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September 15, 1994

SAC elects officers for 1994-95

Staff Association Council (SAC) elected officers for the 1994-1995 term at the group's Sept. 7 meeting. All of the officers ran unopposed.

Officers for the new year are: President Darlene Harris, President-elect Joan Slezak, Treasurer Carol Kenderes and Director of Communications Susan Selai.

In comments prior to the election, Harris listed accomplishments involving SAC or in which SAC played a role during the past year. They include:

* Hiring of a part-time secretary to support SAC.

* Approval of an early retirement package for staff by the administration.

* An increased level of participation by SAC in Senate Council, the University Planning and Budgeting Committee and on the Board of Trustees.

* Participation by SAC on search committees for the associate vice chancellor for Human Resources and provost.

In addition, according to Harris, SAC voiced the opposition of staff to a parking fee increase and made the views of staff known on the Task Force on Fringe Benefits.

During the coming year, Harris promised to take up the issue of participation in SAC. She noted that some supervisors and co-workers have been critical of staff members who are involved in SAC. Harris said that the people who are critical of SAC members tend to look upon the time those members spend out of the office in connection with SAC as free time, even though those members are attending meetings and handling other SAC business.

In a few cases, according to Harris, SAC members have been rated below satisfactory by their supervisors and told they cannot be recommended for merit pay increases because of the time they spend out of the office.

"This is not my understanding of what the chancellor expects," she said. "He has given us an opportunity to participate and we will participate…I intend to bring this serious issue to the attention of the chancellor and pursue it." In her comments, President-elect Slezak, who will assume the office of president when Harris steps down next fall, noted that over the past year she has served on the Performance Appraisal Task Force, Human Resources Liaison Committee and Senate Council.

While serving in those capacities, Slezak said she learned that the opinion of SAC is valued by the senior administration and said she wants to work to open up even better lines of communication between SAC and staff.

"Only through an open process of communication can we truly say that we represent staff," she said. "I want to ensure that staff concerns are voiced throughout the governance processes of this University."

–Mike Sajna

Filed under: Feature,Volume 27 Issue 2

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