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

• Carl Harper, Chair
• Nancy Taylor, Secretary
• Diana Doggett
• Kelly Hahn
• Elizabeth Kostrub
• Linda Marshall
• 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

• Dean Holt, Chair
• Claire Heaney, Secretary
• James Aaron
• Alissa Anderson
• Ginger W. Anderson
• Chris Carney
• Rachel Combs
• Andrew Fast
• Jennifer Fore
• Amanda Hancock
• Mary Henderson
• Heather McAtee
• Frederick Rupp IV
• Sandra Shepherd
• Cara Tackett

Members

• Jennifer Knuf, Chair
• Kaleb Gray, Secretary
• Joshua Borgemenke
• James Boxx
• Candace Bramley-Hardesty
• Kevin Fleming
• Marnice Hart
• Talina Henderson
• Sheena Lee
• Kevin Puckett
• Andrea Strassburg
• Justin Sumner
• Josh Taylor
• Preston Thomas
• 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

• Sarah Steen, Chair
• Beth Austin, Secretary
• Shelly Bishop
• Kristen Grubb
• Amy Lombard
• Krystle Moore

Purpose

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

Members

• Candace Owens, Chair
• Mindy Thompson
• Dawn Baker
• John Blaine
• John Cruz
• Sydney Shields
• Scott Sorrell
• Angel Stepp
• Jeanie 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

• Aaron Peffer, Chair
• Amanda Hornsby, Secretary
• Olwen Burton
• Kevin Duncan
• Rebecca Earls
• Rewa Gardner
• Fadyia Lowe
• Travis Short
• 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

• Tiffany Randolph, Chair
• Kelly Lamping, Secretary
• Jesse Farley
• Jon Gent
• Perry Gibson
• Allison Montero
• Shawn Pryor
• 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

• Aaron Vaught, Chair
• Marie Marefat, Secretary
• Jennifer Fransen
• Terry Keys
• Brittany Lawrence
• Andrea McCubbin
• 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

• Stephen Reed, Chair
• Johnna Wilford, Secretary
• Ann Eads
• Ryan Farley
• Curtis Hudson
• Lisa Lockman
• Gage Redimarker
• Shavonna Ross
• Nathan Thompson
• Stephen Williams

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

• Cory Qualls, Co-chair
• Tara Spach, Co-chair
• Addison Mills
• Sierra Cole
• Sandy Frey
• Julianne Kravetz
• Karen Owsley

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

• Paige Noland, Chair
• Mandi Banahan, Secretary
• Melissa Barger
• Catherine Hayden
• Ashley Marcum
• Tiffany Miller
• Pamela Noble
• Sarah Orr
• Stefan Schagane
• Clem Stambaugh
• Pam Woods
• Misty Wright

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

• Daniel Naas, Chair
• Ben Rice, Secretary
• Joseph Hacker
• Jennifer Hill

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

• Suzanne McGinnis, Chair
• Amanda Biddle
• Austin Anders
• Dale Davis
• Jennifer Edwards
• Sarah Fitzgerald
• Laura Hall
• Andrew Hernandez
• Chris Larmour
• Amy Lorenzo
• Scott Pappas
• Bob Perry
• Covetta Ramey
• Carol Simpson
• Tymory Stanton
• Alice Williams

Members:

• Megan Lucy, Chair
• Kristen Pickett, Secretary
• Jennifer Bridge
• Beth Goins
• Lyndall Harned
• Ginni Haynes
• Jordan Hoehler
• Alexandra Hunter
• Troy Martin
• Stephanie Peeples
• Sierha Phillips
• Amanda Schagane
• Hannah Simms
• Ronald Simpson
• Megan Sizemore
• Karena Spears
• Ryan Story