Staff Senate at Work: Listening, Asking Questions and Telling Our Story
As we have moved through the fall semester, I have continued to remind our senators of something simple: Staff Senate works best when we stay connected with the staff we represent.
Since August, our committees have been discussing topics that affect employees across the University of Kentucky, including employee engagement and workplace experience, compensation and benefits, technology and communication, campus infrastructure, Human Resources policies and staff representation. We have also continued conversations with university leaders about organizational changes, employee support, technology and other issues employees have brought forward.
Those conversations do not always produce an immediate answer. Staff Senate does not make every decision that affects employees. What we can do is listen, ask questions, seek reliable information and help ensure staff perspectives remain part of the conversation.
But there is another part of our responsibility that I believe is important: telling our story.
Much of Staff Senate’s work takes place outside our monthly meetings. Employees may not see the questions being researched, committee discussions taking place or follow-up occurring with university partners after someone brings us a concern or idea. That is something we are working to change.
Through From the Chair’s Corner, we have begun sharing regular articles directly with employees. The first, “Your Voice Matters,” focused on a simple idea: The Staff Senate story belongs to all of us. It encouraged employees to share questions, workplace challenges, successes and ideas because every conversation helps us better understand the experiences of UK staff.
A second article, “Staff Senate Brings Employee Perspectives to Leadership,” showed what that can look like in practice. It shared information from Staff Senate’s conversations with university leaders about Beyond Blue and winter weather preparedness and demonstrated how employee questions and feedback can become part of those discussions.
We are also beginning our Behind the Work of Staff Senate series to make the work of our 15 committees more visible. The first installment, “Staff Voice & Governance,” highlights four committees that help connect staff perspectives with university leadership and shared governance: the President Advisory Committee, Healthcare Administration Advisory Committee, Higher Education Administration Advisory Committee and Shared Governance Collaboration Committee.
Future installments will introduce other areas of committee work and help our colleagues see more of what happens between monthly meetings and how senators serve staff throughout the year.
Together, these articles are another way for us to tell the Staff Senate story, not simply by explaining what Staff Senate is, but by showing what our senators and committees are doing throughout the year.
And that story begins with you.
If something is working well in your area, tell us. If you are seeing a recurring concern, tell us that, too. If you have an idea that could make UK a better place to work, we want to hear it.
The more we hear from our colleagues, the better we can represent them and the better we can tell the story of staff working together to make a difference at UK.
Carl Harper
Chair, University of Kentucky Staff Senate
The University of Kentucky Staff Senate is the official representative body of university staff. Through shared governance, the Staff Senate elevates staff perspectives, strengthens communication with university leadership, and promotes collaboration among employees across the university. Staff Senate advocates for staff interests, supports a positive workplace experience and recognizes the people whose work advances the university’s mission and service to the Commonwealth.