Staff Council hears update on campus master plan, proposed child care center

The UNT Staff Council heard a report from Richard Rafes, senior vice president for administration, regarding the university's master plan for the campus during the group's March 7 meeting.

The presentation included updates on new buildings, land acquisitions, plans for the Liberty Christian School property, a proposed football stadium, a tennis complex, baseball and softball complexes, the Library Mall renovation project, the Student Health and Wellness Center, and other campus improvements.

Rafes also gave the status of the development of a child care center for the children of students, faculty and staff. He said that although the committee working on the plan has experienced several setbacks trying to find an appropriate location for the center, he hopes that a new location now being considered will prove to be the most cost-effective and convenient option. He said the committee has talked with the company that provides child care for Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke University and other institutions about the possibility of managing child care at UNT.

The council also approved a resolution encouraging UNT administrators to continue current or increased funding of the Faculty and Staff Scholarship program for employees and dependents.

The resolution comes after reports that the UNT Budget Committee is examining the increasingly expensive program as part of the 2005-06 budgeting process. Mary Finley, Staff Council chair, reported that more than 150 testimonials submitted to the council by faculty and staff who have benefited or whose dependents have benefited from the scholarship will be attached to the resolution when it is presented to President Norval Pohl.

In addition, the council approved changes to the group's bylaws that will add flexibility to the date of meetings of the group as a whole and allow council members reclassified to positions outside their work group to remain on the council to finish their terms of office. The changes will also create more continuity within the council by adjusting the timing of the nomination and election of members and officers. The changes modify the time of year when officers are elected from September to May and move up the nomination and election of members from May to April.

In other business, the council:

• appointed Sabrina Gilbreath, administrative services officer in the Department of Chemistry, to fill the unexpired term of another member who was unable to fulfill the Staff Council service obligation.
• elected Becky French, accounting clerk in purchasing and payment services, to serve as parliamentarian for the remainder of the 2004-05 academic year.

The Staff Council meets again at 2 p.m. May 2 in the University Union, Room 418. For more information about the council, visit www.unt.edu/staffcouncil.

BY MICHELLE HALE mhale@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue

• Inspirational speaker "Rudy" Ruettiger to visit UNT
• Regents raise board-designated tuition $6 per semester credit hour
• Tenure granted in one appealed case
• Defense bill funding of $3.1 million buys UNT two electron microscopes
• International Week at UNT starts April 4
• Project aims to preserve web information for posterity
• UNT to host annual Texas Higher Education Law Conference April 11-12
• April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
• Work continues on UNT's Academic Plan
• Senate approves tenure appeals process resolution

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