At its first meeting of the academic year, Sept. 18 in the Jones
Room of Woodruff Library, Employee Council voted almost unanimously
to change its calendar to conform to other University organizations.
The council’s calendar will now run from September–June,
and the change will be reflected in its by-laws. The changes was
made because so that council members who serve on other University
governmental organizations, such as the University Senate, would
serve the same terms as their fellow members. Council members whose
terms were to expire in April—the old calendar’s end-date—will
now serve through June.
In other business, the council hosted several guest speakers. Michelle
Smith, director of corporate giving, introduced the new year of
EmoryGives, the University’s charitable giving program. This
year, Smith said, one of the focuses of the program will be on volunteerism.
Bernard Joy of the purchasing department announced that Emory had
signed a letter of intent to form an alliance with Verizon Wireless
to provide cellular telephone and other wireless technology plans
to Emory faculty, staff and students at special rates. Joining him
to explain some of the proposed amenities was Verizon account manager
Jo Gifford. Deals include 20 percent off mobile packages, 25 percent
off accessories and special rates for minutes.
Alice Miller, Vice President of Human Resources, discussed changes
to the Health Care Plan, adding that Employee Council was the first
campus organization to be briefed on the information (For
the full plan changes, go here).
The final guest was William Branch, president of the University
Senate. He discussed the body’s responsibilities and several
of its goals for the new year. More than a half- dozen Employee
Council members also serve on the Senate.
The special issues committee discussed the issue of pre-employment
drug testing, a plan that was piloted in March and is currently
being expanded to include all departments. The issues brought up
included whether the policy is an invasion of privacy and whether
it is fair, since new faculty hires are not subject to testing.
The committee also floated ideas regarding a graduated scale for
paying parking fees, where low-salary employees pay less; and a
plan to have at least one smoke-free entrance to each campus building.
The membership committee stated that it will continue to contact
members who have frequent absences, along with other members of
their areas, to stress the importance of attending meetings.
The communications committee promoted attendance at the town hall
meeting with President Bill Chace, Sept. 25, and also announced
that the council’s Oct. 15 information fair in the Dobbs Center
had double the participants than any previous fair.
The next Employee Council meeting will be Wednesday, Oct. 16, at
1:30 p.m. in the Oppenheimer Room of Grady Hospital’s Glenn
Building. Shuttles from the main Emory campus will be available.
If you have a
question for Employee Council, send e-mail to President Cheryl Bowie
at cheryl@radonc.emory.org.
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