By Ralph Derickson

At its inaugural meeting, the newly established UK Staff Senate also elected Sean Scott, human resources, vice chairperson; Karen Michul, Coldstream Research Campus, secretary; Kimberly Judd, general accounting, treasurer; and Tyrone Gentry, cooperative extension field staff, parliamentarian.

July 11 , 2002– (Lexington, Ky.) – William H. Adkisson Jr., a physician assistant in orthopaedic surgery at the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center, today was elected the first chairperson of the new UK Staff Senate.

Adkisson, a native of Erlanger, Ky., who now lives in Frankfort, has been employed at UK for 13 years. He is a graduate of Morehead State University and also has a bachelor’s degree in health science and physician assistant studies from the University of Kentucky.

At its inaugural meeting, the newly established UK Staff Senate also elected Sean Scott, human resources, vice chairperson; Karen Michul, Coldstream Research Campus, secretary; Kimberly Judd, general accounting, treasurer; and Tyrone Gentry, cooperative extension field staff, parliamentarian.

UK President Lee T. Todd Jr. told the new staff senators that he favored the establishment of a UK Staff Senate to serve as a communications link between the university’s 9,800 employees and the administration.

Todd called the new staff group “a valuable voice for the University of Kentucky. By your sheer numbers you will have considerable input into whether we become a top-20 institution.”

The UK Staff Senate is expected to name members and officers of its standing committees at its next meeting set for 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8, in the W.T. Young Library Auditorium.