University of Georgia Staff Council

The Early History

Early in Dr. Knapp's tenure as President of the University of Georgia he responded to concerns from a group of classified staff members that staff was the lone large campus constituency that had no form of representation or organization. In 1987, he established the Staff Representative Group (SRG), chaired by Mr. Carlton James, Director of Personnel Services, which drew one staff representative from each College and Vice Presidential Unit in the University. SRG's first charge was to compile a list of major staff concerns and forward a priority list to the administration. Those first staff representatives spent many long meetings preparing the list.

As part of his response to a revenue shortfall in 1991, Governor Miller cut all funds for staff raises from the State Budget while retaining a 1.5% raise for Faculty. A frustrated and angry portion of the classified staff of the University formed an independent group - the CCSM (Committee of Concerned Staff Members). One of the stated goals of the CCSM was the reorganization of the SRG into an independent advisory group which would be elected from and conducted by the classified staff of the University. This goal was shared by several members of the SRG. At a meeting on May 23, 1991, the SRG met for the first time without Mr. James or any administration representative present. At that meeting, it was agreed that the SRG would solicit the President Knapp's support for the restructuring of the SRG into an elected Staff Council, and for it's recognition as an advisory body in the Statutes of the University. Kenneth Schroder, SRG representative from the College of Pharmacy, was elected provisional chairman of the group. In addition, a provisional executive committee was elected, consisting of Mr. Schroder, Daniel Fendley of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and Patricia Lindl (now Schroder) from the College of Veterinary Medicine.

At a meeting with the SRG on June 5, 1991, President Knapp was most supportive and said he would recognize the restructured council as the advisory body of classified staff. The group was charged to write bylaws and a draft proposal for an amendment to the Statutes of the University. In the aftermath of the meeting with Dr. Knapp, the SRG elected a bylaws writing committee consisting of Patricia Lindl, Kenneth Schroder, James Morgenthaler from academic Affairs, Robert Hart of the College of Education, Susan Jones from Legal Affairs and Wilma Lingle from Arts and Sciences. In September the Bylaws of the Staff Council of the University of Georgia and the proposed amendment to the Statutes of the University were submitted to President Knapp. On September 25, 1991, Dr. Knapp put the bylaws into effect by executive order and forwarded the proposed amendment to the University Council for inclusion on the agenda. The amendment passed by unanimous voice vote at the June, 1992 meeting of the University Council. President Knapp then forwarded the amendment, with a strong supporting letter, to Chancellor Dean Propst for consideration by the Board of Regents. The Regents approved the amendment, giving the Staff Council a legal and legitimate place in University governance as an advisory council. An early recognition of the Staff Council's new role was the appointment of two of its members to the University committee preparing the Strategic Plan for the next five years for the University.

An important aspect of the Bylaws was the change in the representation on the Staff Council. Instead of the old SRG's one representative from each Vice Presidential area and College, representation in the Staff Council is based on the number of staff members in each unit. Every previously represented group retained one council member. Large units e.g. College of Arts and Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agriculture and VP for Business and Finance elected additional representatives on a formula basis. In Spring of 1992 elections were held in all units to bring the Staff Council to approximately 55 members. Patricia Lindl was elected as Chairman for the coming year. Charles Connor of the College of Education served as Vice Chair, Ellen Jackson from academic Affairs served as Secretary and Kenneth Schroder served as Treasurer. Dr. Knapp responded to concerns about racial tensions on campus by charging a Minority Issues Committee which reported directly to him. He set the precedent of having the Chair of the Staff Council be the staff representative on this important committee.

The issue of staff evaluations was also addressed during Ms. Lindl's tenure. After many meeting and much editing a new evaluation format and form was presented to the President's Cabinet. That basic form is being currently used across campus.

In June of 1993 Linda Dudley from the College of Law was elected to lead the council. This year was marked by the hiring of Ernst and Young to do a race and gender bias study of staff positions at the University.