Jon Rice called the meeting to order and introduced guest speakers Antonio Rice and Mark Fletcher.

Antonio Rice spoke about a pilot employee exercise program that is held for an hour at noon every Tuesday at the North Grounds Recreation Center. The first half an hour is dedicated to Nutritional Counseling and the remaining time to exercise and work outs including cardio exercise or strength training. Antonio shared a quote with us from his former football days: "The rate of the leader determines the pace of the pack".

The council discussed the benefit of $25 paid by the University toward a membership to the Intramural Recreational facilities. The program needs a) a Commitment by ECC Reps and b) Commitment from those we represent. A petition will try to be gathered to present the Administration asking for more financial commitment to the employees. Certain members of the council will be drafting a proposal to request an increase in the benefit to present to the council, other councils and eventually to the Vice President for consideration.

Mark Fletcher spoke of the proud tradition here at UVA where the Faculty, Staff and Students all use the recreational facilities side by side. The Aquatics and Fitness Center was opened in June of 1996. It is used by approximately 60% male and 40% female. 94% of all the undergraduates use the facility and almost 4000 Faculty and Staff have memberships. The park is part of the facility and has lights on to create a safe environment. There is also a pool side cafe.

The addition provides 50,000 sq ft. of new space. The planned opening of the new addition is slated for May 2004. It will be used for more sports as well as graduation and alumni functions. There are two chiller plants in the basement of the aquatic center. The design is built on break out walls for use as basketball, volleyball and on the alumni weekends. There is a 1/10 mile track above the courts. Seating will accommodate 2,600 people. Many windows and glass imbue the space with an airy atmosphere. Body Masters will be added to the lower level wet space. In the upper level wet space there will be cubbies for personal items and stretch mats.

The January meeting minutes were approved. The December meeting minutes are still pending.

Outstanding Contributions
Alan Cohn of Human Resources was not present, but forwarded information regarding the 2004 Outstanding Contribution Awards Program. Nomination forms for the Outstanding Contribution Award can be found on the Human Resources web site under forms. The nomination period is February 16, 2004 through March 19, 2004. The nominator or one of the endorsers must be the nominee's supervisor. The Outstanding Contribution Awards will be presented June 3, 2004.

Human Resources will be sending out information for those employees who will be receiving service awards. A banquet will be held at the Omni for those employees who have twenty-five years of service or more, on June 3, 2004. Detailed information about both awards will be sent to honorees and their departments closer to the dates of the events.

Employee Travel Opportunities
There is still space available for the trip to Germany on March 6th. In November the University trip will be to Switzerland. Information on those trips can be found in the Human Resources web site.

Jon announced that a new web page on the EVPECC web site will be up soon. The new web page will contain questions from the Employee Council with answers provided by University administration.

The future meetings planned are:

1. Nancy Rivers on March 18th at 1:30 p.m.
   Location: South Room, Newcomb Hall
   
   
2. Leonard Sandridge on Thursday, May 27th at 1:30 p.m. [corrected]
   Location: President's Conference Room, Madison Hall

Please forward questions for these speakers in advance of the respective meetings to Jon Rice, Council Chair, at jgr9a@virginia.edu.