Attendees: Karen Fennell, Angela Beale, Sandra Quinn, Lindsey Tollefson, Eric Chavez, Sandra Quinn, Rose Chang, Carri Boothe 

Non-Council Members: Cecelio Alvarez, James Salmen, Carol Achziger, Rob Stiner, Dawn Arge, Karen Pierce 

Announcements: 

• Faye Caronen is the new Associate Dean of Faculty and Staff Affairs. She will officially start in this position in Fall 2022.  Stephanie Santorico will be serving in this role until Faye starts in the fall.  
• The Executive committee will be meeting with the Dean in December to go over the staff feedback on the CLAS Strategic Plan. If anyone has additional feedback to provide on the plan, please send the edits to Karen Fennell.  
• ​The University Work Culture Survey closes on Friday, November 19th.  

Subcommittee Updates:  

• Professional Development Committee 
  • The committee has created a form for staff to use to apply for professional development funds. 
  • The committee will respond to the applicant within three weeks. 
  • Staff are eligible to receive up to $500.  
  • Considerations will take place on a first come first serve basis.  
  • Staff will only be able to receive funds once per academic year.  
• ​Advocacy: The committee is in the process of highlighting the staff in the CLAS Dean’s notes.  

Rob Stiner: Rob Stiner, the Assistant Dean of Finance and Administration, attend the CLAS Staff Council meeting.  He gave a brief introduction on how he came to work at CU Denver.  After his introduction, there was a discussion with the council and the staff.  

Discussion: 

• Rob is working to breakdown the mentality of once hired in a position the person is stuck there forever with no room for growth.   
• Rob suggested to HR about seeing how they can evaluate these positions to see if there is a way to convert positions to university staff. 
• The goal would also be to create opportunities for departments to evaluate PA positions and determine what type of growth and professional development opportunities may be available.  
• However, switching to exempt may not mean a salary increase. The salary review is ultimately decided by central HR. 
• Sometimes growth may not be possible depending on the needs and demands of the department. 
• There are a lot of free resources in the university system for professional development such as LinkedIn Learning and Coursera. The point of these programs is not to check the box but to enhance and increase one’s skills.  
• For faculty part of their job is researching and learning whereas staff must learn on their own time.   
• One of the staff members suggested that a process be put in place to help support staff with professional development such as a matching program to help with funding.   
• Staff are still having to learn in our positions in order to continue to do our jobs.  
• One way to overcome the culture perspective of staff is by proving to faculty that staff are reliable and competent.  
• Another step is for staff to advocate for themselves and address any issues that arise when they are being treated poorly.  
• The remote work policy is not going to change even post pandemic.   
  • Specific circumstances might change for some jobs, but the policy will not.   
  • There are a lot of things that could impact the flexibility such as a student facing position as opposed to those who may not be student facing.  It also depends on the job duties of certain positions and needs of the department.  
  • Working remotely has worked well for the college.  
  • Work flexibility also depends on what the supervisor expects and needs. Staff are grateful that they are able to have the flexibility. 
  • ​Some are happier working from home and not having to commute.  

Next Meeting: January 18th at 1:00 PM