The College’s strategic direction, Carleton 2033: The Liberal Arts in Action, identifies community as one of three major values of the College. Among the goals supporting this area is a recommendation for the creation of “new structures for staff representation and opportunities for campus-wide engagement.” This recommendation reflects campus discussions about the impact of internal campus divisions on the work lives and satisfaction of employees.
Carleton is unusual in having separate representation (Forum and Staff at Carleton (SAC)) for exempt and non-exempt employees. When I first arrived, I learned that historically, differentiation of benefits between these two groups contributed to a desire to have different groups representing these two categories of employee. I was pleased that we were able to eliminate a remaining major benefit difference in 2022 when we made the employee dependent tuition benefit program, previously limited to faculty and exempt staff, available to qualifying non-exempt staff and union employees as well.
During the 2023 process of developing the strategic direction, many staff colleagues shared a sense that it no longer seemed critical to maintain separate groups for exempt and non-exempt employees. At the same time, there was a desire for a stronger representative voice within College governance. This led to the strategic direction recommendation for the creation of a unified Staff Council that would include representatives from every staff employee group on campus (exempt, non-exempt, and union). In addition to maintaining representation on College Council and other committees, the new Staff Council would collaborate to generate new approaches to working and building community at Carleton, meet regularly with the administration to discuss issues and concerns, and serve as a strong voice for staff across the College.
I am pleased to say that a group has now been formed to discuss how a new Staff Council might be developed. That group includes Tom Baraniak, Julie Buchwald, Kerstin Cardenas, Elise Eslinger ’92, Tom Niemisto, Eric Runestad, and Charlotte Whited.
In their discussions so far, the group has identified a number of current topics that the Staff Council could potentially address, such as faculty-staff relations, workload and burnout, pathways to promotion, Ombudsperson structures, and increasing professional development opportunities.
Speaking personally, having been at an institution with unified staff representation, I believe this new structure will provide greater voice and agency to staff. I welcome the prospect of a broadly representative staff body that can be consulted by the administration and provide feedback on strategic issues, and look forward to working with the group when it is elected and in place.
Featured in Carleton Today, July 25, 2024