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June 6, 2005
Council steps forward for staff in strategic planning

by eric rangus

The Employee Council is forming a 22-person subcommittee on staff roles in strategic planning. The creation of that subcommittee was announced at the council’s most recent meeting, Wednesday, May 18, in the Faculty Building on the Grady campus.

Subcommittee co-chairs Amy Harms of Emory College and Woody Woodworth from the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library outlined its structure. Four teams of five members each (20 people in all; Harms and Woodworth make 22) would define staff contributions to strategic planning in the following areas: leadership, community and work/life balance, internal advancement and training, and benefits.

Those teams will flesh out the outline points of the council’s strategic planning document submitted to Provost Earl Lewis last fall and then work with University administrators and Human Resources (HR) leadership to implement and monitor different aspects of the plan.

Participating in strategic planning is just one way staff voices are being heard, said council President Susie Lackey. Another, she said, is that the council has been invited to work directly with the new vice president for HR once that position is filled later this summer.

In other business, the council voted unanimously to amend its bylaws. Terms were reduced from three years to two, although members may now serve three terms consecutively. Previously the bylaws allowed just two consecutive terms. Despite the changes, the number of consecutive years a member may serve—six—has not been altered. Once members have reached their limits, they must sit out at least one term before returning to the council, if they should so choose.

The council also unanimously approved the addition of members from areas that include the Office of Development and University Relations and from affiliated organizations.

Lackey gave a review of the council’s participation in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life fund-raiser held at DeKalb County’s Adams Stadium, May 13–14. She said, including pledges, the council raised more than $5,000. That amount more than doubled last year’s council figure.

A 13-person team of council members and friends participated in the overnight event, and one walker, Kim Neu, animal behavior management specialist at Yerkes, completed 100 laps of the track (25 miles).

Wrapping up a review of the April 26 council-sponsored Town Hall with President Jim Wagner and other administrators, Lackey said DVD copies of the event are available for purchase ($10 each for orders of 10 or more; $20 each for orders less than 10).

The next Employee Council meeting will be held Wednesday, June 15, in Woodruff Library’s Jones Room.

If you have a question for Employee Council, send e-mail to President Susie Lackey at slackey@rmy.emory.edu.

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