System Office Staff Council May Meeting Highlights

May 27, 2022

The System Office Staff Council held a regular business meeting on Monday May 9th. Below are highlights from the meeting:

  1. Dr. Pearl Brower, the outgoing Senior Advisor: Alaska Native Success, Institutional Diversity, and Student Engagement, attended the meeting to share details on the System Office DEI training initiative, and how that fits in with ongoing and future efforts in support of ANSI (Alaska Native Success Initiative).
  2. Michelle Pope, HR Director of Operations, attended the meeting to talk about the HR transition away from Spoke and to a program called TeamDynamix, which is already used by Â鶹´«Ã½A IT, and which OIT is currently also transitioning to. HR is forming a group to give feedback on the user side of things throughout the transition process, and asked for a representative from SOSC. Scott Fronzuto will be our representative on this group, which will meet monthly from May to October.
  3. SOSC discussed the addition of a public comment form on the SOSC website. Please check it out! Click the big yellow Staff Comment button to submit a comment, question, or suggestion to Staff Council.
  4. SOSC discussed an idea for a staff mentorship program, a way for staff to share their knowledge and skills with others in a structured way. No action was taken, but discussion on this idea will continue.  
  5. SOSC is continuing planning for their annual June retreat. This will be an in-person retreat again after two years of virtual retreats. 
  6. SOSC heard a report on the project team from Monique Musick. The mission statement is being finalized, and was heavily influenced by the more than 375 responses received from staff throughout the system. 
  7. have been extended to June 10th. Nominate an outstanding staff member who makes an impact on Â鶹´«Ã½ students!
  8. Staff Development Day was Friday May 5th. The keynote presentation by Kevin McClure was very well received, positive feedback and comments from staff were received. The is up on the Â鶹´«Ã½F media page.
  9. 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 on Tuesday June 7th from 11:00-12:15. SOSC is also beginning plans for use of the funds in FY23. 
  10. 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 sent a memo to the board of regents regarding the , and is awaiting a response.

 

SOSC will meet next on June 16th for an all-day annual retreat. More information on the June meeting can be found on the SOSC website when it is available. 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.