Staff Advisory Council

The responsibilities of the Staff Advisory Council are as follows:

1. Provide a formal voice and outlet for the staff in the CVM
2. Serving as a liaison of the staff to the administration, faculty, students and other stakeholders
3. Be an independent advocate to the dean for staff development, communication, recognition and representation

Meeting Minutes

Meetings: The Staff Advisory Council will hold monthly meetings with additional meetings called on an as-needed basis. Staff Advisory Council meetings will be open to all employees unless otherwise specified. Access to these meetings will be available remotely (i.e. Zoom). All staff are welcomed and encouraged to attend monthly meetings.

A biannual SAC Council Members meeting will be called by the dean will be dedicated to updates from the Staff Advisory Council; the meeting will provide an opportunity for all CVM staff to convey feedback to the Staff Advisory Council. The SAC council will solicit feedback from all staff (via suggestion box, anonymous online surveys, etc) that can be shared with the dean. All committees/subcommittees will be prepared to report to the dean. The report would include detailed accounts as to what has transpired and what is in the works for the future. Direct staff pros and cons would be identified. The chair would provide an overall summative presentation that addresses the continued vision and mission of the council and its plans to successfully meet the charge of the council as outlined in its by-laws. The biannual meetings would have time devoted on the agenda for Q&A.

Membership Terms and Elections: A term is 3 years of service and each year will be considered January 1st-December 31st. 3 members of the council will cycle off each year. Council members may be reelected to a second term, but after 6 years of continuous service a member must sit out for at least a year before being considered for another term.

In order to promote equal representation, the available spots will be dependent on the openings in the council based on the ideal division of the council seats. Membership is voluntary and if a group does not have a willing volunteer that spot will be filled by a person from a different group. This selection will be based on who receives the most votes but is not selected for their specific group based on availability.

Election to be coordinated by dean’s executive assistant.

• August 1st – nominations solicited
• August 31st – due date for nominations
• September 15th – ballot distributed via Qualtrics (or similar survey program) to all staff in the college
• October 15th – new membership announced

Special elections may be held as needed should vacancies occur on the council.

Structure of the CVM Staff Advisory Council: The Staff Advisory Council will include 3 elected officers and 6 additional elected members. Elected positions must be held by full-time, benefit-eligible (75% FTE or more) staff who have been affiliated with the College of Veterinary Medicine for a minimum of six months.

Elected Officers: Elected officers will be the chair, vice chair and secretary-treasurer. The chair will hold office for a limit of one year of continuous service.

The Staff Advisory Council will appoint one member to serve on the MU CVM Strategic Advisory Board and one member to serve on the MU CVM Diversity Committee. These appointments will follow the calendar year (Jan. 1 – Dec. 31).

Duties:

A. Chair

1. Develop the agenda and conduct the meetings.
2. Conduct the officer election process.
3. Serve as spokesperson for the Staff Advisory Council in consultation with other officers and council members.
4. Assist the Vice Chair/Sec-Treasurer in development of budget

B. Vice Chair

1. Assume the responsibilities of the chair during that officer’s absence.
2. Help coordinate the member nomination and election process.
3. After serving for a full year in this position, the vice chair assumes the position of chair.
4. Assist the Chair/Sec-Treasurer in development of budget

C. Secretary-Treasurer

1. Prepare and distribute the agenda and previous meeting’s minutes for each meeting.
2. Prepare and distribute other staff-wide communications from the Staff Advisory Council as needed.
3. Maintain meeting minutes and documents in an electronic format; all CVM staff will have access to this repository.
4. Assist the Chair and Vice Chair in development of the budget.
5. Monitor and track funds monthly per the guidelines and reports at SAC Meetings.

D. Nine Council Members shall include the following:

1. Biomedical Sciences – One member
2. VMS/VHC – One member
3. LIDR – One member
4. Dean’s Office – One member
5. Veterinary Pathobiology/Discovery Ridge – One member
6. VMDL – One member
7. Three At Large Members

Funding: The Staff Advisory Council will be allocated an annual budget of $1,500.00. Monies will be budgeted based on the fiscal year July 1 through June 30. The SAC may acquire additional funding through fundraising activities (i.e. event concession stand) conducted by the staff.

The Council will have the opportunity to carry forward unused funds A justification for the carry forward of funds must be provided. The justification will be reviewed for approval by the Dean’ Office.

Protocol for requesting SAC funds: Funding request for SAC funds for the purpose of advancing the mission of the SAC are established in the bylaws by the following protocol:

– A written financial request will be made to the Officers of the Council who will take the request to the SAC members for review, vote and approval/denial before making the request to the Dean’s Office.

The written request must contain:

– The name of the event, date, time and location. The purpose/use of the funds. The amount of funds requested and an expense breakdown and/or applicable quotes. A statement as to whether any additional sources of funding will be used as well.

The executive administrative dean is ultimately responsible for the SAC mocode and will have the final approval on the use of SAC funding.

Committee establishment: The Staff Advisory Council reserves the right to establish or dissolve committees as needed based on the SAC mission statement.

The Fundamental Committees of the SAC will be:

• Welcome/Social Committee – happy hours, trivia nights, etc.
• Fundraising Committee
• Communications – web page for staff, introductory bios for new staff, info from SAC, upcoming events