Carter Henman
UW staff senate voted with no opposition to approve Resolution 216: a Resolution to Establish an Outstanding Supervisor Award.
Wednesday’s meeting was only the second reading of the resolution and was the first opportunity for debate among staff senators.
Whereas bills and resolutions usually only come up for a vote after three readings, Senator Rachel Stevens from the College of Health Sciences moved to suspend the third reading and bring Res. 216 to an early vote.
The resolution was written by Senators Susan Shulz and Cecilia Schlup and is sponsored by Senator Kathy Kirkaldie and President Arron Sullivent.
According to the resolution, “outstanding supervisors are vital to employee morale, productivity and overall job performance.”
The award will be presented annually at Staff Recognition Day, starting in 2016.
Kirkaldie, who serves on the Senate Recognition Committee, said the award recipient will likely receive a gift certificate for a local business, “because then that’s not taxable.”
Senator Thomas, who also serves on the Recognition Committee, said she “felt that’s kind of a weak award.”
“In previous conversations, the Recognition Committee has discussed a monetary award but there’s no source for that,” Stevens said.
Other staff recognition awards, such as ‘Employee of the Year,’ come with substantial monetary rewards. However, none of that money comes out of the Staff Senate’s budget.
“We don’t give anything for the ‘Employee of the Year,’” Stevens said. “There was a donation made by UniWyo and Pacific Power, and they provide those awards for us.”
Senator Elizabeth Traver, member of the Senate Communications Committee, said staff senate could consider seeking donations for a monetary award depending on how supervisors react to the ‘Outstanding Supervisor Award’ as currently instituted.
Sullivent said a special committee met last month to discuss the staff senate recommendation regarding upcoming tuition increases.
“We will be recommending an increase of five percent, versus the proposed four percent increase,” Sullivent said.
The original 4 percent increase would have 1 percent allocated to tenure and promotions, one percent allocated to UW Libraries and IT and two percent allocated to Academic Affairs, Sullivent said.
“We’re asking for an additional one percent for staff to offset increased retirement contributions that are being taken out of our paychecks,” Sullivent said. “It just allows us to break even.”
Senator Heather Earl said a one percent tuition increase was worth approximately half a million dollars.
Staff Senate, Faculty Senate and ASUW will all be presenting their recommendations to the board of trustees when they discuss tuition increases next meeting.
