Feminist Issues Committee

Meeting Minutes from February 28, 2003

The meeting began at 4:30p.m.

Present: Pat Arseneault, IFO Equity Advocate, Tamara Berg, Suzanne Black, Tracy Ore, Shannon Skarphol Kaml, and Gina Wenger           

Absent: Georgia Holmes, FIC Board Liasion, Mary Jo Hrenchir, Tracy Ann Scholl

New Business:

Tamara Berg introduced the idea of moving the meeting start time to 3:00p.m. for future meetings.  This was acceptable to all present.

Continuing Business:

Future uses of the FIC grant were discussed.  Suzanne Black agreed to ask the current grant recipient whether she would be continuing with her grant-funded project.

The committee agreed it would request that the Board move surplus funds from this year’s budget to next year’s budget and that the additional monies would be allotted to the development of an FIC webpage.

Pat agreed to contact MaryJo Hrenchir regarding her progress on constructing a grant call for website construction and also will approach the IFO’s current webmaster concerning the possibility of maintaining the site once it is operational.

If progress can be made on the website a third FIC meeting will be called yet this spring.

Reports:

Pat appraised the group of the progress made to date on campus settlements at Mankato and Winona.

Pat informed the group on the language she presented to the Government Relations Committee regarding paid family leave for state employees.  The GRC will carry the contractual language to the legislature.

Campus Updates (very truncated):

Tracy Ore reported that many of the GLBT community at St. Cloud were concerned with the apparent ease at which the IFO and the other state unions jettisoned Domestic Partner Benefits from their contracts in order to facilitate their ratification by the new administration.  She highlighted the need for the IFO to be more proactive in communicating with it constitutes.

The meeting adjoined at 8:25p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Shannon Skarphol Kaml, acting FIC secretary and Co-Chair.