of the request based on the stated reasons for desiring an exemption. The Department Chair has indicated an updated statement for exemption will be forwarded to the Dean for subsequent review by the eStaffing Committee.

Item # 3:	Review of Summer 2012 eStaffing
Presenter	Committee
Discussion	There was the usual number of requests to research various phenomena, but the one significant problem this time around was a result of the conflict between Admin Rule 4.06.013 and the Foreign Languages departments practice of awarding sections during summer semesters above the limits prescribed in the AR. A request for exception was forwarded to the Dean, and approved by the VP. The approval for exception came after the Summer 2012 eStaffing setup, making any kind of automated retroactive move impossible. 5 days of developer time was diverted from MSTA research to enabling the Foreign Languages departments to make assignments based on past practices. Unable to determine a consistent pattern to the determination of which set of adjuncts was allowed the exception, IT opted for working with the departmental admins, but in the interests of consistency, standardization, fairness, and transparency, IT is concerned about a ''standing exception'' to an Admin Rule, and would prefer that the Admin Rule have any ''standing exceptions'' built into the AR. The eStaffing Committee supported this conclusion.

Item # 4:	Review of 2012-13 MSTA Process
Presenter	Committee
Discussion	There were/are 3 MSTA Issues this year. (1) There is a word counter function that is utilized in the 'Comments' text box. This is used to detect whether any content has been added. The problem is that the function does not detect content when it has been entered via copy/paste. A warning about not using pasted data was added as a quick, temporary solution. IT will get this fixed prior to next year's MSTA application process. (2) The algorithm that determines whether an adjunct is an MSTA 'Rollover' (3+ yrs), MSTA 'Renewal' (1 or 2 yrs), or non-MSTA is suspect. IT is pretty sure where the problem is, but the combination of research requests and AR exceptions prevented a solution in time for this year. IT will get it fixed prior to next year's MSTA application process. (3) There is a degree of confusion over the question of what it means when a department is not accepting MSTA applications. After a lengthy discussion it was agreed that the criteria for not accepting MSTAs is: (a) the department chair informs IT that they are not accepting MSTAs, AND (b) there are no MSTAs currently in 'Renewal' status, AND (c) the maximum number of MSTAs allowed for the department does not exceed the number of MSTAs in 'Rollover' status. The other MSTA-related topic relates to the timing when Department Chairs and/or Deans alter the Appointments to update the MSTA priority of faculty. Currently it is done at the end of the Summer eStaffing with the idea that the Appointment information will roll into the Fall. This was the way it was designed, but it seems backwards to the Committee. Rather, since the MSTA update is a reflection of the new academic year's Appointment status, IT will be testing the potentiality of making it so the MSTA information is updated right after the Summer-to-Fall roll is completed (but after the MSTA decisions are finalized, of course).

Item # 5:	Discussion of upcoming eStaffing timelines (e.g., Fall 2012)
Presenter	Andrew
Discussion	Dianne provided an update on the dates of Fall eStaffing and they matched those that IT had identified. Fall eStaffing will run from March 30 through April 27, 2012.

Item # 6:	Focus of next wave of eStaffing modifications and enhancements
Presenter	Andrew & Kathy
Discussion	The completion of the Fall eStaffing is the beginning of a short period of time when IT can attempt more than mere cosmetic changes to eStaffing. The high priorites are: (1) More efficiency in the handling of ''new faculty'' (e.g., interface with ACCeHire). (2) Perfecting the MSTA process (once and for all). (3) Rewriting the 'Executive' modules so that the Faculty<->Executive integration is in place. The eStaffing subCommittee will be called into service again this summer to help with the design.

Item # 7:	Training, Procedures, & Assistance Calls - A Discussion
Presenter	Andrew
Discussion	The Committee agreed that it is important for each department have a reliable set of procedures for eStaffing in order to help minimize IT research time.

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