University Times

Terms of office for Staff Association Council (SAC) officers would be lengthened from one to two years, and officers could serve an unlimited number of consecutive terms, under a proposed bylaw change that SAC is considering.

Under current SAC bylaws, officers may be elected to no more than three consecutive one-year terms.

SAC voted April 11 to table the proposal to extend officer terms. A majority of council members agreed with SAC governance committee member James Jackson that members hadn't fully studied details and implications of the change.

The proposal will be on the agenda of SAC's next monthly meeting, on May 9.

SAC President Rich Colwell will finish his third consecutive one-year term in June. He acknowledged that the proposed bylaws amendment was aimed at keeping him in office, although Colwell said he hadn't pushed for the change himself.

"At least four SAC members urged me to run again for president," Colwell told the University Times. "I said, 'I can't. My final term is expiring.' They said to me, 'We still want you to run.' I said, 'Then change the bylaws.'"

Colwell said that, if the amendment goes through, he would stand for re-election rather than claim he was entitled to another year in office on the grounds that officer terms had been extended to two years.

No other SAC member has publicly announced plans to run for the council presidency.

SAC represents non-unionized Pitt staff, advises the administration on matters affecting staff, and fosters communication between staff and other members of the Pitt community.

— Bruce Steele