Greater Voice for Staff in University Senate Proposed

Thanks to efforts by the URA, current staff senators, and supportive faculty and students, seats for staff employees may increase from 10 to 14. This will mean that staff employees will have two representatives on each of the senate’s seven standing committees.

The proposal to increase the staff Senate positions to 14 was adopted by the Senate in March, but it won't take effect unless the Board of Governors approves it. Because the Senate's composition is defined in a university policy/regulation, only the Board of Governors can change that.

See Time For Staff Nominations to University Senate

One of the engines behind this proposal was the URA budget survey conducted last year. More than 600 administrative staff participated and expressed concerns about the direction of the university and the priorities behind various budget decisions. This outpouring of comments led the URA to recommend that senate representation be increased for staff to give us a greater voice in policy-making and all aspects of shared governance. The report also called for staff inclusion on the Board of Trustees and Board of Governors, neither of which have staff representation.

This would allow URA to have a greater voice and new opportunities for input on campus issues which we do not negotiate as a union. Special thanks go out to URA New Brunswick Campus VP Kathryn Neal for conducting the survey, and to the hard-working URA members currently serving in the University Senate: Crystal Grant (Newark), Bill Norville (alumni Senator), and Daniel Schantz (Newark).