The COSA meeting was called to order at 8:35 a.m.

Special Order of the Day:

Dr. Hugh C. Bailey came to COSA to address a few of the concerns that the staff had concerning the new insurance issue. He had just returned from a SAC meeting in Texas and wasn't sure how much more he could tell us that wasn't already out in the memo he sent out campus wide. He said that there was no villain here, no one to blame. He said that he hopes the Governor will help out the plan we have now, but something has to be done so it doesn't happen again. The University System has been given mandates by the Governor's office OPB and the new Department of Community Health, a new office developed by the Governor that is headed by Russ Toal to remedy this situation. Several things have been done. Blue Cross/Blue Shield is the administrator of our health plan now. There has been the feeling that Blue Cross/Blue Shield hasn't been sufficient zealous in getting the best terms possible. So people have been sent to hospitals all over the state to gather information. When the hospital billed Blue Cross/Blue Shield they simply paid it. There was not an established contract with the hospitals and doctors, which meant they were paying whatever was charged. But in those same communities the hospitals had agreements with local businesses and industrials and found that they were getting their services 20 to 30 per cent cheaper than the state. So the Department of Community Health has taken steps to negotiate contracts with 262 hospitals across the state which should decrease the cost of hospital services for our employees which will save millions of dollars. It should have been done a long time ago. There will probably be a new carrier for our program sometime very soon. We have a lot of people working very hard to try to meet our needs. We realize that for a lot of our entry-level employees the insurance is a very important issue. What we will probably emerge with is a system where you will have a statewide Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) available. The coverage will probably approximate what we have now and the cost to you may be similar or a little higher from what you are now paying. However if you elect to stay with the plan we have now it could cost anywhere between 50 to 100 per cent more than it does now. We aren't sure whether this will extend outside the state with the PPO plan. This PPO plan isn't new; other states are using this plan. Hopefully we will have a list of who is on the PPO plan and more information to pass along to you as soon as it is passed to me. They will probably change our fiscal year from January 1 - December 31 to July 1 - June 30. We aren't sure about the deductible yet but it is generally carried over when this type of change takes place. We still have a lot of questions without answers and as soon as we know the terms you will know it. As to the raises this year we have heard that we may get a 3 % raise effective October 1, 2000. Right now this is a rumor and the final decision will be made outside the University System.

Approval of Minutes:

Nina Windham was an excused member at the last meeting. This was added and the minutes were approved.

Treasurer's Report :  Beginning October Balance $1759.83

January Balance:  $1312.00

Committee Reports

Elections- Holly Decker reported that we are getting a current list of all staff employees and putting them in the area of representation for the coming election in April. Any staff employees who would like to serve on COSA can email me hmdecker@valdosta.edu or write to box 7159 COSA/VSU no later than April 1st. This way we can put your name at the top of the list of willing representatives.

Employee Recognition- Holly Decker reported the pictures have been submitted and will be put on the bulletin board in Nevins Hall.

Policies /By-Laws Committee- Ruth Salter, chair, read the proposed changes to the by-laws to the council. Everyone agreed with the proposed change and it was voted into the by-laws, the change is attached to January's minutes. She then told the council about another change in the by-laws, which she will present at the next meeting. Debi Parkhill did suggest that COSA purchase Robert's Rules of Order for the parliamentarian to have to make sure the meetings are held correctly and pass on to the next parliamentarian. Everyone agreed with this suggestion.

Welfare- Hilda Spell reported that the completion day now for the new Science/Biology building has been delayed until after September 2000. Robert Tindall is very busy right now but he is going to do the original drawings and design the Walkway for COSA. The new balance for the Walkway fund is $529.00 for January. Nina Windham reported to the council that the $ 246.00 raised at the Staff Day has been transferred to the Retirement Walkway account and should show up in the next month balance. Hilda wanted to remind everyone about the Retirement Luncheon in June. She said to make sure anyone wanting to buy a brick for a retiree to make sure you put their name on the form so that a brick can be purchased for that person. She also has plenty of forms if anyone needs one (# 5878). Ruth Salter asked if there could be a database started to keep a list of all the bricks that have been purchased. It was discussed between the council for the chair of the committee to get together with the personnel at the Foundation and see what could be done. Ruth said that she would help also.

Recycling- Dr. Ari Santas reported from the campus Recycling Committee the following information to the council. Our agreement with the City of Valdosta Department of Public Works is that if we supply plain white paper for recycling, they would supply the rollout recycling bins for VSU to use and pick up the material at a designated time. Right now we have set up recycling plain white paper in the office areas in West and Nevins Halls. The colored or mixed paper is still going to Fiber Mulch for recycling. We have run into a few problems. The bins were placed in the hallways where they got contaminated with other items. When the custodial staff went to pick up the bins there was nothing in them. Either no one was recycling or the night custodial staff may have accidentally threw it away, especially if the containers were mixed or contaminated. Our solution was to take the bins out of the hallways and start recycling in the offices, desk side, getting someone designated in the offices as the individual who is accountable for the process, and putting the materials under lock and key. And prior to this restructuring, there was no paper delivered to the City. We do not want to dissolve our agreement with the City because of this set back. We need all the help that we can get to make this program work, so anyone who has any ideas, needs recycling picked up, or sees someone throwing away recycling please contact me, Ari Santas # 7433 or email  HYPERLINK mailto:asantas@valdosta.edu
asantas@valdosta.edu. Call Lisa Hayes # 6364 for collection of the recycling.

Salary Study- Debi Parkhill reported that she had received some inquiries concerning the status of the Salary Study. She directed the individuals to refer to the October meeting minutes on the COSA 's web page. In the October meeting, Debi stated that due to the deficit of 2.4 million it was impractical to pursue these objectives. The continuation of this committee would not be an efficient way to structure COSA 's time and energy. As an example she described this process. " In the event that we had a completed Salary Study ready to be submitted to Dr. Bailey it would have to be placed on "hold" until which time the University is no longer under these budget restrictions. It has been projected that it may take 2 years before this process is completed. If we then resubmit the Salary Study two years later it will no longer be current and thus be rejected. Cosa would then be back to square one." There are so many other positive issues that we, as staff representatives, can focus our time, energy, and creativity on. Fund raisers to raise money for local charities, staff projects and creating an even better Staff Appreciation Day for this year. Due to these elements Debi, as Chairperson of COSA dissolved the Salary Study Committee until the time that the budget is more stable at VSU. But anyone who has any information or research they can send it to VSU/ COSA Box 7159 or contact Debi ( # 2608 or dparkhil ).

Reports from the Chair:  Debi Parkhill asked Bill Filtz who is the Chairperson of the University System of Georgia Staff Council if he had anything to report. He reported that the USGSC would meet at Macon State College, Building K, and room # 106 on Friday March 3, 2000 at 9:30 am. Debi Parkhill will be the representative from VSU to attend the meeting in Macon.

Old Business

New Business  Due to the length of the COSA meeting old and new business wasn't discussed and will be held over for the next meeting.

There being no further discussion or business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:45 am and will meet again on March 14, 2000 at the STUDENT UNION CONFERENCE ROOM #1 upstairs.