Staff Senate Winter 2010 Newsletter
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President's Corner
Greetings and welcome to the Winter 2010 Staff Senate Newsletter! The start of my second—and final—term as president of the Staff Senate was as positive as the first.
The start of the year
The Staff Faire just before the opening of school was a resounding success. While the menu was scaled back a bit in response to the economic climate, the overwhelming response of the staff was quite positive. Vice-president Bob Warren's welcoming address and once again John Hyde's entertaining background music set an atmosphere for staff from all over the campus to get together and really have time to talk. Thanks to Bon Appétit, the food, while more modest than last year, was excellent. Finally, I would remiss not to thank Senate members Arcelia Rodriguez from the Center for Student Leadership and Christina Johnson of Law Career Services, our primary event planners.
What else does the Senate plan to do?
Recognizing the effects of the economic climate, the Senate started its current term with a somewhat scaled back agenda that included:
- The annual Health and Wellness Faire
- Postponing the annual Spring Fling until next year
- Expanding our community service projects—more on that below.
- Bringing to fruition the proposal to reward employees who bike to work—more below also.
Community Service
The community service project at InnVision—co-sponsored by the Ignatian Center and the Senate--completed its first year. Over 20 staff members have donated their money and culinary talents to the mentally ill homeless at the Julian Street Inn, an InnVision shelter. InnVision is one of the largest providers of shelter for the homeless in Santa Clara County. What started out as a monthly project has now expanded to the first two Sundays of each month. These brave souls start cooking a hearty breakfast for the 50 or so residents of the Inn on Sunday morning at 6:00 a.m. If you would like to get involved, please email Marquita Coe at mcoe@scu.edu or Kari Craighead at kcraighead@scu.edu. The Senate's Community Service committee speardheaded by Marquita Coe and Kari Craighead also sponsored several one-day community service events this past year including:
- Community Service Event @ Guadalupe River Park March 28
- Beach Cleanup at Seacliff State Beach in Aptos September 19
- Halloween Party for the women and children at InnVision's Women and Children's shelter
- Christmas Breakfast at the Women and Children's Shelter
- Family Giving Tree—November & December
- Linen drive February
- Easter brunch for the Women and Children's Shelter
Promoting bicycling
Thanks to Joe Sugg and Charlie Arolla and the work of Senate rep Mary Sexton of the Law School, the proposal to provide a limited number of free parking passes to our employees who bike to work has been given a trial run through the end of the academic year. Staff who take public transportation and buy their tickets through the University already get a number of free parking passes every month. Concerns with verification were worked out and cyclists now get a free parking pass for every five days they bike to work during the Winter quarter and for every 10 days in the Spring. The Senate hopes that the trial run proves successful and the program will continue in the future.
Communication
If you have any concerns, please let your representative know and we will see what we can do to help you.
Finally, one of our goals last year was to improve the flow of communication between the Senate representatives and their constituents. This newsletter and a list of staff representatives and their contact information on the Staff Senate website are a part of that effort, The Senate continues to strive to work for you by continuing the good work of our past representatives and venturing out to new areas of interest to the staff.
Your Staff Senate President,
Jim Rowan jrowan@scu.edu
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Staff Senate ElectionsNominations begin on April 1st for the Staff Senate elections. If there is an open seat in your area, consider participating in University governance by serving on Staff Senate. One representative writes: "Serving on the Staff Senate is an opportunity to give back to the community. Getting involved makes our work here at SCU even more worthwhile."
The Staff Senate shall exist to contribute to the success of Santa Clara University, to the growth and welfare of its staff employees, and to the promotion of a positive and supportive work environment. Elected representatives are responsible for attending monthly, one-hour meetings and serving as the voice for their constituents on Senate. Another elected representative writes about the experience serving on Senate: "Personally, my journey with Santa Clara began over 20 years ago as an undergraduate and I've never lost the connection I felt with the campus community. Coming back, as a staff member, felt like coming home. Being part of the Staff Senate has allowed me a greater opportunity to serve the University which has been such an integral part of my life." Read more about the purpose of Staff Senate.
Consider getting involved with Staff Senate by nominating yourself or a colleague to run for a Senate seat.
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Health & Wellness FairFebruary was National Heart Health Month. On February 10th, more than 100 staff and faculty members attended the Health and Wellness Fair sponsored by Staff Senate. Attendees spent their time at the fair checking their health, mingling with health care professionals and getting free massages, free cholesterol, blood pressure, glucose and bone density screenings.
The event provided the opportunity to educate the campus on ways to address total health of mind, body, and spirit with information and opportunities for increasing health awareness, knowledge, motivation and skills to support change which will lead to healthier life-styles, habits and behaviors. A variety of raffle prizes were awarded at the end of the event to ten lucky recipients.
Overall this was a very successful event in which we saw a record number in vendor and department participation and we were able to offer the Santa Clara Community with opportunities and variety of options to take charge of their health care and make informed decisions.
An idea is brewing about making this a campus wide event for all students, faculty and staff.
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Get on Your Bikes and RideThe Staff Senate’s proposal to provide regular bike commuters with a limited number of free parking passes has been given a trial run. Beginning this past December 1, employees get a free parking permit for every five days they bike to work. During the Spring the redemption rate changes to 10 days biking.
As with all good deals, restrictions and limitations apply. First, you must live more than 1.5 miles from campus (according to Google maps) and, secondly, you can not have a parking permit. (One purpose of the program is to discourage driving). Finally, you do have to register, get a commuter card that must be taken to the main entrance kiosk or Campus Safety to be marked. Once you achieve the required number of credits, you may redeem them at the main entrance kiosk or Campus Safety.
Hopefully this program will prove manageable and be utilized by those who already bike to work. If so, the Staff Senate hopes that it will be continued next year with more participants who will elect to forego parking permits in the coming year.
Questions? Please email Jim Rowan jrowan@scu.edu.
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Outstanding Staff Volunteer Service AwardThe Staff Senate is pleased to announce that nominations are now being accepted for the annual Santa Clara University Outstanding Staff Volunteer Service Award.
The award will be presented to:
The staff member who takes initiative above and beyond to promote and enhance our Community both SCU and Civic through individual volunteer service and personal responsibility outside of their job at Santa Clara University.
The Staff Senate believes that an award recognizing volunteer service to the community is consistent with the University’s Guiding Principle “to promote through the University a culture of service that fosters the development of personal responsibility.”
The criterion for this award is:
Individual volunteer service at or outside Santa Clara University, such as committee work, charitable work, or volunteer activities in the community that are not part of their job duties at SCU. Past awardees have worked with the homeless in securing housing, and other necessities, worked with multiple organizations collecting usable clothing for distribution, and worked with troubled teens at the Bill Wilson Center teaching computer skills.
To nominate an individual, please complete and sign the nomination form. Any faculty member, staff member, manager, supervisor, or student may submit nominations. The nominations should be sent to Kari Craighead, kcraighead@scu.edu, by Friday May 7, 2010. All nominations will be forwarded to the Staff Senate, which will review the nominations and select a recipient.
