Mission
The mission of the Staff Affairs Council (SAC) is to facilitate collaboration and communication between University leadership, faculty, and staff. The SAC recognizes the diversity of identities and roles held by staff across campus. It has the responsibility of advising the president and the cabinet on staff concerns, questions, and ideas and is responsible to report outcomes of these meetings back to the staff at large. The SAC is a resource to the president and University administrators to offer staff feedback on university affairs upon request. The council will work to identify inequities within the staff experience and elevate them to the appropriate department/division for resolution, and will intentionally consider how the work of the SAC impacts all staff across campus.
Objectives
The objectives of the Staff Affairs Council are to:
- Increase the sense of belonging, recognition, and value of staff members in their relationship to the University.
- Identify staff concerns and propose recommendations.
- Promote the development of inclusive policies aimed at retaining current staff members and attracting talented new staff members.
- Integrate staff members more fully into University affairs while fostering a culture of mutual support, respect, and professionalism.
Contact Us
You may email any SAC representative directly with concerns, questions, or feedback. You may also send an email to staffaffairscouncil@colgate.edu. The SAC officers have access to this account and check it several times per week. If you wish to submit your concern anonymously you may do so here. Please note that you will be prompted to enter your Colgate credentials but your email address will not be recorded.
Mailing Lists
If you would like to receive updates from the SAC affinity group representatives, please sign up below. You are not limited to one affinity group.
Please note that your contact information will not be shared with anyone except the SAC representative affiliated with the affinity group(s) you sign up for.
The Staff Affairs Council serves as a steering committee for the Staff Association. The council will consist of officers (positions detailed below), division representatives, affinity representatives, non-voting liaisons, and at-large positions. The council will seek representation across social identity, positional authority, category (exempt and non-exempt; part-time and full-time; supervisory and non-supervisory) and divisional representation when nominating council members.
The Staff Affairs Council shall be composed of no less than 9 and no more than 20 members, including officers. Staff Affairs Council members will be elected by the Staff Association. Each division will elect their own representative; at-large and affinity representatives will be elected by the entire Staff Association. Council members are encouraged to nominate/recruit community members for service on the council.
This policy establishes guidelines for the support of the Staff Affairs Council (SAC) from the University.
The SAC does not engage in issues of compensation and conditions of employment, but does offer recommendations on the experiences of staff members to the University, and in this way supports Colgate’s mission. That being the case, the University has created the following policy to both enable and recognize the value of the work being done by the SAC. This policy will also facilitate conversations that will inevitably arise in balancing the demands of SAC members’ University jobs and their service on SAC.
Applicability
This policy applies to all elected members of the Staff Affairs Council, including but not limited to its officers, upon the beginning of their service. It also applies to any employee appointed to the SAC filling a slot that would normally be held by someone elected to the position. All SAC members, as all employees, have a responsibility to comply with University policies, including state and federal law. Activities of the SAC and its elected members must likewise be consistent with University policy, and with state and federal law.
This policy is specific to the SAC, and does not apply to staff serving on other University committees (see the Colgate Staff Handbook, Section V: Compensation, Acting/Temporary Pay/Extra Compensation).
SAC Paid Time Policy
- Colgate shall allow regular full-time and regular part-time employees serving as elected or specially appointed members of the SAC, whether hourly or salaried, to use a reasonable amount of paid work time (though not overtime) to attend SAC meetings and participate in SAC activities. Paid work time relating to the SAC should generally not exceed 48 hours in a year. Normally no more than five hours should be spent in any given week (though SAC members, particularly officers, may be able to exceed the weekly limit with permission of their supervisors.)
- Colgate will additionally allow regular full-time and regular part-time employees serving as named officers of the SAC (Co-Chair (Exempt), Co-Chair (Non-Exempt), Vice Chair: Governance, Vice Chair: Communication, Vice Chair: Membership and Representation; Secretary; Treasurer) to use an additional 24 hours a year, as may be required by their roles.
- When using work time to participate in SAC activities, employees shall request prior approval from their supervisor in order to allow departments to ensure adequate staff coverage.
- Supervisors shall approve employee requested time for SAC participation unless the operational needs of the department cannot be readily met without the employee’s attendance during the requested time.
- Human resource officers are available as a support to the work of the SAC, including being available to help mediate disagreements between SAC members and their supervisors about hours devoted to SAC work, though SAC members should make every effort to resolve these directly first.
- Human resource officers are also available to support supervisors who experience challenges meeting the requirements of their departments or divisions while supporting employees who are SAC members.
View recordings of past All-Staff Meetings.
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Structure
The Staff Affairs Council is an elected body composed of officers, division representatives, affinity representatives, non-voting liaisons, and at-large members. The council seeks representation across positional authority and employment category (exempt and non-exempt; part-time and full-time; supervisory and non-supervisory), and social identity. Elections are held in June.
In addition to the mandates laid out in the draft charter and bylaws, the Staff Affairs Council will work closely with human resources and the cabinet.
- Sue Burdick, Deputy Registrar; SAC Vice Chair for Governance and Representative for Provost & Dean of the Faculty
- Andrew Diehl, Leadership Gifts Officer - Athletics Fundraising; SAC Exempt Co-Chair and Advancement Division Representative
- Jill Dinski, Director of Operations for the Division of Finance & Administration; SAC Treasurer and Representative for Finance & Administration
- Jasmine Kellogg, Associate Director for Internal Communications; SAC Vice Chair for Communications and Representative for University Communications
- Helen Leonard, Data Coordinator - Alumni Relations; SAC Non-Exempt Co-Chair and LGBTQ+ Representative
- Esther Rosbrook, Director of the ALANA Cultural Center; SAC Vice Chair for Membership and Representation and At-Large Representative
- Mary Williams, Director of Environmental Health and Safety; SAC Secretary and At-Large Representative
- All-Staff Survey & Assessment (Robin Bridson, Ahmad Khazaee, Helen Leonard)
- Communications (Robin Bridson, Rachael Enders, Jasmine Kellogg, Ahmad Khazaee, Cassidy Rodman, Mary Williams)
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) & Campus Culture (Rodney Agnant, Tristan Leinen, Corey MacPherson, Esther Rosbrook, Amari Simpson)
- Family Care (Amanda Barnhart, Sue Burdick, Rachael Enders, Ahmad Khazaee, Jason Longo, Sarah Sparber)
- Governance (Sue Burdick, Amanda Barnhart, Tristan Leinen, Jason Longo, Amari Simpson, Sarah Sparber)
- Membership and Representation (Rodney Agnant, Andrew Diehl, Jill Dinski, Ahmad Khazaee, Corey MacPherson, Esther Rosbrook)
- Staff Excellence Awards (Amanda Barnhart, Helen Leonard, Cassidy Rodman)
- Staff Morale & Wellness (Jill Dinski, Rachael Enders, Tristan Leinen, Jason Longo, Esther Rosbrook, Mary Williams)
Feedback for any of these groups can be sent directly to a member or can be submitted using the SAC comment / question form. Please be sure to note in your response if you would like it to be shared with a specific group.