More Shoveling!

Hi Everyone,

To start off, the Board of Trustees has asked the Staff Council president Eileen Hanerfeld to appoint 5 staff representatives to various Standing Committees, so we're calling for volunteers. The representatives do Not need to be council members; anyone who feels they can contribute may submit their name for consideration.

The committees in question are: Audit (1 rep), Budget, Finance & Investment (2 reps), and Educational Policy and Institutional Resources (2 reps). Detailed descriptions of the committees and their functions are available at the Board of Trustees site. (Choose the links from the left-hand column under "Committees_Standing")

The letter finishes: "These positions will include training from Corinne Thompson prior to the beginning of term (3/1 - 2/28) All interested parties should email Eileen Hanerfeld directly by close of business on February 15th.
Eileen.Hanerfeld@uvm.edu"

So, if you'd like to serve on any of these committees, please contact Eileen.

Next, we're working hard to finish the by-laws in time for the next round of elections. The Rules and Election Committee submitted a very comprehensive framework for the full Council to consider, but we're still hammering out the details paragraph by paragraph. We're almost exactly halfway through, with another special meeting called for Tuesday Feb. 19th to tackle the rest of it--please come and see your reps at work!. (12:05pm in the Grand Maple Ballroom of the Davis Center)

The good news is that this by-law structure should be more transparent in all of its operations, and offer the entire staff more involvement in the election of the Council officers. Our greatest concern is to make sure that no unit or even a single staff member is left out, or underrepresented, in any procedure or action outlined in the by-laws.

The minutes from January were also approved, and those are now available on the Council website.

Well, here's hoping that everyone is coping safely with the new snow. It really is beautiful enough to (almost) make you not mind clearing the driveway, again.

Have a good weekend,

Joanne