Campus News
February 4, 2011
Governance groups active with issues, ideas
The Employee Council, University Senate and Faculty Council are looking at issues of priority to the University as a whole and are continuing work on several other issues. All are in the process of soliciting nominations for next year's officers.
And the three president's commissions that address specific aspects of campus diversity have jumped into spring semester with a variety of new and ongoing initiatives.
University Senate
Areas for discussion on the University Senate's spring agenda include:
• Business process improvements throughout the University;
• The new parking and shuttle contract;
• Challenges around class and labor on the campus;
• Emory's carbon reduction goal and climate change action plan;
• Emory's Tobacco Free initiative; and
• Emory's new temperature policy.
The Senate continues to address concerns across the University as identified by the Faculty Council, Employee Council, Student Government Association, and Graduate Student Government Association.
Committees of the University Senate as well as the Faculty Council will also report on their progress on issues during the year and the goals they plan to address next year and beyond.
Faculty Council
Looking at structures for future growth at the University will be the focus of the Faculty Council for spring.
These include:
• Improving business processes;
• The open access project the Council has been working on throughout the year;
• Revenue-generating ideas across the University's units;
• The possible restructuring of a grievance committee; and
• The impact to tuition and enrollment management on the budget.
The Council will also join President Jim Wagner in a discussion about identifying Emory's distinctiveness.
The Council is currently seeking nominations for the Distinguished Faculty Lecture for 2012.
Faculty members can follow the news and issues of the Faculty Council in the Council Concerns blog and newsletter.
Employee Council
The Employee Council is preparing for one of its major sponsored events of the spring, the annual Town Hall, with President Wagner and other University officials.
The Town Hall will be Tuesday, March 15, at noon in the law school's Tull Auditorium.
After Wagner's remarks, he and others on the podium will take questions from the audience.
Throughout this year, the Council has been inviting comments and solutions on a variety of hot topics of interest to employees. For the Town Hall, the Council is parlaying its hot topics into a theme. The topic is "Emory would be GREAT if..."
Employees are invited to submit thoughts on what would make Emory better or greater and offer a suggestion on how your idea can be implemented. Suggestions can be offered anonymously. See the Council website to participate.
The President's Commission on Race and Equality
An exhibit on PCORE's work on slavery in Woodruff Library is coming soon, according to co-president James Scott.
"We have also been very much involved with the recent resolution by Emory University Board of Trustees expressing regret for its legacy of slavery," Scott says.
"We have been hosts to many fabulous speakers and addressed difficult dialogues exploring issues of race, violence against women," says Scott, noting PCORE joined with the Race and Difference Initiative, the Office of Multicultural Programming and Services, Transforming Community Project, Equal Opportunity Programs plus the School of Medicine and Emory Healthcare on a variety of race and ethnicity issues.
The President's Commission on the Status of Women
The PCSW's Taking Charge workshops to develop women leaders in higher education and offer networking opportunities have attracted over 100 attendees, says PCSW co-chair Amy Salzer. The second group of Taking Charge sessions is being held in spring semester.
Salzer says the PCSW will continue reviewing the Office of Community and Diversity's 2010 Diversity Profile, describing the representation of women across the University "to better understand this data and its implications for the status of women at Emory."
Mentoring and networking are on the spring agenda. A founding member of the PCSW, Paula Washington, will speak about mentoring relationships from the perspective her own business, womentor.com. Also, "We have a group that is working this spring on developing some innovative, informal networking channels and opportunities for women in our community," Salzer adds.
The President's Commission on Sexuality, Gender Diversity and Queer Equality
The PCSGDQE continues working on University gender-related policies and with Emory Healthcare and student health to change and update policies related to LBGT health care issues, says PCSGDQE co-chair Matt Garrett.
"We are working with the registrar to see that there is a clear and reasonable process for name changes" to make policies and procedures gender-neutral, he says. "And we help support gender-neutral housing on campus."
In the fall, the commission "looked at what are some of the unique and valuable aspects the LBGT community brings to the rich diversity of Emory," Garrett says. The campus-wide survey was to gain insight into issues that relate to LGBTQ-related concerns, he says.
The PCSGDQE will host with the other president's commissions a March 30 discussion on Transgender 101.
