SC President's Monthly Communication: March

March 8, 2021 - Nancy Shane

Happy Spring, UNM Staff! 

At the last SC President’s Coffee Hour, we had an interesting conversation about how lockdown has challenged onboarding for new employees and keeping track of priorities for many of us. Staff shared their suggestions for remote team-building, including more frequent team meetings; taking turns asking a question or offering an activity to open meetings casually; and describing a highlight of the week. I hope you and your team has learned some lessons over this past year you can continue into this next year. I would love to hear them.

I wish to extend a hearty thanks to everyone who has volunteered at the Pit to help with COVID-19 vaccinations. Staff participation was tremendous! Please make sure you are registered with the NM Department of Health if you would like the vaccine. New Mexico has already begun vaccinating Phase 1B(C), frontline essential workers; and all higher education staff are included in that category.

And now, to share the news:

Staff Council Initiatives

Elections!

We so appreciate everyone who has already self-nominated for the Staff Council grade representative elections coming up later this month. TODAY, March 8^th at 5pm, is the deadline to do so – look for the self-nomination ballot that was mailed on February 18^th. The elections themselves start on March 22^nd. Please vote for your favorite candidates!

Electronic Information Accessibility. At the February Business Meeting, the Council passed this third resolution in a series in support of people with disabilities. Largely through the work of our Staff Council Administrator, Amy Hawkins, and a few Councilors, this resolution supports University efforts to make websites and communication more accessible to using Web Content Accessibility Standards. 

In the past year, Councilors have developed more areas of specialization to serve staff, creating four new committees: Affinity Groups, Strategic Planning, IT, and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. In February, councilors voted to expand the charge of the Ethics Committee to serve in a consulting capacity for its members. And the Staff Success Committee is working on what promises to be a fulfilling event for many of us this summer -- Professional Development Days. I am excited to hear more about that in the weeks to come.

Regent Goings-On

Last month the Regents’ ASAR Committee voted to change its name to Student Success, Teaching, and Research (SSTAR) to better reflect its mission. Administrators shared challenges around higher drops in enrollment this Spring compared to last Spring and expected cuts in the FY22 budget. Provost Holloway shared the intention to create a more diverse staff and faculty workforce. EVP of Health Sciences Doug Ziedonis shared his First-60-Day report, noting the need for more collaboration across Departments and other issues, and his excitement for the new UNM Hospital Tower. 

If you haven’t had the chance to listen to President Stokes January 21^stState of the University address, it’s worth a listen. She thanks staff and all University players for all we have done to pull through this monumentally strange and hard pandemic year, and highlights the many bright spots along the way as well as the opportunities and challenges we will be facing together in the near future.

Today, we say goodbye to Regents Robert Doughty, Marron Lee, and student regent Melissa Henry. The new regents will officially join in April.

Human Resources

Tuition Remission. Due to the recent change in how some staff fringe benefits are budgeted (by Departments, for I&G-funded positions), on our behalf Human Resources double-checked that Tuition Remission continues to be paid through a centralized fund. There is therefore no change in how tuition remission is paid, or its supervisor permission/notification procedures.

Parental Leave. As most know, the University passed a staff Parental Leave policy in 2019, which works hand-in-hand with its Family Medical Leave Act. The purpose of the policy is to provide parents paid leave time to bond with their children. When foster care placements are long-term, that purpose definitely applies. Therefore, I am quite pleased that when University administrators heard a constituent request, they chose to explore how we might incorporate foster parenting into our Parental Leave policy. That effort is underway now.

International Listserv. Several Councilors and interested staff members have been working for the past several months with Provost Holloway and Human Resources to find ways to improve communication to our international staff and faculty about policy changes and other topics of particular interest. That work has paid off! If you missed the announcement last week, you can join INTERNATIONAL_EMPLOYEES-L following these instructions.