Participating in Staff Council and PESA activities has multiple benefits, according to Susan Szpyrka, UCCS associate vice chancellor for Administration and Finance.
Szpyrka addressed a crowd enjoying a morning meal on the University Center plaza on Sept. 7 at the annual Fall Staff Breakfast. She related her own experiences as Staff Council president more than 20 years ago when the organization included both classified and professional exempt staff
“There were fewer students, fewer buildings, fewer faculty and fewer staff,” she said.
“Even then,” she continued, “there were challenges getting folks to participate in staff council and staff council committees. Some of what we heard then, and still hear today, is that staff are too busy to do anything else. Another reason is that many staff experience discomfort working with people they do not know and thus so not volunteer.
“But staff council is really about community,” Szpyrka said. “It is about how each one of us individually and then working with others, makes an impact on UCCS and helps to shape the future of UCCS.”
Community building makes UCCS phenomenal, she said, and it’s a major part of Staff Council’s purpose. Networking and getting to know and work with fellow staff outside one’s own department is an opportunity for new knowledge and insight.
“I know that some of you may be thinking that you don’t have time to participate in staff council activities,” she said. “Some supervisors in the audience may be thinking that you don’t have enough staff to allow employees to work on projects not viewed as mission critical.”
She related that
- ν UCCS receives $2,700 less in state support per full-time student than its peer universities
- ν UCCS tuition and fees are 8 percent less than peers
- ν UCCS operating budgets are less than one-half of its peer institutions
- ν UCCS has 50 percent fewer full time equivalent staff than peer universities.
Although the statistics can be viewed as reasons for being too busy to participate, Szpyrka said, the numbers demonstrate that UCCS is very efficient as a campus, because UCCS staff members individually are very efficient. She said efficiency is based on knowledge and knowledge comes through experience. Staff council participation is a form of practical experience; working on projects that help the campus helps the individual, personally and professionally.
“Through committees and service as an officer, Staff Council provides financial management training, business communication experience, event planning, marketing, public speaking, human resources, team building experience and leadership opportunities,” she said. “You can’t manage the campus blood drives, holiday service project, or school supplies drive, to name a few committees, and not develop and improve these business skills.”
Staff council participation also provides opportunity to make a lasting difference to the campus, she added. Staff representation on administrative, department, and college committees assures that staff opinions and issues are considered in the decisions that shape the future of UCCS. She emphasized that individual staff members can impact strategic initiatives, facilities planning, campus leadership decisions, campus activities, and much more.
“You just never know who you will get to know when working on Staff Council or serving as the staff representative to a campus committee,” Szpyrka said. “I recall back in 1991 and again in 1992 when I served as the staff representative to two important campus-wide committees. These two committees were a lot of work and tested my diplomatic skills. In particular, because on one of these committees, I was the only staff member and the rest of the committee was comprised of faculty and administrators. On these committees, I worked with two faculty members, one from the Communication Department and another from the College of Education. They were amazing role models for me, a relatively young staff person.
“In modeling their approaches to problem solving and interpersonal communication, I became a better employee for my department and also the campus. Some of you have figured out the identity of these two faculty members, no other than our chancellor, Pam Shockley-Zalabak and our provost and executive vice chancellor, Peg Bacon. But in 1992 they were my colleagues on the search committee to select a new chancellor for UCCS.”
Szpyrka admonished supervisors to consider that the time staff spend on staff council activities can be beneficial to their departments. She advised them to view it as staff development that takes a time commitment but is otherwise cost-free.
“I tell you all, very sincerely, that you make a significant difference to UCCS,” she concluded. “We all know and respect that UCCS faculty are the heart of the institution, but only staff have positions in every area of the campus: in the Chancellor’s Office, in the colleges and academic departments, in student services, advancement and in administration and finance.
“That makes you, the staff, the backbone of this great institution. Bring your experience, your knowledge, and yes your affection for UCCS to the table by participating in staff council or PESA and see the significant impact you can make to the future of UCCS.”
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