Allison Rockwell on Participating in CLAS Staff Council

What is your title/position within the college?

I am the Administrator for the Department of Computer Science

Did you self-nominate or did someone nominate you to run for CLAS Staff Council?

Someone nominated me – I still don’t know who!

Why did you decide to run / accept the nomination to CLAS Staff Council?

I was already serving as liaison between the Administrative Leadership Team (ALT) and CLAS Staff Council, so I had first-hand experience of how the group was running. I saw a lot of potential for the group to do good and have a positive impact on the staff experience in the College.  

Do you have any major needs for CLAS or items you are/have been working on?

My first elected year on the Council, I helped to organize the Staff Visioning Event in Fall 2022, which was a wonderful opportunity for staff from different areas of the College to come together to discuss areas of concern and opportunity they each saw from their perspective in the College. It was truly an eye-opening event. We ended up with a report that we were able to present to collegiate leadership, which resulted in some concrete action – like the DEO mailing being renamed and sent to all regular employees of the College. The report also demonstrated to me that what staff were concerned about were things that leadership were also concerned about – there was more overlap than people might have realized at the beginning.

This year, as president of CLAS Staff Council, my main goals have been to keep the lines of communication with collegiate leadership open (in both directions), contribute to the revision of the CLAS MOP, and work to help build a sense of community across our diverse college through events and opportunities for staff to comingle and meet people from areas they might not normally interact with during their regular working day.

What has been the most rewarding part of the experience?

I work with some of the greatest people in the College (of which there are many). It has been wonderful to get to know folks I wouldn’t otherwise know and to see the passion, energy, and expertise they bring to the table, whether it’s organizing events, drafting communications, or brainstorming ways for staff to give back to our community. It also feels like we’re getting our feet under us a bit around communications, and more people are aware of CLAS Staff Council and interested in getting involved, which is great!

Having spent some time on the council, why do you feel this is important to participate in / contribute to shared governance?

Staff make up around a third of the employees in the College, and we know that the important work faculty do to complete our teaching, research, and service mission couldn’t happen without the support of dedicated staff. Though our jobs are often “in the background,” we deserve to participate in shared governance. We deserve to have faculty recognize our value and our voices in the conversation about how collegiate leadership moves us forward.

Jason Millsap on Participating in CLAS Staff Council

What is your title/position within the college?

Associate Company Manager for the Performing Arts Production Unit

Did you self-nominate or did someone nominate you to run for CLAS Staff Council? 

I was nominated by former member Jen Knights.

Why did you decide to run/ accept the nomination? 

I believe having a collective voice for the staff of our college is very important, and the opportunity to serve as one of its members was an exciting proposition. I’ve always believed strongly in advocacy for the needs of staff and the issues that are important to our members. I was also interested in learning more about the inner workings of our college having only been with the university for a short time and thought this was a great way for me to become more familiar with our practices and culture.

Do you have any major needs for CLAS/ items you are/have been working on?

Two big issues that were important to me during the election were a stronger focus on mental health resources for our staff (i.e., access to care, flexibility in sick leave, etc.) and increasing the work/life balance for our staff members in meaningful ways. Since being on the council we have seen meaningful strides to improving these areas both on a college level and as an institution. I also currently serve on the Events & Education committee where we are focused on engagement and development of staff through collaborative events and learning experiences.

What has been the most rewarding part of the experience? 

The most rewarding part of the experience has been the meaningful connections that I have made with other council members across our college. I think it’s easy for us to get stuck in the little bubbles of our units, and I have now had the opportunity to collaborate across the board on both CSC items, and on a more inter-departmental basis as well. I’m excited to see how these relationships can continue to grow and develop into a broader network of collaborations for not only council members, but the rest of the staff in our departments.

Having spent some time on the council, why do you feel it is important to participate in / contribute to shared governance? 

I firmly believe that if you are given the opportunity to have a voice on topics important to you, and you don’t use that opportunity, that you cannot complain about your situation remaining unchanged. It is not a given that staff members are allowed such a meaningful collaboration with higher-ups in their organization, and shared governance gives us that opportunity. Through this shared governance we are able to advocate for our staff as a whole on issues important to them and see actionable change which improves the culture of our institution as a whole. I feel very fortunate to get to serve on CSC and look forward to the future!

Mark Fullenkamp on Participating in CLAS Staff Council

What is your title/position within the college?

Senior Application Developer, CLAS Technology Services

Did you self-nominate or did someone nominate you to run for CLAS Staff Council? 

I was nominated.

Why did you decide to run/ accept the nomination? 

Because I wanted to help make my colleagues’ work lives better and build a better sense of “community” amongst all of our staff.  I felt that knowing so many people in our college and elsewhere on campus, that I am in a good position for bringing people together to create a better and more welcoming work environment. I think that I’ve built up a lot of goodwill and trust through my job in the past and that I would be very empathetic and approachable for my colleagues to air their concerns.

Do you have any major needs for CLAS/ items you are/have been working on?

Here are 3 things that I’ve been working on recently:

1. More funding for professional development
2. Sense of Community: More Social gatherings of CLAS Staff
3. Building better communication between staff and administration

 What has been the most rewarding part of the experience? 

Getting know and connecting with my colleagues. Through CLAS Staff Council, I’ve made a ton of great friends that I can turn to them whenever I need them.

Having spent some time on the council, why do you feel it is important to participate in / contribute to shared governance? 

You get to serve a large and diverse number of CLAS staff and help them with the challenges that they face. You get to voice the concerns of staff and actually make a difference.