COE Staff Advisory Committee

Purpose:

• Forum for the dean to share and receive staff feedback on college policies and initiatives
• Opportunity for staff to share ideas/feedback for leadership’s consideration
• Confidential committee of trust for discussing topics that are still actively being considered by college leadership

Expectations of committee members:

• Maintain confidentiality
• Actively engage in the committee meetings, contributing their voice and ideas to the process
• Attend all meetings of the committee, with support from their immediate supervisor in terms of workload management
• Listen to other staff in their department/center/unit for topics and concerns to share up with leadership, and, if directed, solicit feedback from college staff
• Estimated time commitment for one year of service would be 10 to 15 hours
  • One or two 90-minute meetings a semester, including summer
  • Time for advance prep, follow-up tasks, or sub-group work as needed
  • One half-day at college leadership work session

Structure:

• Led by a staff chair selected by the committee, with an ongoing staff member (assistant to the dean) who provides administrative support and continuity
• Composed of 8 to 10 staff members (full- or at least 50%-time)
• To reflect multiple areas of the college and ensure that a broad cross-section of staff voices are heard, the committee membership will include at least one representative from all of the following:
  • Research center
  • Each academic department
  • Student Services Center
  • College of Education administrative units (e.g., Business Services, OII, Development)
  • Both A&P and classified positions
• Current college representatives to UT’s Staff Council are invited to liaise or serve ex officio

Eligibility:

• Employed in a classified or A&P position in the College of Education between at a .50-1.0 FTE appointment or equivalent
• Employees who have completed at least 12 months of consecutive service to the College of Education
• Employee is in good standing in their unit and not on a formal performance improvement plan

Nomination process:

• Annual communication will go out in late spring to solicit nominations
• Supervisor nominations:
  • Supervisors may nominate after confirming interest from staff member by sending a short email to their immediate supervisor that provides (1) a brief summary of the person’s job duties and (2) a description of why they think this person should serve
  • Nomination threads would move up the supervisory chain to chair or college unit director, who would then select no more than two or three to submit to the dean
• Self-nominations:
  • Staff member may self-nominate, with approval from immediate supervisor, by sending a short email to their supervisor that provides (1) a brief summary of their job duties and (2) a description of why they would like to serve and the strengths they would bring to the committee
  • Nomination threads would move up the supervisory chain to chair or college unit director, who would then select no more than two or three to submit to the dean
  • Dean may then invite additional comments from supervisor
• Dean may solicit additional nominations from chairs/directors to ensure that all of the staff representation listed above is included
• Dean’s Team and staff development team (CBO, HR director, assistant to the dean) would serve as consultative committee to make recommendations
• Dean makes a final determination on the committee membership slate, considering the overall diversity of roles represented on the committee to ensure as broad a reach as possible
• Over time, recommendations should take into consideration that all offices and centers are being represented

Meetings:

• The schedule of meetings for the year will be arranged at the start of each term to maximize members’ participation
• Agendas will be prepared by committee chair and staff support in consultation with the dean
• Rather than observing a formal governance structure, the committee will make informal recommendations on potential policies and initiatives before they are brought to finalization by the college’s leadership team
• Frequency:
  • One or two meetings a semester, including summer
  • One separate end-of-term celebration/thank you lunch that may include other members of the college leadership
  • One half-day college leadership work session

Term of service:

• A minimum one-year commitment from all members
• A maximum term of three years
• Toward the end of each committee cycle, current members have option to rotate off or continue
• Each year’s number of new candidates will be determined by how many seats need to be filled
• Process can be evaluated and updated once the committee is more established
• Should a staff member leave the college or no longer be able to serve, the dean may choose to fill their seat for the remainder of the term through a nomination or direct appointment

Please send suggested additions to this page and notifications about broken links to COE-HR@austin.utexas.edu.

Contributors to this page (Name, number of updates, most recent update):