A Place at the table
Regents to vote on seating staff advisers
BY CYnthia Lee
UCLA Today Staff
UC regents meeting in San Francisco today will consider a proposal
to give two representatives of UC staff and non Senate academic
employees a non voting place at the table on two regental committees.
The regents will decide whether to launch a two year pilot program
that would allow staff and non Senate academic employees to communicate
more directly with the regents as advisers on the committees on
Educational Policy and Grounds and Buildings. The advisers would
attend all committee meetings except those that are closed or designated
for regents only.
In the first year of the program, 2005 06, the two most recent
past chairs of the Council of University of California Staff Assemblies
(CUCSA), David Bell of UC San Francisco and Dave Miller of UCLA,
would be appointed for one year to serve as advisers on the two
committees. Meanwhile, the administration would hammer out a process
to select two employees from among all eligible staff and non Senate
academic employees, which include clinical faculty working in medical
schools and centers, postdoctorate researchers and graduate student
employees. Two advisers will be selected by this process in the
second year to fill the committee positions. The regents will evaluate
the effectiveness and value of the program and decide whether to
continue, change or stop it.
"This proposal meets our overarching goal of improving communication
between the regents and staff, as well as providing a way for staff
to contribute in a meaningful way at regents' meetings," Miller
said.
"Staff can provide a valuable perspective that doesn't currently
exist" because they are involved in every facet of UC, from
admissions and capital programs to student affairs and information
technology, Miller said.
While CUCSA has sought to gain a significant role on the Board
of Regents for staff for almost 10 years, this proposal finally
came about because of the strong collaboration between the organization
and others, including President Robert C. Dynes, Regent Ward Connerly,
Student Regent Jodi Anderson and Faculty Representative George Blumenthal,
Miller noted.
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