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March 27 , 2006
Employee Council ready to elect new leaders

BY Alfred Charles

Seven candidates are vying to hold leadership positions on the Employee Council, which will elect a slate of new officers in April to lead the group during the next academic year.

The hopefuls laid out their agendas when they addressed council members, who gathered March 15 in the Seney Conference Room at Oxford College for the council’s annual meeting on the Newton County campus.

The council will elect its 2006-07 leaders at its April 19 meeting. The races for president-elect, treasurer and historian are contested, but only one person is running for the position of secretary-elect.

Jackie Culliton, who has worked at The Carter Center for the past 12 years, is unopposed in the secretary-elect race. Culliton, who has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Emory, has been on the council since 2004.

Kenny Kelly and Linda Sheldon are running for president.

Kelly works as assistant director of facilities operations for Greek Life & Custodial Services. He has served on the council for over five years. “I want to grab hold of the torch and run the race better than the people before,” he told the members.

“I want to leave it better than I found it.”

Sheldon works in Campus Services as a manager of accessibility design and construction. She has served on the council for two years. “Leadership is what I’m interested in,” she said. “I bring a fresh perspective.”

The other candidates are: Chris Alexander, the incumbent, who is running against Jennifer Vazquez for the treasurer’s slot, while Betty Goetz is competing against Ed Koffsky for the post of historian.

The Employee Council is the official voice for Emory staff and serves as an advisory board to University administrators. Voting members of the council are the only ones allowed to cast ballots during the election.
In addition to selecting its leaders, Employee Council members will also vote on revisions to the group’s bylaws.

The changes include: allowing elected officers to serve from September to May, an attempt to give incoming officers more time to prepare for their new duties before officially taking office; codifying a practice that designates the secretary of the University Senate to be a member of the Employee Council; and increasing the duties of the parliamentarian.

In other business, council members heard opening remarks from Kent Linville, dean of academic affairs for Oxford College.

Council members also received updates about: the status of proposed changes to employee benefits suggested last year by the Benefits Review Committee; the brown bag seminar held March 9 to apprise the campus about efforts to implement suggestions made during the climate survey; the switch to Medco, the new company that will manage the University’s prescription drug benefit, starting April 1; and parking woes on campus. Laura Ray, associate vice president for transportation and parking, is scheduled to appear next month to update council members about the University’s ongoing effort to increase mobility on campus.

If you have a question or comment for Employee Council, send an e-mail to President Louis Burton at louis.burton@emoryhealthcare.org.

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