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Louisiana Tech University Senate – January Minutes

Monday, January 23rd at 4:00-5:00 pm, Wyly Auditorium

  1. Call to Order – The January 23, 2023 meeting of the University Senate was called to order at 4:01 p.m. in Wyly Auditorium by President, Louis Reis.
  2. Welcome – President, Louis Reis, COES
  3. Roll Call – Alicia Kimbell recorded attendance; a quorum was met
  4. Approval of December 2022 Minutes – a motion to approve the minutes was made by Joseph Williams and seconded by Dustin Whitlock; all approved
  5. Updates
    1. Reminder to senate members to check Moodle regularly for information/updates
    2. State Tenure Taskforce – no new updates
    3. Deficiency Exam Committee Recommendations
      1. Posted on the University Senate Moodle page for members to review
        1. Will discuss at next senate meeting
      2. Shelcie Menard-Harvey stated that this document covers the committee’s process, findings, and recommendations
        1. Senate members can post comments in the forum
        2. A more formal write-up will be available at the next meeting
          1. If approved, will be sent to CADS

        3. The committee could always use more members

    4. SGA
      1. Met with Galen Turner IV, SGA Senator
        1. Wants to have a joint meeting between University Senate and SGA (maybe twice a year)
        2. Possibly have a student rep sit in on senate meetings and have a senate rep sit in on SGA meetings (they meet every week)
        3. Have an open line of communication
    5. QEP – dialogue team leaders are scheduled to meet on 2/7
    6. IESB Shooting
      1. Suspect identified and caught
      2. Concerns of campus safety from a faculty/staff standpoint
        1. Bill Davis recommended using the Safe Dog app
    7. Upcoming Meetings
      1. 2/7 – APC
      2. 2/9 – Dr. Guice
      3. 3/26 – 3/28 – ULS For Our Future Conference (Lake Charles)
    8. Policy Revisions
        1. Review the revisions on Moodle (Policy Revisions 2023 Folder) and send comments to Louis by 1/25
        2. Poll vote concludes on 1/27
    9. Future Speakers
      1. February – Donna Thomas, Tom Hoover, Jerona Washington (Tech Online launch)
      2. March – Dr. Guice (university report)
      3. April – ??
      4. May – Senate officer elections
    10. Awards Committee
      1. Nomination forms will go out in early March as a Google Form link to the university (active for 2 weeks)
      2. Senate will vote on finalists; rank choice voting
      3. 1 person per college will need to chosen for faculty awards; need help from senate in the vetting process
      4. Finalists will be contacted in April; packets to be submitted at the beginning of May
      5. Winners announced at Fall convocation
  1. New Business – none
  2. Adjournment – Meeting was adjourned at 4:22 p.m.; a motion was made by Patsy Hughey and seconded by Becki Clark; all approved
  3. Guest Speaker – Sam Wallace, Associate Vice President for Administration and Facilities and Melissa Hughes, Director of Purchasing
    1. Purchasing is one of the areas managed
      1. Comply with state law
      2. Follow procurement code/policy
      3. Obtain the best price
      4. Ensure legal and ethical access to the public to do business
    2. Does not handle travel reimbursements or conference registrations
    3. Compared to other institutions to see what we could be doing better in the reimbursement process
      1. Issues:
        1. Delay of processing
        2. Use of reimbursements to avoid policy
        3. Use of reimbursements to avoid bid law
        4. Avoid cost of sales tax
    4. Last year – non-travel reimbursements were $532,000
    5. Reached out to schools within the UL system to look at their reimbursement policies; found that we are out of line with other schools
      1. The intent was to implement the change on January 23rd but this has not been done yet as some things are still being worked on
        1. Allowable purchase codes that the state needs to change first
      2. Encourage the use of P-Card (rebates are given by its use)
          1. Quick payments
          2. Very reliable by state (can pick up unusual patterns)
          3. Have to be careful that taxes are not attached to purchase
      3. Improve training classes from the state
      4. New state Director of Purchasing – anticipate some improvements
    6. What we will be implementing:
      1. Reimbursement will not include travel or professorships
      2. Cannot exceed $500 without prior approval
      3. Cannot exceed $1,000 in fiscal year
      4. Must be initiated within 30 days of expenditure (w/o prior approval)
    7. Departmental cards – not allowed; cannot be shared
    8. International purchases – in many cases there are exceptions, options available
    9. Conference registrations – are part of travel
    10. Amazon Business Account – used for P-Card only
      1. E-mail Melissa Hughes to request an account be set up
      2. Tax free account
      3. Have to be careful with procurement rules
    11. Will reimbursement apply to food purchases for an event on campus?
      1. Currently waiting on MCC code to be changed
      2. Can work with Melissa and Nicole to get a one-time bump of limit
      3. Has to have prior approval, food form must be attached from Aramark
    12. Every purchase is reviewed regardless of method
    13. Journal Fees
      1. Can exceed $500
      2. No tax attached
      3. Talk to Purchasing ahead of time regarding the $500 limit/$1,000 cap
    14. Who can get a P-Card?
      1. As long as you are full-time faculty/staff
      2. Certain positions cannot have one if they are part of the direct review process
      3. Cannot buy on a personal credit card and not be taxed; must have a P-Card to receive tax exemption
      4. Can have multiple accounts under a P-Card
      5. Grants will have a totally different P-Card
    15. Hope to have a response back from the state this week
    16. Some areas have already started implementing the new reimbursement process