Staff Advisory Committee Nuts and Bolts Questions

The following questions and answers should help define how the Staff Advisory Committee goes about its business. I asked the questions and Susan Zeiger provided answers.

Whom do we advise? 
The primary group that will receive your input will be the Administrative or President's Council, depending on the subject and the impact of the recommendation. At times, this could be just one director or VP, at other times, it could be the whole group.

What are the powers of the committee? Is it to be a voice for the staff?  If so who will listen to that voice?  Who will answer?  
The powers are advisory. You are supposed to be a voice for staff and represent your respective areas. The primary purpose is to improve communication with the administration. The idea was to get staff issues on the table and addressed in an on-going manner, rather than waiting for a staff survey every 3 or so years. I have been asked to be the liaison between the staff advisory group and the administration. It would be my responsibility to get the right people together and to help facilitate the process of getting a response or resolution to the issues raised. This is the role I played with the issues raised by the staff survey.

If there is an issue that the committee considers important and should be pursued then what can we do   Does the StaffAC, or a representative, meet with someone in the administration?
Again, I would be your liaison. Let's say you have an issue with mail services. My job will be to get background information, if available to the StaffAC and then, get the StaffAC or its selected subset together with the appropriate decision-makers in mail services. (By either inviting them to the meeting or helping set up a meeting between the two parties) I would reinforce the fact that the StaffAC is representing staff and that it is in the best interest of the department to address the issues raised. I would also be the one that StaffAC comes to if they have concerns about getting a response from a department. I would also advise the StaffAC if there are any cautions or if there may be an alternative approach that would be more successful.

How do we communicate with the people we're representing?   Some ways could be: a) word of mouth, b) email, c) Inside Furman, d) web page on the www.furman.edu site.
Depending on the department, you may need to use all of these in some way. I can see word of mouth, paper and e-mail as tools for gathering input from colleagues about issues. I can see e-mail, web site and Inside Furman as ways to let everyone know about your issues and the outcomes---to reinforce the fact that the committee is working and has an impact.

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