Staff colleagues,

A small group of staff leaders came together from a variety of areas on campus over the past few months to begin staging for a Staff Advisory Council (SAC) at SU. This group’s initial task was to conduct research of applicable AJCU universities to learn how these peer institutions set up their SACs, learn about their purpose, election processes, council composition, term limits, and areas of focus. The goal of this research has been to learn from other institutions as a preliminary step in the process of forming a SAC at Seattle University. Since completing these interviews the committee synthesized the research and is sharing the gained insight with Cabinet this week to ensure we have captured their feedback, input and guidance prior to moving forward with next steps. Our plan has been to open up the process to campus and begin hosting forums to gather input and feedback from the entire campus community, as well as to share ideas for moving toward an campus wide election process.

In response to the thoughtful outreach from campus staff over the last several days, we have decided to amend this timeline. As a result, we hope you will be able to participate in an open forum on Thursday, January 25, at 1 pm in Bannan 401. We will discuss the research findings and the subsequent preliminary ideas crafted by the group.

If you are unable to attend on Thursday, we will announce additional opportunities for participation and solicitation of feedback in the upcoming weeks. We will strive to communicate the evolving ideas as broadly as possible. Like many of you, we are excited about the formation of a SAC at Seattle University, which will allow for broad-base representation for all of campus.

We welcome your voices and involvement.

Sincerely,

Eric Guerra, Athletics
Kent Koth, Center for Community Engagement
Mary Lou Moffat, Albers Business School
MK Smith, ITS
Leann Wagele, Law School
Dion Wade, Student Development
Michelle Clements, HR