(This post is adapted from an email announcement from Chancellor Bonnie D. Irwin to the UH Hilo community, Oct. 12, 2022.)
A University of Hawai‘i at Hilo Staff Council is being developed with the nomination and election process of members to institutionalize the council now underway. The UH Hilo Office of the Chancellor is providing initial support for this nomination and subsequent election process. This process is timely because it precedes the development of the UH System Staff Council. All campuses will be represented on the UH System Staff Council via their respective campus Staff Council.
The UH Hilo Staff Council will function in an advisory capacity to the UH Hilo chancellor and administration with the express goal of promoting the general welfare of the university through advocacy, the inclusion of staff perspectives, and providing opportunities to enhance the personal and professional knowledge, skills, and abilities of civil service and administrative, professional and technical (APT) employees.
Representation on the council will be balanced along functional and organizational lines with voting members. Each division should have at least one civil service employee and one APT employee on the council and no more than one casual hire. Here are the numbers:
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- Academic Affairs: four members.
- Student Affairs: four members.
- Administrative Affairs: four members.
- Chancellor’s Unit: two members.
- Staff-At-Large: up to three members (based upon interest to serve and election results).
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Nominations are currently being accepted through Oct. 26. Link to the online nomination form was sent out to the UH Hilo community via email today. Elections will be held in November via google form. Members will be announced by the end of the fall 2022 semester. Members will begin meeting in the spring 2023 semester.
Helpful FAQs
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- What is a university staff council? A group of selected representatives from major divisions of the university. The role of this council is to serve as a body representing the views and needs of all staff throughout campus.
- Why a formal staff council? Direct communication with the chancellor; advisory voice at the UH System level via representatives on UH System Staff Council.
- Why does membership include temporary hires, emergency hires, casual hires, and part-time staff in addition to regular civil service and APT staff? There are many dedicated non-regular staff that have insight on campus operations and also a wealth of knowledge and talent to contribute to a high functioning council.
- Why is it a balanced representation of staff? Data was analyzed to determine membership across the four large units. The chancellor’s unit is the smallest of the four large units and membership reflects that.
- What are the initial actions? Finalize charter; develop bylaws (including terms of elected members); determine frequency of meetings as a council; determine frequency of meetings with the chancellor; host an “assembly” for all UH Hilo staff in later 2023.
- If elected, how long does a member serve in a role? The term will be determined by those elected in finalizing the charter and bylaws.
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Further questions?
Additional questions about the establishment of a staff council or anyone who would like to speak to colleagues serving on the working group may contact the following members that have attended at least two of the monthly discussion meetings: Ashley Magallanes, Blaine Bautista, Catherina Amantiad, Christine Iha, Christopher Wung, Davelyn Cruz, Jacqueline Sales-Iyo, Lai Sha Bugado, Madeline Sehna, Matthew Kalahiki, Raquel Zane, Shelby Iwamoto, Timothy Moore, Veronica Tarleton, and Summer Tawney.
For help with technical problems with the nomination form, contact Lei Kapono via email at lei.kapono@hawaii.edu.
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