April SOSC Highlights

The System Office Staff Council held a regular business meeting on Monday April 11th. Below are highlights from the meeting:

  1. Business Strategist and outgoing CHRO David Bishko attended the meeting to answer questions about the Â鶹´«Ã½ Goals and Measures administrative costs numbers and various HR topics.
  2. SOSC started planning for their annual June retreat. This will be an in-person retreat again after two years of virtual retreats. The tentative date is June 17th, in Fairbanks.
  3. SOSC discussed the announcement of a new DEI video training series for System Office staff and the related upcoming town hall on June 8th. Those who have watched the videos so far have given positive feedback. Pearl Brower will attend the May meeting to answer any questions and give more background on this effort.
  4. SOSC heard a report on the progress of the project team from Monique Musick. A survey on three different draft mission statements ended last week. The team received lots of useful and thoughtful responses from across the system, and they thank everyone who participated. The responses will directly impact the formation of the final mission statement.
  5. SOSC briefly discussed possible responses to the regarding the motion to appoint President Pitney. 
  6. are open now! Nominations close on April 30th
  7. Staff Development Day is next Friday May 5th. Â鶹´«Ã½F and Â鶹´«Ã½A are both hosting activities that will be available to all staff. Â鶹´«Ã½F is hosting a talk by Kevin McClure called "A More Caring University: Higher Education Leadership in the Age of Low Morale and Burnout" from 12:30pm-1:30pm. Watch at media.uaf.edu. Information on Â鶹´«Ã½A’s activities will be forthcoming.
  8. SOSC got an update on the use of the Staff Development Fund. , who specializes in difficult conversations and dealing with conflict at work, will be speaking sometime in mid June. SOSC is also beginning plans for use of the funds in FY23. Â鶹´«Ã½F still has LinkedIn Learning licenses available for all staff, see for more information on how to sign up.
  9. SOSC heard an update on compensation discussions happening at the Staff Alliance level. A few Staff Alliance members attended a meeting with David Bishko and other HR employees, where they heard more detail on what HR is working on to implement the new compensation philosophy and build a predictable compensation structure. Their focus is on three areas of compensation: regular cost of living increases, longevity increases, and merit increases. Staff Alliance also passed a motion at its March meeting asking to form a committee with HR involving governance in the discussions and implementation of these compensation efforts.
  10. SOSC reviewed two proposed changes to university regulation, and determined they were in agreement with the changes:
  11. The System Office Staff Longevity and Outstanding Employee Awards event took place on Friday April 22nd at 2:00pm. Congratulations to all awardees!
  12. SOSC nominations close TODAY, April 29th! Please nominate yourself or someone else at . Staff governance is such an important function, and we need good participation for it to be effective. If you've ever considered participating before, now is the time! Not sure, or have questions about what staff council does or entails? Email Lauren at lehartman@alaska.edu, or explore the SOSC website.
  13. Council members heard reports on Staff Alliance activities:
    1. Staff Alliance has attended two meetings recently with members of the Board of Regents. The goal of the meetings was to share ideas through an informal, two-way discussion. Staff Alliance feels the meetings were very successful and hopes to continue them in the fall. Recordings of the meetings: (passcode: #0jdtT#$) and (passcode nZoiwq6).
    2. Staff Alliance further discussed the idea of a staff ombuds position and have called for volunteers to serve on an ad-hoc committee to pursue this idea.
    3. Morale committee: Members would like to research the possibility of using Staff Development Fund money to pay for professional help with developing a staff morale survey in the fall. 
    4. Ad-hoc committee on shared governance: System Governance Council is drafting a memo to be sent to the board of regents regarding the .
    5. Â鶹´«Ã½A members of Staff Alliance met with HR staff to discuss improving the exit survey process. It was a good first discussion, and further discussions are planned. Staff Alliance hopes to increase participation in exit surveys and find ways to use the information to identify issues and inform efforts to address staff retention.

 

SOSC will meet next on Monday May 9th from 10:00am-12:00pm. All staff are encouraged and welcome to attend. Reach out to SOSC representatives to share your ideas and/or concerns. Additional information about SOSC and the Zoom link for regular meetings is available on its website.