PSRC Meeting
Present: Stu Austen (Chair), John Drozdoff, Jennifer Kaban, Brenda Morrey, Colin Morton, Doug Preddy
Absent: Curtis Ballard, Niki Martin, Mike Mouat
1. General
Stu noted that he had no major agenda items for discussion and simply felt a regular meeting was overdue. He had not been able to arrange for Josie to attend a meeting but may try again in the future. Past experience indicates that January is the best time for an AGM and an exact date will be communicated to the membership sometime in December.
A new Head of Science Division has been hired. There will be a transitional overlap period however he is already involved in TRIUMF activities.
2. Approval and Posting of Minutes
An amended version of the August 19 PSRC meeting minutes was approved for posting.
3. AOB
The 2010 Salary Adjustment Guidelines appear to have been followed with one or two possible exceptions. It is unknown whether similar guidelines will be applied this year.
PPR time is looming again and several staffing issues present themselves. A number of long time employees have left (or will be leaving soon) and there does not appear to be any priority based plan to replace the functions they perform. Some, but not all, may have a logical successor already identified. This topic could potentially become a component in the PPR process. The Succession Committee, which had been looking at the problem and making recommendations, has not met for a year. There are enough unresolved matters to warrant a letter to the Director seeking clarification.
Those who are heavily involved with pre-shutdown activities and those who are required to work over the Christmas break may not benefit as much as others from Nigel’s gift of three and a half vacation days however the gesture must certainly be acknowledged with gratitude.
There was discussion about the tendering process for outside services such as janitors, electricians, cafeteria services etc. Although it was not a P&S matter in the strictest sense apparent conflicts and inequities did affect overall staff morale. It was not clear that procurement TSOP and its referenced policies were always being followed. Some services appear to be outsourced to circumvent a hiring freeze.
There was a short discussion about the cancellation of TRIUMF’s annual Christmas Party. A more casual onsite event could still be possible.