Here are previous articles on the merger:
- Introduction and timeline
- History of the merger proposal, reasons in support of a merger
- Core structure of a Staff Council
- Committees on the Staff Council
In the last article, we looked at the internal committees that would carry out the day-to-day work of the Staff Council. But perhaps the most important function of the Staff Council is its role in shared governance at Illinois State. The Civil Service (CS) and Administrative/Professional (A/P) Councils provide representatives for many university groups and committees so that staff make their voices heard. One of the core justifications for the merger is to produce a stronger, more unified staff voice in these venues. We now turn to where and how that voice is exercised.
Both councils continue to be interested in hearing your views on the proposal. In fact, we hope to devote the next article to questions and feedback about the merger. This is why your feedback is always important! It can be sent to staffcouncil@IllinoisState.edu
External representation of the Staff Council
First, a principle. The aim of the Staff Council is to strengthen staff representation at ISU both as a whole and for the CS and A/P job classes, not weaken or dilute it. As such, members of both councils are adamant that a merged council not lead to reduced representation on key shared governance bodies.
To be very, very clear: If a merger were to entail reduced CS or A/P representation on key shared governance bodies, the CS and A/P Councils would not pursue the merger any further.
Second, the Staff Council plans to draw membership on shared governance bodies from the active voting members of the Staff Council. The main reasons for this were discussed in the article on Staff Council structure—see the link at the start of this article. It can be further added here that, since advocacy and representation is central to the purpose of the Staff Council, the CS and A/P Councils see it as appropriate that external representative roles be drawn from the duly elected members of the Staff Council.
Academic Senate
Arguably the most important shared governance body the CS and A/P Councils take part in is the Academic Senate. Currently, the Senate has one CS member (the chair of CS Council or their designee) and one A/P member (an elected member of the A/P Council serving a one-year term for up to three consecutive years). These are both voting members of the Senate. The two councils also have voting members on two internal Senate committees: the Planning and Finance Committee and (as of recently) the University Policy Committee. The two staff senators alternate which committee they are on, so that one is on each committee.
First, it’s important to again emphasize that maintaining and, when possible, expanding staff voice and representation is core to the purpose of the merger. The councils have jointly advocated for greater Senate representation for many years. The recent addition of a voting member to the University Policy Committee is a result of this advocacy. Advocacy for greater representation will not cease with a Staff Council; rather, CS and A/P will be able to better coordinate their efforts.
As to how the Senator roles would be split between CS and A/P, the answer is exactly that—they would be split. If the two current senators switch from “CS Council” and “A/P Council” to “Staff Council,” then one would be CS and one A/P. No matter what, there will always be equitable representation from each job class.
Campus Communications Committee
After the Academic Senate, perhaps the most important shared governance body staff are involved in is the Campus Communications Committee (CCC). While not a decision-making body, the CCC produces a letter on the state of the University that is read to the Board of Trustees at their quarterly meetings, thus providing important information about the campus to institutional leaders.
Historically, CCC members include two staff each from CS and A/P Council (including the chairs of each council), three faculty members from the Academic Senate, and the Student Body President. The writing of the letter itself alternated between CS staff, A/P staff, and faculty. Recently, the Academic Senate changed the CCC to equalize representation of the three primary constituencies (staff, faculty, and students) to three each. As explained in a February 9 email from Senate Chair Martha Horst, this change “creates parity between the three types of stakeholders at Illinois State University.” The CS and A/P Councils both supported this change, believing that it helps ensure that the student voice is better represented in the CCC.
The general rules for Staff Council representation on the CCC would follow similar rules as Senate representation: at least one CS and one A/P member. The third seat would alternate between CS and A/P representation.
Employee Advisory Committee and SURS Members Advisory Committee
After the Senate and CCC, two of the most important sites for staff representation are the Employee Advisory Committee (EAC) and the SURS Members Advisory Committee (SURSMAC). These two committees serve to connect staff to the State Universities Retirement System (SURS). The EAC specifically focuses on Civil Service employees, while the SURSMAC covers all employees. Both serve as advisory to SURS and provide important information on SURS issues such as pensions and legislation to campuses.
Importantly, membership on these is not determined by staff. The EAC representative, who must be CS, is voted in through SURS and serves a four-year term. The SURSMAC representative is a staff member in Human Resources who is appointed by the university President. This representative typically acts individually, providing period reports to CS Council, but may assemble a larger committee if needed. Because the number and selection of these roles is not decided by staff, the creation of a Staff Council would not change them. The one difference would be that, while at present these two representatives are only connected to the CS Council, with a Staff Council members of both job classes would now receive updates from these representatives.
Other committees
There are several other committees and groups that the CS and A/P Councils have important connections to, such as the Illinois State Foundation Board, the Illinois State Annuitants Association, the Team Excellence Award Committee, the Illinois Staet Parking Committee, the University Police Chief Advisory Council, and (last but not least!) the Discounts Committee. The Foundation Board receives updates and provides feedback on the state of the Foundation, which covers private donations and gifts to the university. The Annuitants Association protects pensions and benefits for Illinois State employees. The Team Excellence Award Committee oversees the nomination and selection process for winners of the annual Team Excellence Award. The Parking Committee seeks input on all things university parking (therefore making it, in the view of many, the most important committee of them all). The Police Chief Advisory Council is a center for discussion of safety and policing on campus. Finally, the Discounts Committee is consulted when there are changes and new proposals related to staff discounts.
For all of these, the core idea is the same. Total representation of staff on any of these should not be reduced (though that point is less central in these committees, which are more local in nature and more about providing information, than with Senate and CCC). CS and A/P staff must both be represented. In the case of the Discounts Committee, which at present only includes CS representatives, this would mean adding A/P representatives. Except for the Discounts Committee, very little is expected to change in these cases.
With this, we have covered the major points of the merger proposal. We certainly haven’t said everything there is to say, however, and you may still have questions. For that reason, we would like to devote an article to answering questions about the Staff Council. As always, we encourage you to send questions to staffcouncil@IllinoisState.edu, and in our next article we will discuss the questions we receive.
