By Selena Stevens

"Being a staff senator will require a commitment from a staff member, but senators will have the ability to make a difference for all staff. The satisfaction of seeing all staff benefit from your work should be worth the effort."

-- Jeanie Caldwell,
chairperson,
UK Staff Senate Development Task Force

March 29, 2002 (Lexington, Ky.) -- The call for nominations for the first senators of the new University of Kentucky Staff Senate is out. Nominations will be taken April 1 through noon on April 12.

"Being a staff senator will require a commitment from a staff member, but senators will have the ability to make a difference for all staff," said Jeanie Caldwell, chairperson of the UK Staff Senate Development Task Force. "The satisfaction of seeing all staff benefit from your work should be worth the effort."

Russ Williams, the UK Board of Trustees staff representative, appointed the development task force, which recently elected Caldwell, Human Resource Development, as its chairperson. All regular, full-time employees as of March 1, 2001, are eligible to run for a senate position.

Senators will be required to serve on various sub-committees and represent the senate as needed, in addition to continuing their normal jobs. From the nominations, 90 senators will be selected from the University's 10,000-plus staff contingent during campuswide elections April 29-May 17.

The elections will be certified May 20-24 and announced May 24. A second round of elections next year will bring the senate to full force with 175 senate members.

The senate precincts were developed by using an annual report of departments and dividing the staff departments along location and similar function guides. The goal was to achieve a proportional representation, and the result was 56 precincts. The precincts will be reviewed and adjusted as needed in coming years, noted Ann Livingstone, election officer and Election Committee chairperson for the task force. A listing of the precincts and areas they encompass can be found at www.uky.edu/Staff/ Senate/SSDTF/precincts.

The freshly elected senate will participate in orientation June 17, with a July 1 make-up orientation for those who miss the earlier session. The first meeting of the UK Staff Senate is scheduled for 1 p.m. July 11 in the auditorium of the William T. Young Library.

The Staff Senate will serve as a liaison with the University administration, making suggestions and recommendations about staff-related matters.

A PresidentialAdvisory Committee will help advise the president on staff issues, and the Staff Advisory Committee will work with the staff trustee. The UK Board of Trustees adopted a new governing regulation at its Jan. 22 meeting establishing the Staff Senate.

The university has had a faculty senate since the mid-1960s.

Caldwell noted that the new Staff Senate brings the staff onto a more level field with faculty and the University Senate.

"The senate will give all staff a voice, input and a united front on staff issues," Caldwell said. "It will give the staff a chance to have more influence over issues that impact our workplace."