Staff council progressing toward goals

After just more than a year since its inception, the Council for Non-Represented Classified Staff is well on its way to accomplishing its goals.

The council has worked to increase communication and cooperation between the non-represented classified staff and the rest of the university. As part of this effort, the council set up four committees focusing on compensation and personnel issues, campus communications and awareness, professional development, and nominations for future councils and campus-wide committees.

“We want to promote and recognize our accomplishments, encourage networking and provide mechanisms that allow our members to actively participate at an institutional level,” says CNCS Chair Candice Pharo.

In keeping with these goals, the council maintains a Web site and publishes a newsletter that is sent to all non-represented classified staff. The council is also creating mentoring circles that promote personal and professional development among staff by connecting them and allowing them to guide and coach each other. An internship program is under development as well.

In addition, the council has successfully obtained representation on many campus committees, Pharo says, including search-and-screen committees for the director of University Health Services, director of the Wisconsin Union, dean of the School of Business, and dean of International Studies and Programs. The council has been asked to provide a representative for the dean of the Graduate School and director of Transportation Services search-and-screen committees.

Pharo says the council has had an active role in employee compensation and benefits for the biennial budget. The council’s recommendations to the UW System and the state Department of Employee Relations were well received, she says.

The council represents about 570 university employees, or about 10 percent of all classified staff. Unions do not represent these staff members because they hold either supervisory or confidential positions, which give them unique knowledge of employee relationship and bargaining issues.

The council holds open meetings on the second Thursday of every month in the Social Science Building.

“We post our minutes and agendas on our Web site and we encourage [non-represented classified staff] to look there and provide feedback, make suggestions or ask questions of any of the council members,” says Pharo.

For information, visit: http://polyglotlss.wisc.edu/tnd/cncs/cncs.htm. E-mail: cncs@bascom.wisc.edu.