Staff Council Exec Committee Meeting Summary – 9/4/19

Wellbeing
September 13, 2019

Hello Champlainers!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful semester so far, and that you all had an amazing summer!

The Staff Council Exec Committee had our first meeting of the 2019-2020 academic year on Wednesday, September 4th. The meeting was full of good conversation, catching up, laughter and planning. We are committed to making this an awesome year! The following is a summary of our agenda and some notes from our meeting…

1. Pressing Issues
   1. What’s the word on the street? What’s new?
      1. Debrief of August Town Hall Meeting
      2. Presidential Search Questions/Update
      3. Review of September 19th Staff Council Meeting Agenda
2. Priorities for 2019-2020
   1. This was on the agenda but we didn’t have time to discuss much. Stay tuned for a rundown of these at the Staff Council meeting on September 19th!
3. Committee Updates
   1. Staff Welfare and Advocacy (Co-Chairs: Jean-Marie Severance and Danielle L’Esperance): First meeting of the committee will be September 18th and they will be joined by Jennifer Archambault and Debra Dayman for the first hour. I will also try to join for part of the time and give overview/answer questions as I am able related to the Presidential Search.
   2. Staff Networking (Co-Chairs: Kelsey O’Connor and Leah Miller): The committee had just had their first meeting on September 4th. They have three big areas of focus right now: recruitment of committee members, pop-up events brainstorming and Halloween!
   3. Communication & Engagement Committee (Co-Chairs: Sarah Camille Wilson and Veronica Lewis): The committee hasn’t met yet, but our working on securing a time that works for most, if not all, members. As Sarah Camille and Veronica are both new co-chairs of this committee, the previous leaders Roland Palmer and Nic Anderson, met with them to “pass the torch” and give them the rundown of the committee and how it works. One goal they have as of now is to have a member of The People Center join them at their meetings in order to work more collaboratively on some projects.
4. Budget Update
   1. Patrick DiMambro, Treasurer of Staff Council, gave a quick update on the budget for Staff Council for 2019-2020. We feel we have been given a healthy budget for the year ahead, and are excited to put on some fun events and potentially create some additional staff recognition opportunities with these funds.
5. 3:45pm: Joined by Jennifer Archambault, VP for Human Capital
   1. Jennifer provided a quick overview of the two positions The People Center is currently hiring for/getting ready to hire for: Talent & Engagement Coordinator and then more of a generalist role who can focus on both people and process.
   2. Jennifer explained that the HCM project is delayed for launching as the People Center can rebuild and focus on their department
   3. Jennifer discussed Benefits 2020 – more information to be shared on this to all employees in October.
6. 4:15pm: Joined by Laurie Quinn, Interim President
   1. Update on Champlain 2025
   2. Update on changes within the Office of Institutional Advancement
   3. Update on the Presidential Search
   4. Questions for Laurie
      1. Are there things that may not have been accomplished for the 2020 strategic plan and, if so, will they be brought into Champlain 2025 somehow?
         1. LQ: Laurie will think about this and how the dots will be connected from one plan to another
      2. What has been Laurie’s biggest surprise during her first 60 days as Interim President?
         1. LQ: Not really a surprise, but more reaffirming how supportive, helpful and thoughtful the Champlain community is and how willing and ready we are to keep pushing forward and make sure Champlain is a success.

That’s all for now! Until next time…

-Shaylea Scribner, Staff Council President

P.S. The Staff Council Exec Committee did our annual community service team-building time on Wednesday, September 11th at The Intervale. Only half of the group could attend but we got a lot of work done doing tree discovery (a.k.a. weeding) in just two hours!