Update Provided By: Ashley Mattson
• Bismarck State College voted in the new President, Kara Welk. Vice President, Courtney Reiswig. Secretary, Laurie Niblick.
• We have decided to postpone our June Staff Senate Retreat until we can do something face to face and continue with a virtual monthly meeting for June.
Update Provided By: Laura Halvorson
• DCB hosted a virtual graduation Ceremony May 15th
• Encourage all of our staff/senators continued participation in the planning of reopening for summer events and fall classes
• Welcome to our new senators: Carissa Pollman, Indrani Sasmal, Stacy Allard, and Heather Vestre. Welcome to new officers: Heidi Hauf President, JaLee Lynnes Vice President and Mike O’Toole secretary.
• DCB Staff Senate will plan to host a virtual coffee break/recipe sharing end of May
Update Provided By: Josh Nichols
• Our Staff Senate continues to meet in a digital format and will continue that practice through the remainder of the summer.
• New senators will join us at our July 1st meeting where we will also be electing new executive positions.
• Our employee development committee has been hosting “Conversations with Colleagues” sessions on a variety of topics to keep our staff and faculty engaged during this time of social distancing.
• Our first two Staff Emeritus distinctions have been confirmed and will be celebrated at a future awards event.
Update Provided By: Cathleen Ruch
• Discussing the feasibility of having a LRSC Retreat sometime in August.
• Officer Elections have been tabled until August.
• Continue to keep updated on how staff/faculty are going to be setup on their return to work.
• Submit/claim flex dollars but expenses need to have happened in 2019.
Update Provided By: Alissa Perkins
• Alissa Perkins is now MSU’s Staff Senate President. At our May meeting, Ashley Kulland was voted Vice President/Incoming President and will now join the State Staff Senate meetings. Megan Vig was elected our secretary and Shannon Hofer will be our treasurer again this year.
• For our Comet Pride Scholarships that our Staff Senate gives out each year, we were able to raise enough to award 5 students with a $500 scholarship. We have leftover funds that we will carry over to next year.
• We are hoping to team up with our campus marketing committee to create a campus-wide share calendar for staff and faculty.
• We are working on a Microsoft Teams site for Staff Senators and a public facing website for all staff. We are going to move all documents from SharePoint to either the Teams site or the website to be more accessible for everyone.
• Our campus voted on a winner for our annual Orville Johnson Meritorious Service Award. We usually announce the winner at our annual employee recognition dinner, but since that was cancelled we are working on a way to announce the winner but also make it more special than just an email announcement.
No updates provided.
Update Provided By: Bruce Wotassek
• Guest Speaker – VP Dr. Jane Vangsness-Frisch and Safety Director Ann McGray
o Strategic planning progress update
o Policy updates
â–Ş Risk Management
â–Ş Emergency Notification Procedure
â–Ş AED Policy
â–Ş Emergency Procedures
â–Ş Payroll Check Distribution Policy
â–Ş Appliance Use Policy
• Marketing Committee – Senator Woytassek
o Senator Nordick lead a marketing project to send all NDSCS Employees a “Thank You” for all they are doing at NDSCS (especially during the Pandemic). The Team collaborated with Print Services to send an all campus email with each Staff Senator’s signature and Yard signs to be moved around to the most visible areas at NDSCS Wahpeton and NDSCS Fargo!
Update Provided By: April Helgaas
• NDSU Staff Senate held elections at the May meeting. New senators were elected and open offices were filled.
• The NDSU Staff Senate Staff Development Committee has been hosting some online development sessions for staff working remotely due to COVID-19 and they have been well attended.
Update Provided By: Brian Schill
• The UND Staff Senate met on Wednesday, May 13. Past President Whitney Maine passed her position to President-Elect Megan Wasylow. The group’s new Vice-President is Brian Schill.
• Staff Senate committee leadership will remain largely the same in FY 2020-21.
• We are renaming our Denim Spirit Day to Jeans Give Back to better reflect/promote the philanthropic character of the events. The May 8 Jeans Give Back day took in $180 for the North Dakota Assn. for the Disabled.
• Our “catches” of staff for their work have obviously come to a halt. • “Ushine” efforts continue; an annual UShine winner was named in May. • Seeds for Staff Success professional development program is ongoing. • Given extended campus closure, there will be no July potluck for Staff senate. Options being considered.
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• The UND University Senate Exec Committee met on Thursday, May 21. The group discussed mostly updates to the UND Code of Student Life and academic planning for the Fall 2020 semester. There were comments re: campus morale given potential budget issues and faculty/staff worries over PPE and return-to-work, whether the classroom or office space.
• UNDSS waiting on results of several surveys sent to senators re: meeting scheduling, staff professional development needs, and future social events planning.
No updates provided.
Update Provided By: Megan Kasner
• Staff back on campus May 26th with limited campus reopening
• P3 renovation projects are 4 weeks ahead of schedule because of the COVID -19 closures
• WSC has hosted 5 virtual registration days for students and has another planned June 4th/5th
Update Provided By: Crystal Tangsrud
• We are preparing for our yearly Staff Senate Elections and Retreat and closing out the 2019-2020 Staff Senate year strong. This includes completing work on a document for new employees that includes information about committees such as Staff Senate, area information, and employee discounts.