In a summary address to the University of California Board of Regents, the outgoing Chair of the Council of UC Staff Associations (CUCSA) reported progress in the three areas on which the council devoted its focus this year – communications, faculty-staff partnering, and an educational fee waiver for dependents of UC employees.

Maggie Souder of the UC Riverside campus, speaking on behalf of her colleagues at the other nine campuses and Berkeley and Los Alamos labs, pledged that the group will continue to address these and others issues of importance to staff welfare.

“I passionately believe that fostering an atmosphere in which staff can collaborate and contribute is an important factor in ensuring University success,” she told the Regents at their July meeting, “not one perhaps as visible or easily measured as, for example, the number of Nobel Laureates, but critical nevertheless. Encouraging collaboration between staff, faculty, students and administration facilitates this contribution.”

Berkeley Lab’s junior delegate to CUCSA, Linda Rutkowski, said the group had tried during the year to convince the Regents that UC staff should be represented in Regental deliberations. It hasn’t happened yet, but in her message, Souder urged the Regents to consider “the possibility of appointing a non-voting staff advisor to the Board.”

Rutkowski also said the fee waiver proposal for faculty and staff dependents was rejected due to budgetary constraints. Souder asked the Board to consider committing to the program’s implementation as soon as economically feasible. She told them that a survey of 1,475 UC employees revealed 98 percent believing the fee waiver would be beneficial to the institution.

Souder highlighted several examples of “best-practice” faculty-staff partnerships that were gathered in a CUCSA campus poll, and she offered ideas for continued progress, including creating a vision and generating an atmosphere that results in a change in culture, shared responsibility for a positive work environment, including faculty-staff concerns in reports and initiatives, and recognizing partnering efforts.

In communications, several opportunities for improvement were noted: information timeliness, reduced redundancy, budget and benefit updates, and newsworthy events, such as research news, awards and distinctions, and faculty and staff honors.

Souder concluded, on behalf of the Council, “I affirm our dedication and willingness to work toward the type of communication that will encourage and facilitate understanding; collegiality; recognition of faculty, staff and student value and the retention of each; superior services and accomplishments, and top UC rankings.”

“I am looking forward to another productive year under the leadership of new CUCSA Chair David Bell of UCSF and Chair-Elect David Miller of UCLA,” Rutkowski said.

Berkeley Lab was represented by Rutkowski and senior delegate Kathie Hardy. Diana Attia was the group’s secretary. New delegates will be selected in September.