Staff Advisory Council Minutes

Wednesday, November 10, 2021   |   Zoom Mtg   |   10:00 a.m.

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Present:  Michele Bettwy, Angel Goldian, Rachel Fowkes, Drew McGhee, Ginny Norris, Cindy Royal,

Unavailable: Debbie Flaig, Tom Hatch, Tom Koehle, Chris Lawson, Taylor Peterson, Jennifer Sabourin, Erin Shumac, Janine Strasser

Guest: Chancellor Bechtel -Wherry

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Call to order:  Meeting was called to order by Chair, Angel Goldian at 10:02 a.m.

OLD BUSINESS

1. Approve Meeting Minutes – September (Angel Goldian): September meeting minutes were approved by Chris Lawson and Tom Hatch.

2. All Staff Retreat Committee Update (Angel Goldian): We’ve received several volunteers to assist with the 2022 All Staff Retreat planning. Members of the committee include Debbie Flaig, Angel Goldian, Matt Gueguen, Patti Jurcik, Nicole McCloskey, Megan Keener, and Jennifer Sabourin.

3. Follow-up on Staff Suggestion: Railroaders Memorial Museum (Angel Goldian): Angel spoke with the Chancellor regarding the suggestion made by Harriett Gaston at our meeting in September (**see below). The Chancellor gave approval to move forward with obtaining information regarding the event at the Railroaders Memorial Museum. She’s also asked the All Staff Retreat Planning Committee to plan for in-person but have a virtual event backup plan should anything change with COVID-19 in the next few months. Tom Koehle offered to follow-up with Jared Frederick and his brother Mark regarding the event. Angel will reach out to him to gather more details.

Chancellor Bechtel-Wherry commented, “We have a great relationship with the Director of the Railroaders Museum. We just hosted our Rail Transportation Engineering Board meeting on October 12^th, and the evening of the 11^th we had our board meeting dinner at the Railroaders Memorial Museum. Joe DeFrancisco is great guy and all about history and railroading. We are going to look at offering courses down there such as the history of rail, which is part of the program, and other types of collaboration. I’m meeting with the board and we’re looking at ways to expand our partnership. This is a really cool place and a great idea for the retreat this year.”

NEW BUSINESS

1. Officer Elections (Angel Goldian): We conducted a silent vote to fill the open officer positions for the new fiscal year. Those in current executive roles were excluded from the silent nominations.  Congratulations to the staff listed below.

• Chair-elect: Chris Lawson
• Secretary: Debbie Flaig
• Secretary-elect: Cindy Royal

2. Teams Overview (Angel Goldian/Chris Lawson): Angel and Chris met after the September meeting to discuss Zoom settings for the SAC meetings and the option of using Teams for meetings in the future. Chris created a Staff Advisory Council group in Teams and Angel uploaded all past meeting information and council member details from the BOX migration. All SAC members have access to the information at any time. Chris and Angel thought it might be a good idea to move meetings to Teams, so Chris gave a brief overview of its features.

Chris: We would be using Teams to launch everything and what’s nice about this, is it integrates well with the Microsoft Office 365 Suite. We’re all using Outlook for email so when we’re setting up meetings in Teams that’s automatically going to populate in Outlook. We don’t have to go to any external services like Zoom, everything’s tied within. Through the Office 365 service, we can access our files quickly on the SharePoint that I created which basically works like a kind of departmental website or share space for us but there’s other things than just a shared drive. We can use the notes feature, we can have breakout committees, etc. I want to see where everybody stands if you guys are willing to move forward on that? If so, in a future meeting, I can do a quick DEMO on everything for everyone.

Council members thought it was a good idea to see how it all works together. Chris offered to show a demo at the November meeting.

 3. Salute a Champion Nominees – September (Angel Goldian):

• James Hauser, nominated by Austin Sauger
• Janine Strasser, nominated by Mitch Bonsell
• Altoona Housing and Food Services, nominated by Tim Keyser
• Corien Bakersman & Gina Baird, nominated by Cathy Kozak.
• Dee Mattern, nominated by Tom Hatch
• Jonathan O’Harrow, nominated by Amber Friday

Nominations for October will be accepted through November 5^th.

4. Departmental Updates/Announcements – Council Members:

•  Information Technology – Drew McGhee: IT is working on some wireless connection issues in Hawthorn. We brought UP in to look at this issue and with us using more and more features of CANVAS and Top Hat, University Park did confirm that we need to make some upgrades in Hawthorn and Slep Pond View. I just wanted to get back to everybody that may have been involved with connection issues to let them know we’re working on it. As soon as we have the updated wireless access points here, we’ll begin putting them in place. The plan is to do batches of them in the morning, starting early before classes start. By the end of the semester, we should have the connection issue problems that have been reported, now corrected.
• Academic Advising Office – Erin Shumac: As each of you are working with students and interacting with them, please remind them that they should be checking in with their advisors if they haven’t already. Some students are already able to schedule for spring. We’re just trying to get the word out there that we need to see them need to work with them.
• Continuing Education – Cindy Royal: Everything been fine in CE and we’re doing great. Career Services is having several open houses this week and next week, so you might want to check their social media account. Norfolk Southern is coming and Nursing is tomorrow here in our building; it’s another one for businesspeople. People are looking for jobs, people are looking for employees, have them check with Career Services.
• Engineering Lab – Tom Hatch: I would like to add, the Engineering lab is running smoothly. The students are back on campus doing their senior projects and everything’s been going really. We received news from Peter Hopsicker that we are going to get a $6,000 allowance for the camp where we do poster printing and stuff for the campus, and it’s been being utilized a lot this this year. We’re very, very thankful for that. Everything’s been going great; it’s been awesome to see the kids back on campus.

Final Comment – Chancellor Bechtel-Wherry: I would like to take a moment to thank the Staff Advisory Council and staff in general for their Herculean efforts over this past two years. I was so thankful and impressed with the resiliency of everyone, how everybody stepped up to help our students and we kept meeting our mission throughout this whole unprecedented time. I just couldn’t be more thankful for all that you have done and continue to do. I want you to know how very much I appreciate each of you, and not just those on this zoom call, but all staff. I have been so impressed with how people have come together to still meet our mission, support our students, and watch out for them. I appreciate each one of you and your efforts, thank you.

STAFF ISSUES/QUESTIONS:  Questions/Answers (Angel Goldian)

**Submitted Suggestion (Harriett Gaston): “I attended an event on August 5 at the Railroaders Memorial Museum entitled “After Hours History”. The event provided a tour of the museum and the roundhouse and introduced attendees to the history of the railroad in Altoona and the people who worked on the railroads. There also was liquid refreshments and light hors d’oeuvres provided for the attendees. I think that this would be a good way to introduce Altoona to new and “seasoned” employees. FYI, Jared Frederick is a volunteer at the Railroad Museum and his brother, Mark works there (both are Penn State Altoona graduates) and Jared teaches history at Penn State Altoona.”

ADJOURNMENT:  Meeting was adjourned at 10:35 a.m.

NEXT MEETING:  November 10, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. via Zoom

Staff Advisory Council Minutes

Wednesday, September 8, 2021   |   Zoom Mtg   |   10:18 a.m.

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Present:  Michele Bettwy, Angel Goldian, Deb Flaig, Tom Koehle, Chris Lawson, Drew McGhee, Ginny Norris, Cindy Royal, Jennifer Sabourin, Erin Shumac

Excused:  Taylor Peterson, Janine Strasser, Rachel Fowkes, Tom Hatch

Guest:   Jess Roland

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Call to order:  Meeting was called to order by Chair, Angel Goldian at 10:18 a.m. Meeting started late due to technical difficulties.

OLD BUSINESS

1. Meeting Minutes Approval (June) – (Angel Goldian, Chair) June meeting minutes were approved by Tom Koehle and seconded by Michele Bettwy.
2. All Staff Retreat Committee Update – (Angel Goldian, Chair):
3. Need volunteers/committee members – Angel asked the SAC committee members to reach out to staff in their departments who might be interested in volunteering for the All-Staff Retreat Planning Committee. Currently there is not a formal committee in place. Due to time constraints and shorthanded departments, it has become difficult to find volunteers who can help. This year, the All Staff Retreat Committee may need to be merged back into the SAC Committee if we do not receive any responses. Jenifer Sabourin offered to help.

 

NEW BUSINES

1. Departmental Updates/Announcements – Council Members:

• Strategic Communication – Michele Bettwy announced the Faculty and Staff Award Ceremony will be held on September 30^th from 1pm-3pm and will celebrate 2020-2021. Award recipients have received invites. More information to follow.
• Student Affairs – Jennifer Sabourin, busy with student activities and testing. Thanked those who have volunteered to distribute tests, helping to deliver meals to the students, etc.  We have positive COVID cases and some are quarantined. Please remind others to be mindful to wear masks properly.

2. Officer Elections: (Angel Goldian): Angel put the call out for Chair-Elect, Secretary-Elect and Secretary (replacement for Taylor Peterson who has stepped down as Secretary of SAC). If no one is interested, Angel suggested moving forward with a silent vote to fill the open positions for the new fiscal year. Those in a current executive role would be excluded from the silent nominations.

After discussion, it was agreed, those who do not want to be on the list for the overall nomination are able to opt out and not be included in the election process. Angel will send an email out to everyone to see who wants to be involved and how we want to run the vote.

3. Salute a Champion – (Angel Goldian, Chair): Summer 2021 nominees – Staff and Faculty Nominations for July and August 2021

• Tobias Morelli, Health and Wellness Staff
• Billie Lewis (nominated twice)
• Dana Brem
• Jennifer Sabourin

Nominations for September will be accepted through October 3^rd.  Angel will resend an email reminder.

STAFF ISSUES/QUESTIONS:  Questions/Answers (Angel Goldian)

Submitted Suggestion: “I attended an event on August 5 at the Railroaders Memorial Museum entitled “After Hours History”. The event provided a tour of the museum and the roundhouse and introduced attendees to the history of the railroad in Altoona and the people who worked on the railroads. There also were liquid refreshments and light hors d’oeuvres provided for the attendees. I think that this would be a good way to introduce Altoona to new and “seasoned” employees. FYI, Jared Frederick is a volunteer at the Railroad Museum and his brother, Mark works there (both are Penn State Altoona graduates) and Jared teaches history at Penn State Altoona.”

Discussion:  Committee discussed this as an option for the spring All Staff Retreat and include a walking history tour of the downtown Penn State location and surrounding businesses. It would be a good way to introduce the participants with local city history. Tom Koehle offered to follow-up with the faculty who coordinated the event at the Railroaders Memorial Museum. This event could be offered to the staff and faculty on behalf of the SAC Council.  Angel will discuss with the Chancellor, including how to plan for the all staff retreat for next year; she’ll report back.

 

ADJOURNMENT:  Meeting was adjourned at 10:35 a.m.

NEXT MEETING:  October 13, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. via Zoom

Staff Advisory Council

Wednesday, June 9, 2021 | Zoom Mtg | 10:00 a.m.

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MINUTES

Present: Michele Bettwy, Toni Feret, Rachel Fowkes, Angel Goldian, Deb Flaig, Tom Hatch, Tom Koehle, Chris Lawson, Drew McGhee, Dave McGreal, Ginny Norris, Cindy Royal, Jennifer Sabourin, Erin Shumac, Janine Strasser

Guest: June Aiken

Excused: Taylor Peterson

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Call to order: The meeting was called to order by Chair, Michele Bettwy, at 10:00 a.m.

Meeting Minutes approved: The May meeting minutes were approved by the committee.

OLD BUSINESS

1. All Staff Retreat (Angel Goldian):

The All-Staff Retreat was held virtually on May 19th with approximately 61 online attendees. There were 40 responses to the survey. Overall the responses were positive and favorable comments for Rick Capozzi’s presentation, ‘Thriving During Chaotic and Stressful Times’. The All Staff Retreat was recorded and Debbie Flaig offered to add it to SharePoint in the near future.

 

NEW BUSINES

1. New Members (Michele Bettwy):

Michele welcomed all newly elected members to the Staff Advisory Council

Tom Hatch, Manager, Engineering Labs

Rachel Fowkes, Assistant Director of Development and Alumni Relations

Debbie Flaig, Education and Training/Adult Enrollment

2. Salute a Champion (Michele Bettwy): Salute a Champion nominations for May were: Office of Strategic Communications and Facilities and Operations.

Nominations over the summer can be submitted and will be announced in the fall.

3. Department Events/Council Members:

Tom Koehle – (1) Lions Youth Basketball Camp/Co-ed Youth Basketball Skills Camp will offered in July, led by Dave McGreal and John Carey, Director of Recreation & Athletics Facilities will be sending out an email with the details. Also, as a Penn State Altoona employee, children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews are eligible for a 25% discount.

(2) Alumni Society is hosting the Kids Golf Tournament on August 23 2021. The event benefits the Blair County Children’s Advocacy Center, the Penn State Altoona Alumni Society scholarship program, and Penn State Altoona Athletics Student-Athletic Health and Wellness initiates.

Debbie Flaig – Summer 2021 Kids’ College camps will be virtual this year. The list of camps and online registration can be found at https//:altoona.psu.edu/kids. A 10% discount is being offered for registrations received before May 31st. Also, as a Penn State Altoona employee, children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews are eligible for a 25% discount.

Cindy Royal – Congratulated Athletics for completing the extensive steps to be able to offer the in-person the Lions Youth Basketball Camp. Tom Koehle noted a both Dave McGreal and John Carey were integral in making this happen.

Toni Feret – Several upcoming events are being planned. (1) Community for Kids Golf Tournament set for August 3, (2) Book Club –The next book is The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, discussion will be held on June 22nd, (3) WE ARE Weekend Presentation – will be held virtually this year on Thursday, Jun 17th, will offer a video of the campus and a panel of faculty from the Engineering Department will shared information and answer questions from viewers. (4) Yoga with Toni Feret – Virtual Yoga sessions are offered every third Tuesday of the month from 5:30pm-6:30pm.

STAFF ISSUES/QUESTIONS: Questions/Answers (Michele Bettwy)

Q: Is it possible for new hires to receive information about their workplace and community?

a) The history of Penn State Altoona written by Dr. Bechetel-Wherry and Dr. Ken Womack as part of the welcome to Penn State Altoona?

b) Also, is there a book written by Jared Frederick on the history of Altoona

OTHER: (Michele Bettwy): Michele shared the Executive Committee discussed and concluded there will be no Staff Advisory Committee Meetings for July and August. Meetings will resume in September. A date to be determined as well as in-person meetings or continue meetings via zoom. Also, it was the consensus to move the SAC communication to SharePoint.

ADJOURNMENT: Meeting was adjourned at 10:55 a.m.

Staff Advisory Council

Wednesday, May 12, 2021 | Zoom Mtg | 10:00 a.m.

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MINUTES

Present:  Michele Bettwy, Toni Feret, Angel Goldian, Tom Koehle, Chris Lawson, Drew McGhee, Ginny Norris, Cindy Royal, Jennifer Sabourin, Janine Strasser

Guests:   Dani Fry, Tom Hatch, Deb Flaig, Lori Bechtel-Wherry

Absent:  Dave McGreal, Taylor Peterson, Erin Shumac

Call to order: The meeting was called to order by Chair, Michele Bettwy, at 10:00 a.m.

Meeting Minutes approval: The April meeting minutes were approved by the committee.

OLD BUSINESS

1. All Staff Retreat Update (Angel Goldian):

The All-Staff Retreat will be held virtually on May 19th. Rick Capozzi will present, ‘Thriving During Chaotic and Stressful Times’ and Peter Moran will present, ‘Liberating Structures for Planning and Implementation’. There will be a Q&A session with the Chancellor and Dean at the end of the retreat. An email invitation has been sent to staff and they have been asked to submit questions for the Chancellor prior to the retreat.

NEW BUSINESS

1. Department Events/Council Members (Michele Bettwy):

Michele Bettwy – Two in-person commencement ceremonies were held on May 8th, in the Adler Complex. Strategic Communications were grateful to all those who volunteered and helped to make it a success.

Debbie Flaig – (1)  Summer 2021 Kids’ College registration is open. All camps will be virtual this year. The list of camps and online registration can be found at https//:altoona.psu.edu/kids. A 10% discount is being offered for registrations received before May 31st. Also, as a Penn State Altoona employee, children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews are eligible for a 25% discount.      (2) SeAL (Sea Air Land) Challenge – Penn State Altoona will host a SeAL (Sea Air Land) virtual Challenge on May 13th for high school students. Teams will build at their own locations and come together virtually to showcase their robotics systems.

Cindy Royal – Currently there is construction/repair going on in the downtown.

Drew McGhee – Today, May 12th is the deadline for employees to set a lifetime password for the Penn State account.

Angel Goldian – Division Office is currently completing faculty interviews for the fall.

Tom Koehle – Softball team, fifth-seeded, will play Penn State Behrend in the AMCC Semifinal Series today. Tennis, Golf, and Baseball teams were successful this spring. Athletics did a wonderful job adjusting to COVID-19.

GUEST: Dani Fry, Director, Student & Civic Engagement Office of Student Program presented a visual overview and explained the functions of the online “Connect – Student Online Involvement Community”. Connect is a new online platform for students to find opportunities, join organizations, see upcoming events, groups, get connected to other campus resources through helpful links and news. If you have questions or would like further Connect training, contact Dani directly.

STAFF CONCERNS/REPORTS: Questions/Answers (Lori Bechtel-Wherry)   Lori thanked everyone for all they’ve done through the pandemic. Planning for a full return in the fall. Some may have special situations with concerns and request hybrid or working from home. These exemptions will be submitted for review and approval.

Q: Staff Service Awards – Follow-up (Lori Bechtel-Wherry)

A: Prior to the meeting, Lori met with Janine to discuss the staff service awards program. Previously, the Service Award ceremonies were held at the end of the academic year to recognize 25-year awards, retirees and staff and faculty awards. It was developed to recognize and thank employees for their contributions and for their years of service.

Kranich’s, who partnered with an outside vendor, provided the service award gifts and we were able to purchase the gifts at a reasonable cost. The outside vendor could no longer provide the items and Kranich’s could not secure a licensed vendor to provide the inventory. The awards were postponed.

Cindy shared, individuals have expressed they were disappointed and/or upset, there was no acknowledgement of their contributions or years of service through a letter or email.

Lori asked the SAC Committee for input, on how they would like the awards program to move forward. Possibly re-think the program. Committee will bring this back for discussion and report recommendations to Lori.

Q: I have been informed that Dr. Bechtel-Wherry purchases the graduating VAST student’s artwork. Is it possible to request a loan of those artworks so that the campus offices can display them? I think that displaying the students’ and alumni artwork as a great way to make our students who visit our offices aware of the VAST (Visual Art Studies) major and what these students have accomplished. Kylea Myers, who is the Interim Theatre Director, may be able to set up the request process and oversee this process.

A: The artwork purchased from VAST students becomes part of our official Penn State Altoona catalog of art (https://sites.psu.edu/altoonagallery/) which used to be maintained by Noel Feeley and a Public Artwork committee. The committee decides where to publicly display artwork on campus. Some of the VAST pieces are displayed in the hallways in Smith Building and other pieces are displayed elsewhere on campus.

Q: Request that the “Diversity Climate Report at Penn State Altoona” that was presented at the last Penn State Altoona Faculty Senate meeting, be presented at a Staff Advisory Council and that this report be placed on the SAC web site. Students do not know the difference between staff and faculty, so this report could highlight what our students have faced in attending Penn State Altoona and how we can support them.

A: Adding the Diversity Climate Report to the SAC website is an excellent idea and we’ll take care of doing that in the next few weeks.

Q: Is there an online staff handbook that contains HR information that has been sent by Cherrie Henry in her emails to the Staff Listserv? Could this online staff handbook contain the names of the staff who have been designated as “emergency contacts” for the campus buildings be listed in that handbook. If this is still occurring, could the placement of the wheelchairs be listed in that handbook? Could this online handbook contain the information about the staff recognition awards, the deadlines, and the contact information of the person(s) who receive and process the nominations? Could this online handbook lists the holidays for the academic calendar? Could this online Staff Handbook have information that is useful for new hires? e.g., what to do in Blair County, the Penn State Altoona organizational chart, committees that staff can join or perhaps create, etc.,

A: There is not currently an online staff handbook, but the SAC will keep this on the agenda and work to develop a recommended online staff handbook. Thank you for the suggestion!

OTHER: At the June meeting we will welcome new members and executive committee.

NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, July 14, 2021 at 10:00 a.m.

ADJOURNMENT: Meeting was adjourned at 10:55 a.m.

Staff Advisory Council

Wednesday, April 14, 2021 | Zoom Mtg | 10:00 a.m.

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MINUTES

Present: Michele Bettwy, Toni Feret, Angel Goldian, Chris Lawson, Drew McGhee, Dave McGreal, Ginny Norris, Taylor Peterson, Cindy Royal, Jennifer Sabourin, Erin Shumac, Janine Strasser Guest: Debbie Flaig     Absent: Tom Koehle

Call to order: The meeting was called to order by Chair, Michele Bettwy, at 10:01 a.m.

Meeting Minutes Approval: The March meeting minutes were approved by the committee.

OLD BUSINESS

1. All Staff Conference Retreat (Angel Goldian): Angel reported the All-Staff Retreat is slated for May 19th; the committee has been meeting weekly. An agenda has been established and they are working out the details and finalization of times and topics. The committee has combined the topics and encompassing the recommended topics that were submitted. The main speaker will be Rick Capozzi from the Capozzi Group. Mr. Capozzi has previously spoken before when he was a PSU Employee through HRDC.

NEW BUSINESS

1. Faculty and Staff Salute a Champion for February/March2021 (Michele Bettwy):

Congratulations to Nathan Hollister, Instructor Design (Academic Affairs) and Facilities & Operations Team recipients of Salute a Champion for February/March 2021.  Salute a Champion nominations are being accepted for April on our website (altoona.psu.edu/sac).

2. Staff Advisory Council Election/Update (Michele Bettwy):

Nominated to the Staff Advisory Council:   Tom Hatch, Manager, Engineering Labs, Rachel Fowkes, Assistant Director of Development, Development and Alumni Relations, and Debbie Flaig,  Education and training/Adult Enrollment Coordinator

Nominated to the Faculty Senate:   Jennifer Sabourin, Director of Student Conduct, Debbie Flaig, Education and training/Adult Enrollment Coordinator, and Lynn Dalby, Research Technologist/Science Laboratory Coordinator

3. Department Events/Council Members (Michele Bettwy):

Michele Bettwy – Commencement ceremonies for our spring 2021 graduates will be in- person on Saturday, May 8th in the Adler Arena. If anyone is interested in volunteering with commencement, please reach out through an email to Michele. Additional commencement information will be sent out in the near future.

Drew McGhee – Reminder to notify IT when an employee leaves Penn State. Currently, there is no mechanism in place for notifying IT.

Deb Flaig – Spring SeAL Challenge will be held in a hybrid format on May 13, 2021. High school teams will build at their own location and will come together virtually via video conferencing on Challenge Day; Kids’ College 2021 camps will be offered virtually this summer. There are 13 camps available for elementary and middle school students and will begin on June 28, 2021. Chris Lawson – IT is sponsoring Adobe Premiere video editing training. The training will be held in two parts by Chris Lawson on Tuesday, May 25th and Thursday, May 27th from 1pm to 3 pm. If anyone is interested, please register at https://forms.office.com/r/DvtD9tVf5P.

Chris will be establishing a new SharePoint site for the SAC Council members to share and store files, communicate, coordinate future meetings through Teams, integrate better with other Office 365 apps.

Toni Feret –Adopt a Senior project. The primary purpose of this project is to connect our 2021 Spring graduating seniors with a professional (alumni/faculty/staff/friend) in the same or similar degree/field of employment, become a mentor and be a part of the student’s professional network. Karen Helsey will be sending information; Golf tournament is tentatively scheduled in-person for August or September; Virtual 5K – The Alumni Society Virtual took place between March 24th and April 7th and received $2600 for the student fund. Thanked those who participated.

Ginny Norris – Dani Frye, Director, Student & Civic Engagement has offered to attend the May Staff Advisory Committee meeting to speak about the benefits and opportunities of “Connect: student online involvement community”. Dani will be added to the May agenda.

Jennifer Sabourin – April is a month to bring awareness to many causes. Sexual Assault Awareness, moveable doors have been painted with phrases related to sexual violence and consent, as well as local resources. Doors will be displayed and moved throughout the campus. Informational programs are being offered and a movie screening will be held in Slep Pondview. Throughout April, special events and activities are planned for Alcohol Awareness and Pride month. Register on Connect for this month’s events.

Although Covid numbers off campus are vastly lower this semester, it’s still present. Student Affairs is seeking volunteers to assist with quarantine and isolation student support.

Taylor Peterson – Athletics is busy with the spring sports schedule. Fans are permitted to attend outdoor PS Altoona sporting events on campus. Must follow CDC guidelines. Students are required to register for a workout time for the Weight Room or Cardio Loft through Penn State Altoona Connect; Intramural activity challenges are being planned, some include cornhole, 5K possibility, and disc golf.

4. USAC Updates (Debbie Flaig)

Annual Summit – 4th Annual Summit was held on March 30th. Shared ideas and collaborated on issues impacting Penn State staff across the university. The presentations are on the website. Next Gen Penn State Survey – Penn State community is encouraged to participate in a survey on the search for the next University president.   Monthly Meeting Brief – Deb will forward the March Monthly Meeting brief to Janine and Michele for distribution to the committee.

STAFF CONCERNS/REPORTS:

Concern: Will the staff be receiving service awards this year 5 year, 10 year, etc.)?

Rseponse: Michele shared the awards ceremony is (tentatively) slated for May 20th and will be held virtually. Staff Services Awards have not been included in the program and it is not in the end of the year discussion. Janine also shared the service awards have not been given for the last two years. Committee asked Janine to follow-up with Cherrie Henry.

NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, May 12th at 10:00 a.m.

ADJOURNMENT: Meeting was adjourned at 10:40 a.m.