College Staff Association: What It Accomplishes and How to Get Involved

Salt Lake Community College’s Staff Association is one of the college’s Employee Resource Groups. These organized collectives provide employees a sense of community in the workplace while promoting staff development.

Staff Association President Gina C. Alfred shares information on what the Staff Association (SA) does and how staff members can participate.

About the Staff Association

Gina shares that the purpose of the SA is “to advocate on behalf of all full-time and part-time staff to promote the growth, development and engagement of its members, to highlight staff accomplishments and to work with all departments to create an inclusive and accessible work environment.”

To fulfill the purpose of the SA—supporting staff members—the group executes the following actions:

• Facilitate communication, collaboration, understanding and cooperation among all staff members.
• Promote the development of unity and a sense of identity among staff members as a community of peers.
• Provide an authoritative voice for addressing the problems and concerns of its staff members.
• Promote professional growth and development of its staff members.
• Promote a relationship with administration, students and faculty to facilitate a collegial work environment.
• Provide an open avenue of communication with other higher education associations.

Executive Board

The SA Executive Board conducts official business on behalf of staff members, including deciding what matters the board can or cannot handle. In addition, the board can establish additional committees to address specific staff needs if required.

Campus delegates are responsible for their respective sites.

“The campus delegate must keep the Staff Association president apprised of any pertinent issues concerning their site(s), attend meetings at the request of the president and serve as an alternate-voting member of Utah Higher Education Staff Association when needed,” Gina says. “Delegates serve for a term of one year and are responsible for preparing the delegate-elect to serve for their upcoming term.”

Nominations for campus delegate-elects are accepted annually during May. A staff member must receive a nomination by another SA member (with their permission) to become a campus delegate. In addition, all nominees must obtain permission from their supervisor before accepting the nomination.

To learn more about the election, visit the SA’s Constitution and Bylaws.

Staff Membership and Participation

All full-time and part-time staff members (non-faculty employees) receive general membership to the SA. However, Gina mentions that “members of the president's cabinet and their direct first reports (excluding administrative assistants), associate deans, and department chairs are not eligible for membership.”

As members, staff can volunteer to serve on their campus board or attend an SA event. If you are interested in getting involved with the SA, visit the Staff Association Calendar for upcoming events or contact your campus delegate.