Beginnings are psychological phenomena. They are marked by a release of new energy in a new direction—they express a new identity. A benefit of working at the university is that we have lots of opportunities for new beginnings. We mark traditional beginnings during the new year (January 1) and the new fiscal year (July 1), but we also get the chance to start beginnings at the conclusion of the spring semester (May) and the start of the fall semester (August).
Your Staff Senate is about to launch a new beginning. Earlier this month, we celebrated the servant leadership of 15 outgoing staff senators while simultaneously welcoming 26 newly elected leaders . The Staff Senate Executive Team is working with each committee to produce an annual report to transparently communicate our progress and challenges— you can view last year’s report here.
The Task Force on Workplace Culture and Engagement, a new beginning launched this past fall, is also gaining momentum. One key priority of the Task Force was to work with the Faculty Senate and university leadership to advocate for the implementation of a modern, family-friendly parental leave policy. I’m grateful that the Board of Regents approved this policy at their April meeting, and employees will be able to enjoy the policy’s new benefits effective July 1.
For example, this new policy grants regular employees classified as Managerial/Professional and Office/Service to receive up to a total of eight workweeks of paid leave for (1) Care of a newborn, (2) Period of incapacity, prenatal care, or serious health condition related to childbearing, (3) Care for a birth parent, and (4) Adoption. This is an example of your Staff Senate hard at work. This is a big deal!
Challenges accompany new beginnings. We will continue to work with university leadership to address the budget reductions and financial obstacles resulting from the new federal actions in an empathetic, strategic, people-centered manner. In my last newsletter message, I stated that the Staff Senate is uniquely positioned to address future changes and transitions. I still believe this because our strategic direction includes flexibility for future unknowns.
The most important part of every plan is planning on your plan not going to plan. We have smart, talented, and adaptable leaders representing you and serving you at the Staff Senate. Together, we can and will continue to advocate for all 4,500 staff members at the university.
More details at: https://staffsenate.unl.edu