Senate Committees

Purpose

The purpose of the Bylaws Committee shall be to:

1. Keep the Staff Senate Bylaws up to date;
2. Keep the records of the Bylaws;
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 Bylaws are readily available to all members of the University community as well as the general public; and
5. Audit the Bylaws 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 Bylaws Committee, the Staff Senate Office Coordinator and the Parliamentarian.

Meeting Time / Location

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

Members (July 2024 - June 2025)

• Olivia Ellis (Chair)
• Amanda Biddle (Secretary)
• Michael Adams
• Allissa Anderson
• Elizabeth Andrade
• Tiara Ball
• Kelly Hahn
• Josh Henry
• Courtney  McCalla 
• Mindy Thompson
• Erin Tigges
• Madeline Trudeau

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 collaboration 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 existing membership of the Staff Senate to support community outreach through service opportunities across the Commonwealth

Members (July 2024 - June 2025)

• Christopher Carney (Chair)
• Audrie Johnson (Secretary)
• David  Faulconer
• Jonnisa Ferguson
• Jennifer Fore
• Samantha Gauthier
• Blazan Mijatovic

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 2024 - June 2025)

• Daniel Naas (Co-Chair)
• Johnna Wilford (Co-Chair)
• Krystle Moore
• Sandy Wooton Gay

Purpose

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

Members (July 2024 - June 2025)

• Charla Hamilton (Chair)
• Fadyia Lowe
• Komal  Pandya
• Kendria Willis

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 2024 - June 2025)

• Amanda Hornsby (Chair)
• Kevin Duncan
• Sandra Frey
• Sheneda Goforth
• Joseph Hacker
• Curtis Hudson
• Monica Perez
• Cory Qualls
• Tiffany Randolph
• Halley White

Current Items for Review:

Purpose

Members (July 2024 - June 2025)

• Heather McAtee (Chair)
• Kenneth Blair
• Kyle Hardesty
• Pamela McFarland
• Carol Simpson

Members (July 2024 - June 2025)

• Justin Sumner (Chair)
• Whitney Arvin
• Andrew Hainley
• Kevin Horn-Pacheco
• Amy Jones
• Glenn Means
• Tessa Pinkerton
• LaTanya Walker
• Markeda Yarbrough

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 2024 - June 2025)

• Brittany Lawrence (Chair)
• James Aaron
• Dale Davis
• Terry Keys
• Tiffany Miller
• Aaron Peffer
• Covetta Ramey
• Ben Rice

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 2024 - June 2025)

• Stephen Williams (Chair)
• Shelly Bishop
• John Blaine
• Alexandra Curtis
• Kevin  Fleming
• Laura Hall
• Sheena Lee
• Ritchelle Ruiz

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 2024 - June 2025)

• Alexis  Fellows (Chair)
• Amber Bruce
• Kristen Lawson
• Brooke  Poe

Current Items for Review:

Purpose

Members (July 2024 - June 2025)

• Dean Holt (Chair)
• Christy Coffman
• Rebecca  Earls
• Ryan Farley
• Beth Goins
• Catherine Hayden
• Kayla Powell
• Laurel Wood
• Misty Dotson Wright

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 2024 - June 2025)

• Amanda Banahan (Chair)
• Tamara Anding
• Kelley Beverley
• Sabrina Brewer
• Leanna Brignola
• Olwen Burton
• Destiny Carter
• Lisa Lockman
• Amy McHone
• Addison Mills
• Pamela Noble
• Scott Sorrell
• Hardin Stevens

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 2024 - June 2025)

• Jennifer Hill (Chair)
• Jennifer Bridge (Secretary)
• Ben Rice
• Aaron Gosper

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 2024 - June 2025)

• Melissa Barger (Chair)
• Cynthia Brown
• Amy Lorenzo
• Karen McCann
• Scott Pappas
• Stefan Schagane
• Andrea Strassburg
• Keisha Wells
• Alice Williams

Current Items for Review:

Purpose

Members (July 2024 - June 2025)

• Jessica Howard (Chair)
• Lucas Redmond
• Stephen Reed
• Farhad  Rezaei
• Tymory  Stanton
• Elijah Wilson

Current Items for Review:

Purpose

Members (July 2024 - June 2025)

• Eric Carroll (Chair)
• Elliot Bloomer
• Doug Burgess
• Melissa Claar
• Julien Galyon
• Perry Gibson
• Troy Martin

Members (July 2024 - June 2025)

• Michael Millett (Chair)
• Sarah Fitzgerald
• Aaron Gosper
• Cary Osborne
• Stephanie Peeples
• Sydney Shields
• Allison Walters