9-21-2005

Staff AssemblyExecutive Council Meeting Minutes

September 21,2005

Sent to Staff-l onOctober 6, 2005

Present:  TrevorWerttemberger, Shelly Daughterty, Connie Hickman, Marcia Bertholf,Krystal Burns, Mary Beth Charleboix, Crystal Roberg, Rick Smith,Angela Ruff, Kim Gieber, Ray Lader.

Agenda Topics:

Committee purposestatements – Staff Assembly members would like to open up atwo-way dialogue with committee members to review (and revise ifneed be) each committee’s purpose and responsibilities.  Current “job descriptions”(perhaps not an appropriate term) were tabled and never votedon.  In the next monthSA members should read each description, try to condense it into asimple paragraph that would define the focus of the committee.  Then we will meet withcommittee members, the end goal being a clear, mutually agreed onpurpose statement and description of responsibilities.

Diversity awarenessprogram – Marcia Bertholf reported on this years DiversityAwareness Program (last year called “Passport”).  In cooperation with JasonSwain and Raymond Reyes, this year’s program will be at a new time(11:30 – 1:00 p.m., generally the third Friday of each month) andwill feature a “Reference Book” where participants “write thechapters.”  ThisFriday, September 23, will kick off with “Laying the Foundation – ACommon Language.”  RickSmith pointed out that Plant Services has also scheduled a regularevent for third Fridays of the month – something Marcia was notaware of.

United Way Campaign– Marcia also reported that this week is the kick off for theUnited Way Campaign. We are looking for fun ways to get people involved on a limitedbudget. 

Continuation ofdiscussion about SA representation, next steps - (This is anongoing discussion) How can we do a better job of reaching out andinvolving a greater representation of the constituency of the staffat Gonzaga? 

-        Trevor began the discussion by asking “If Staff Assembly did notexist, how would we go about structuring it to involve asatisfactory representation of the diversity of staff?”

-        The Exempt/Non-exempt classification seems to fall short anddoesn’t necessarily mean that people who share thoseclassifications will have things in common.  Perhaps looking at schools,departments, offices, age, etc would provide a better structuralrepresentation.

-        The word “staff” itself can be problematic as people don’t know whothat means.  HRclassifications can make it confusing.  Basically anyone who is notfaculty is considered staff (except Fr. Spitzer and Jacinta).

-        Perhaps we need to identify the groups that are under-representedand make a concerted effort to purposefully involve them.