Update from the President (Andrew Chai)

• The Staff Senate mid-year report was disseminated at the end January to key stakeholders, including the University President, the Provost, the Board of Trustees, and the entire SCU campus. 
• The Board of Trustees took an unprecedented step by inviting the Staff Senate President to report at their February 14, 2020 meeting. This will become an ongoing occurrence.
• Two cabinet-level, vice president positions have been created: Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President for Mission and Ministry. Both positions have been funded and approved by the administration, and two search committees have been formed to conduct an open, national search for potential candidates.

Review and Vote on Amendments to the Staff Senate Bylaws (Andrew Chai)

• The Staff Senate President reviewed the proposal for technical changes to the Staff Senate Bylaws, reiterating that the proposed changes are intended to: enhance consistency throughout the bylaws, add clarification in some areas, and correct some grammatical errors.
• The Staff Senate voted in favor of the proposed technical changes.

Ciocca-Koch Gift Acceptance Conversation (Guest Speakers: Liam Swanson, undergraduate student, and Jim Lyons, Vice President of University Relations)

• Jim Lyons began the discussion by providing a general overview of SCU’s current Gift Acceptance Guidelines, followed by an overview of the process by which the Ciocca-Koch gift was initiated and accepted.
• The Ciocca-Koch Gift Oversight & Accountability Committee will advise the Provost’s Office on the maintenance of academic freedom and integrity and the autonomy of the University in decisions related to expenditures of this gift. The Committee has the ability to recommend that the University decline or continue to accept the gift every year.
• Liam Swanson’s perspective is that the acceptance of this gift goes against the University’s Jesuit values. 400 students on campus signed a petition stating that they do not welcome the acceptance of this gift.
• Some Senators commented that department research and staff positions are funded through this gift, and that it may be helpful for students to understand this perspective. They encouraged Liam Swanson to volunteer to serve on the Ciocca-Koch Gift Oversight & Accountability Committee, as his involvement would allow him to be a voice for students’ concerns, as well as provide students with insight on how this gift may affect the livelihood of and resources for staff and faculty.

Staff Representation on the UCC (Andrew Chai)

• The Staff Senate President gave an overview of the proposed changes to staff representation on the UCC, explaining that increasing the number of committee members from 5 to 7 would equalize staff and faculty representation, plus add student representation.
  • If the changes are approved, the committee would be comprised of: the Provost, the Staff Senate President, the Faculty Senate President, the Chair-elect (Tenured Faculty), the ASG President (first proposed addition), the UCC Co-Chair, and the Ex-Staff Senate President as Co-Chair (second proposed addition).
• The President then solicited input from Senators regarding whether: 1) six consecutive years of employment for SCU staff was a reasonable equivalent to tenured faculty, and 2) if it would be best if the proposed staff person had two consecutive years of involvement on the UCC.
• Senators recommended having a forum involving the Faculty Senate Council and the Staff Senate in order to facilitate an open discussion regarding these issues.

Open Forum 

• The Staff Senate President opened the floor for discussion, at which point the Senators asked Jim Lyons to address the 3% cut in operating budgets.

The February 20th meeting minutes are saved on the Staff Senate Google Drive.

Thanks for attending the Staff and Faculty Mixer on February 20th at Homestead Kitchen & Libations

• Sixty-one guests were in attendance, including Fr. O'Brien and newly-appointed Provost Lisa Kloppenberg.
• Attendees came from the Cowell Center, the Ignatian Center, the School of Law, the Office for Multicultural Learning, the School of Engineering, Summer Sessions, and University Relations, to name a few.
• The winner of the most-roaring-costume competition was Heather Lopez (University Relations), who received a $25 Amazon gift card—Congrats, Heather! 

Your attendance made this event a great success—one that we hope to continue as an annual tradition so that we, faculty and staff, have a chance to mingle and enhance our rapport as SCU friends and colleagues.   

So what will our theme be next year?  Stay tuned to find out.  Better yet: come next year to find out!  

Your Staff Senate Events and Service Committee 

Thank you to all faculty, staff, and students who supported the Food Insecurity Program during our Bronco Pantry Food Drive on February 14th! With your support, we were able to help the Office of Student Life fully stock the Bronco Pantry for our SCU students in need. We could not have done this without the Bronco family!

All staff are invited to attend Staff Senate Meetings.