Content
In attendance: Ann Fenton, Randy Pryor, Kate Brooks, Vicki Schlegel, Vice Chancellor Mike Boehm, Liz Husmann (recorder)
Phoned in: Thomas Hunt, Julie Peterson
Excused: Don Lee
Main Discussion Points:
Liaison Committee Nominees
The committee approved the nominees for Ann, Randy and Tom’s vacancies as they have completed their three year terms. The ballot will be distributed electronically to the IANR faculty this summer so they can vote for the new committee members. As current Chair of the committee, Ann agreed to help facilitate the transition of her position after the next Chair has been chosen in the first meeting of the fall. Thanks to Ann, Randy and Tom for their service to the Liaison committee!
Foundation Accounts for Extension Educators
Randy brought up a question about the possibility of Extension educators being able to put sponsored money into Foundation accounts for hosting purposes. Mike suggested Extension educators meeting with district leads to discuss creating Foundation accounts at the district level so that minimum requirements could be reached. Josh Egley is our NU Foundation lead and can provide insights about minimum requirements and NU Foundation policies.
Employee Buyouts
Randy asked if it was possible for the University to offer buy-outs to specific groups or if that has to be an across the board offer. Mike indicated that while the topic of USP’s has been raised by some NU faculty and staff that he is unaware of any discussion about this matter at the NU or UNL leadership levels. Mike explained that although other universities have offered compartmentalized buyout offers, they generally have to be fairly broad (i.e. across a college). Mike doesn’t know if that’s something President Bounds would authorize in this case.
Salary Inequity
Ann said that there were some concerns about salary inequity between men and women in Extension that were brought up to her. Mike said the job of the Faculty Compensation and Advisory Committee (FACA) is to keep track of salary equity and salary compression and that Sarah Purcell would be a good person to reach out to for more information regarding those issues. *Update: The Faculty Senate Executive Committee raised this issue with Chancellor Green, Executive Vice Chancellor Plowman and Vice Chancellor Boehm. Mike is exploring and will report back to the group.
Role of the Liaison Committee
The committee and Vice Chancellor came to the conclusion that the Liaison Committee will function in an advisory capacity to the Vice Chancellor of IANR and act as a sounding board for ideas and strategies. The committee offers diverse perspectives from across the Institute and should independently engage with each other so the time spent meeting with the VC is maximized.
University Update
Mike gave an update on the budget situation. All budget information can be found at: nebraska.edu/president/budget-info-2017-19.html. He also emphasized the University’s commitment to creativity and innovation regardless of budget status and emphasized the importance of being strategic and aligning resources—people, space, funding—in ways that help Nebraska succeed and move Nebraska forward.
Meeting adjourned at 4:00pm
Distributed electronically to the IANR Liaison Committee for review: 6/23/2017