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Photo by Reed Hutchinson |
Staff Assembly President Doug Padley is enjoying his new role. |
New president wants to serve more staffers
BY Wendy soderburg
Today Staff Writer
If you’re a UCLA staff member, Doug Padley’s name probably sounds pretty familiar. It’s only November, but Padley, the new president of UCLA’s Staff Assembly, has already been extremely busy, sending e-mails to staff to invite them to various free seminars.
For example, attendees at the Sept. 13 Learn-at-Lunch talk found out about gas-saving programs offered by Transportation Services. And on Oct. 4, staff members were introduced to the UCLA Library’s more user-focused Web site, which simplifies the online search process.
“Both of our first two Learn-at-Lunches filled up almost immediately, so we asked for a second session,” Padley said. “There is interest out there.”
It’s all very encouraging to Padley, a compensation consultant for Campus Human Resources, whose primary goal during his one-year tenure as president is to build attendance at Staff Assembly events, open to all staff members. Future seminars will feature the always-hot topic of UCLA retirement benefits and a Dec. 13 talk by the new staff advisers to the UC regents, UCLA’s Dave Miller and UCSF’s David Bell.
The popularity of the retirement benefits workshop, in fact, prompted Padley to expand the number of sessions from three to four this academic year. Just two hours after he sent out an e-mail about the first session, 120 staff members reserved seats; others were placed on a wait list for another session.
Later in the year, Padley and his board — which includes president-elect Shelley Brown; vice presidents Sabrina Lux of outreach, Nancy Tran of programs, Janet Adriano of events and Stacey Rosborough of IT; secretary/historian Shelly Brooks; and treasurer Gayelea Allison — will host annual events such as the Resource Fair for Small Businesses (Jan. 26), the Chancellor’s Town Hall (March 22), Casino Night (April) and the All-Staff Picnic (July).
“Doug is a uniquely talented, thoughtful and motivated leader,” said Miller, who held the same
post in 2002-03. “He has a keen vision of the role of Staff Assembly as a vehicle for staff to be better informed and to participate in building a stronger campus community. Doug and Shelley (Brown) are a dynamic team. They complement each other so beautifully. It’s exciting to be on the sidelines, cheering them on.”
Padley’s dedication to the needs of staff is somewhat surprising considering he began working here only six years ago. A native of Ann Arbor, Mich., he was working in the Chancellor’s Office at California State University, Long Beach, when his supervisor, Ron Hull, left to become compensation director at UCLA. Six months later, Hull persuaded Padley to join him. Today Padley is one of four compensation consultants who handle job classification and compensation for the entire staff side of the campus.
“UCLA is such a huge place, and when I came here, I knew nobody,” Padley said. “Now, after involvement with Staff Assembly, I’m walking down the street and people are saying, ‘Hi, Doug.’ Or I’ll go into a room, and they’ll say, ‘Oh, you’re Doug Padley.’ And that’s a very good feeling. I think any involvement with Staff Assembly gets you out there.
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