Senate Committees

Purpose

The purpose of the By-Laws Committee shall be to:

1. Keep the Staff Senate By-Laws up to date;
2. Keep the records of the By-Laws;
3. Review and consider any proposed changes, and to take suitable change proposals to the Staff Senate after due consideration and timely announcements;
4. Ensure that copies of the By-Laws are readily available to all members of the University community as well as the general public; and
5. Audit the By-Laws every three (3) years (done during the election cycle of the Staff Representative to the Board of Trustees election), composed of a subset of the By-Laws Committee, the Staff Senate Office Coordinator and the Parliamentarian.

Meeting Time / Location

By-Laws Committee meetings are scheduled the 2nd Thursday of each month at 11:00 a.m. via virtual meetings at this time. 

Members (July 2023 - June 2024)

• Michael Adams
• Alina Carpenter
• Kelly Hahn; Chair
• Carl Harper; Secretary
• Iyad Jabbour
• Elizabeth Kostrub
• Nathan Stewart
• Nancy Taylor
• Stephanie Zapata
• Laure Ziembroski Smith

Purpose

The purpose of the Community Outreach committee shall be to:

1. Strive to provide a structure to better allow the Staff Senate to engage with the University of Kentucky community through acts of service, as well as by supporting acts of service organized by the University of Kentucky community
2. In partnership with the Public Relations committee, support the CRISIS program with the creation of deliverables and active outreach 
3. Review or encourage development of new types of service activities or programs in colloboration with Staff Senate's main body, as well as the entire University of Kentucky community
   1. a) Potential UK Partners, including but not limited to:
      1. Office of Work-Life
      2. Center for Community Outreach
4. Leverage exisiting membership of the Staff Senate to support community outreach through service opportunities across the Commonwealth

Members (July 2023 - June 2024)

• Joshua Borgemenke
• Chris Carney
• Melissa Claar
• Andrew Fast
• Jonnisa Ferguson
• Jennifer Fore
• Tenia Gatewood
• Dean Holt; Chair
• Harrison Levans
• Carol Simpson
• Johnna Wilford

Members (July 2023 - June 2024)

• Benito Botaka
• Kevin Fleming
• Sheneda Goforth
• Charles Haley
• Kevin Horn-Pacheco
• Jennifer Knuf; Chair
• Heather McAtee
• Glenn Means III
• Te'Quisha Miller
• Tessa Pinkerton
• Justin Sumner
• Markeda Yarbrough

Purpose

The purpose of the Elections Committee shall be to:

1. Conduct an annual review of the Staff Senate precincts and make recommendations for changes to ensure that the Staff Senate represents the staff fairly and proportionately;
2. Certify eligibility of candidates for election to the Staff Senate and Staff Representative to the Board of Trustees;
3. Conduct the election of Senators to the Staff Senate; and
4. Conduct the election of the Staff Representative to the Board of Trustees.

Members (July 2023 - June 2024)

• Shelly Bishop
• James Boxx
• Jaelyn Harris
• Megan Lucy
• Krystle Moore
• Daniel Naas
• Preston Thomas

Purpose

1) Create opportunities for employees to engage in University and Staff Senate activities

Members (July 2023 - June 2024)

• Dawn Baker
• John Blaine
• Sarah Fitzgerald
• Sandra Frey
• Charla Hamilton
• Mindy Thompson
• Jeanine Washington

Purpose

​The purpose of the HealthCare Administration/EVPHA Advisory Committee shall be to:

Bring staff-related concerns to HealthCare administration and to increase communication between HealthCare administration and staff.

Members (July 2023 - June 2024)

• Olwen Burton
• Kevin Duncan
• Joseph Hacker
• Amanda Hornsby
• Aaron Peffer
• Monica Perez
• Cory Qualls
• Gage Redimarker
• Karena Spears
• Andrea Strassburg
• Halley White

Current Items for Review:

Annual reports from the Office of the Treasurer: http://www.uky.edu/EVPFA/Controller/finst.htm.

Operating and capital budget information and other helpful reports:  http://www.uky.edu/OPBPA/

Purpose

The Institutional Finances and Resource Allocation Committee purpose shall be to:

1. Inform the University Senate Council and the Staff Senate on the present status of the prospective changes in the finances and other resources available to the University. The Committee shall analyze public budget documents, published reports about financial and other trends and shall consult appropriate officials in fulfilling this function. It shall also examine budgetary data concerning the allocation of available financial resources resulting from budget reductions. However, the Committee's concerns here shall not be focused on departmental, college or other particular interests, but on general concerns and procedures taken from the perspective of the entire University; and
2. Generate recommendations to the Staff Senate for action on such issues.

Members (July 2023 - June 2024)

• Rebecca Earls
• Perry Gibson
• Jaymie Hays
• Jessica Howard
• Amy Jones
• Kelly Lamping
• Farhad Rezaei
• Tymory Stanton
• Laurel Wood

EVPFA Eric Monday, Ex-officio

Purpose

The purpose of the Advisory Committee to the President of the University shall be to:

1. Provide advice on any issue brought to it by the President; and
2. Bring to the President any issue the Staff Senate deems appropriate.

Members (July 2023 - June 2024)

• James Aaron
• Dale Davis
• Jennifer Fransen
• Terry Keys
• Brittany Lawrence
• Fadyia Lowe
• Marie Marefat
• Tiffany Miller
• Covetta Ramey
• Amanda Schagane
• Aaron Vaught
• Elijah Wilson

Purpose

1) Provide opportunities to employees to engage in development and growth within the University

2) Execute and present monthly Lunch and Learns to University employees

Explore Professional Development Resources

Members (July 2023 - June 2024)

• Ginger Anderson
• Tiara Ball
• Christy Coffman
• Cody Conn
• Ann Eads
• Sheena Lee
• Sandra Shepherd
• Christine Wildes
• Stephen Williams
• Sandy Wooden Gay

Purpose

The purpose of the Public Relations and External Affairs Committee shall be to:

1. Internally and externally disseminate Staff Senate information;
2. Lead Staff Senate informational initiatives on issues affecting the University with regard to the local and state governments of Kentucky, other institutions and other external affairs in a fair and equitable manner; and
3. Generate recommendations to the Staff Senate for action on such issues.

Members (July 2023 - June 2024)

• Allissa Anderson
• Catherine Hayden
• Jordan Hoehler
• Julianne Kravetz
• Addison Mills
• Karen Owsley
• Kevin Puckett
• Sydney Shields
• Allison Walters

Purpose

The purpose of the Special Events committee shall be to: 

1) Assist and execute all Staff Senate events, including but not limited to: UK Appreciation Day, UK Remembers, UK DanceBlue DanceParty, Conversation with the President, Chat with the Provost. 

Members (July 2023 - June 2024)

• Mandi Banahan
• Kelly Beverley
• Sabrina Brewer
• Lisa Lockman
• Ashley Marcum
• Pamela Noble
• Scott Sorrell
• Clem Stambaugh

Purpose

The purpose of the Technology Committee shall be to:

1. Ensure maintenance of the Staff Senate website, SharePoint, listservs, and other technologies as necessary, in collaboration with the Staff Senate and other committees;
2. Liaise with University IT and the Office of the Staff Senate to resolve technology concerns for the Staff Senate; and
3. Generate recommendations to the Staff Senate on questions of technology.

Members (July 2023 - June 2024)

• Zachary King; Chair
• Ritchelle Ruiz; Secretary
• Misty Dotson Wright
• Jennifer Hill
• Ben Rice

The purpose of the University Benefits and Compensation Committee shall be to:

1. Meet regularly with the Human Resources Executive Director (or representative)
2. Generate recommendations for action on such issues to be:
   1. Referred to Executive Committee
   2. Referred to Staff Senate Body
   3. Referred to another committee

Our team came together for the first time on August 12, 2021. Our regularly scheduled committee meeting is set for the first Friday of every month. To date, we have discussed many employee concerns including but not limited to:

• Workplace flexibility.
• Return on campus of remote/hybrid employees.
• Vaccine badging, booster shots, campus wide mandate as well as potential incentives to encourage Covid-19 vaccinations.
• Wage feathering and pay inequity concerns.
• Review of the performance evaluation process.
• Fertility insurance coverage.
• FMLA and unpaid leave concerns.
• Re-evaluation of shared leave pool parameters.

Members (July 2023 - June 2024)

• Amanda Biddle
• Jennifer D. Edwards
• Ryan Farley
• James Hamblin
• Joshua Henry
• Andrew Hernandez
• Curtis Hudson
• Amy Lombard
• Amy Lorenzo
• Stephanie Million
• Scott Pappas
• Stephanie Peeples
• Tiffany Randolph
• Stephen Reed
• Stefan Schagane
• Alice Williams

Members (July 2023 - June 2024)

• Cynthia Brown
• Alexanda Curtis
• Beth Goins
• Laura Hall
• Kyle Hardesty
• Lyndall Harned
• Ginni Haynes; Chair
• Troy Martin
• Courtney McCalla
• Allison Montero
• Sarah Orr
• Cary Osborne
• Kristen Pickett
• Madeline Trudeau