January 8, 2001
Employee Council advocates workshops
By Eric Rangus erangus@emory.edu
The final Employee Council meeting of the calendar year took place in
the business school, Dec. 13. The two-hour meeting featured a pair of
guest speakers and closed with the councils holiday party. Guest speaker Terry Eiesland, associate director of International Student
and Scholar Programs, opened the meeting by asking staff to participate
in a Universitywide world issues workshop scheduled for April 5. The workshop, a Year of Reconciliation event, will put its 200 participants
in charge of the world for four hours with the intent of employing them
as global problem solvers. Participants will take on roles as leaders in the United Nations, world
health and environmental organizations, or members of the international
media, for example. They will negotiate with other role-players to help
solve the worlds problems. Eiesland said that the goal is to recruit 150 students, 25 faculty members
and 25 staff members to participate. Spots will be offered on a first-come-first-serve
basis. "I dont think any campus event is totally successful unless
staff members are involved," Eiesland said. "Students need to
see staff members participate." One of the main hurdles to staff participation, Eiesland said, was ensuring
participants would receive work credit for participating (the event is
scheduled after hours, from 5:309:30 p.m.). He asked the council
to lobby "the powers that be" so that staff participants could
possibly work a half-day on April 5, then spend four hours in the evening
at the workshop. The council leadership agreed to look into the matter. Eiesland reiterated that he was not asking for funding, only participation
and promotion. Several council members expressed interest in taking part. Following Eieslands presentation, the council shifted to internal
business. The council heard reports from its representatives on the University
Senate and the Lullwater Task Force committee. After Laquanda Jackson, co-chair of the membership committee, made a
final call for nominations for next years officer elections, Bill
McBride, chair of the special issues committee, discussed an upcoming
seminar open to the entire Emory community entitled "Servant as Leader,"
which the council will sponsor in February. McBride said the event would be especially good for supervisors because
it will present workplace situations from the perspective of employees. The meetings final guest speaker was Bob Ethridge, associate vice
president and director of Equal Opportunity Programs, which sponsors the
council. Ethridge discussed the responsibilities of the EOP office. "We
have a right to meddle in everybody elses business," he quipped. Ethridge then got serious. He stated the offices missionto
help University administration interpret federal and state laws concerning
equal opportunity and affirmative action. Ethridge also outlined the programs growth and discussed its relationship
to the council. When staff members make a formal accusation of sexual
harassment against another staff member, Ethridge said, EOP forms a panel
to investigate the allegation. Employee Council members often sit on these
panels. Ethridge added that EOP prefers to resolve issues, including those involving
allegations of sexual harassment, informally. But procedures are in place
to address problems of all sorts. The next Employee Council meeting is scheduled for Jan. 17, from 24 p.m., in the Jones Room of Woodruff Library. If you have a question or comment about Employee Council, send e-mail to Susan Cook-Prince at scook01@emory.edu. |