University of Georgia Staff Council

Presidents Report (2004-2005)

Meeting Organization and Documentation

- We had set a goal to have meeting agendas posted 10-14 days prior to the Staff Council meeting and also to have the approved minutes and draft minutes of the previous meeting online and also sent to via email to the SC reps within 2 days of the conclusion of the meeting. These goals have been achieved.

- Another goal we set for this past year was to improve communication of Staff Council activities with the UGA staff at large. I feel that there was some success in this regard, mainly due to the availability of agendas and meeting minutes. If I'm reelected, my plan is to make this a top priority for the next year. Representatives need to have a solid plan on how they will disseminate SC information (agendas, meeting minutes, reports) in his/her unit. I know it would be an impossible task to reach everyone, but we need to make our best effort. We need to get the Communications Committee involved - to use their expertise or find the expertise that will allow reps to implement this goal at all levels of dissemination possible (email, web based, hard copies, etc.).

Activities of the Standing Committees

- Committee participation and production has increased. Look forward to bigger and better things in 2005-06

- Communications – produced their goal of two Staff Voice Newsletters (1 every 6 months)

- Needs and Concerns was involved in many small projects and also took the lead in a research project finding out the level of staff involvement on university councils on other top public universities.

- Legislative committee worked to get responses from candidates and also later from those elected to questions that were pertinent to staff.

Staff Involvement and Recognition

- A big disappointment was to have our proposal that was sent to University Council requesting an increase in staff representation from the current one to twelve staff members die in committee. We haven't given up and will try again next year.

- The Staff Council President was added as an ex-officio board member on the UGA Alumni Association

- The Staff Council President was added as an ex-officio board member on the Arch Foundation

- President Adams agreed to send recognition letters to SC rep departments thanking the named reps for their participation

UGA Staff – Caring & Concern

- The beginning of this past fiscal year was difficult due to the budget cuts and subsequent staff layoffs. This was acerbated when the University was told to absorb additional budget cuts later in the fall semester. We requested and received from HR monthly updates on the university's success on rehiring individuals that were laid off in 2004

- The Staff Council and other concerned staff took up a collection for the family of a staff member James Elrod who was killed on the job in August 2004

- The Shared leave program as of Nov 2004 had requests from seventy individuals approved and over 10,000 hours have been donated.

Staff serving on search committees for major appointments

- We sent a letter in the summer 2004 to President Adams and Provost Mace asking them for Staff Council representation on the search committee for the new Dean and Director of UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Provost Mace contacted Staff Council rep (Brice Nelson) from the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and asked him to submit a list of candidates in which a staff member would be selected to serve on this search committee.

- Staff Council Executive Committee was asked to supply staff candidates that could serve on the Search Committee for Vice-President of Research

- I was asked to serve on the search committee for the new Associate VP of Human Resources

Staff Council Representative Shortage

We had a major problem filling staff council representatives slots in the Finance & Administration. I had contacted Sr Vp Hank Huckaby in the fall 2004 and then again in April 2005 requesting his assistance in getting staff involved in his unit.

It was also brought to the Executive Committee's attention that there was a reorganization in 1999 in the departments of the Academic Affairs unit. This led to an examination of the UGA reorganizations that has occurred over the past years (and continues to change). This prompted the Exec. Comm. to write letters to the dean of Public and International Affairs, Public Health and the VP for Instruction., requesting assistance in getting staff to fill SC rep positions from these units.

State Wide Staff Conference meeting 2005

Many thanks to Margot Peters and the others on the State Wide Conference Committee for the hard work they have done this past year preparing for UGA hosting of the 2005 State Wide Conference in October.