A Year of Evolution: Global Staff Advisory Council

By Pamela Oldham
Special to FYI Online

In fall 2001, the University created a formal structure of shared governance and, for the first time, established elected advisory councils representing faculty, students, and staff. This article is the final installment in a series that has highlighted the mission of each council and the progress of UMUC’s shared governance initiative during its inaugural year.

Andrea Hart

Andrea Hart, UMUC’s associate director of Alumni Relations, is accustomed to the challenges and opportunities of creating a collaborative environment within a global organization. Hart came to UMUC in 2000 from a global company, and her previous experience has proved valuable in her role as chair of the Global Staff Advisory Council.

“Just like employees in a global corporation, every UMUC staff member needs to know that they’re a part of the process,” Hart said. “Shared governance fosters collaboration University-wide.”

Hart and the others elected to represent the interests of UMUC’s non-academic staff have spent the past year creating a framework for collaboration among the University’s global community. Although referred to as a staff advisory council, the organization actually consists of four interrelated groups. Each holds specific responsibility for facilitating communications among non-academic staff, a group of employees that provide a wide range of services and expertise critical to fulfilling UMUC’s mission. The council currently represents almost 1,000 staffers around the globe who are classified as exempt personnel.

In recognition of this essential role, staff advisory councils were established in Asia, Europe, and the United States; representatives were elected to serve their regional constituents. These regional councils communicate to and interact with a fourth elected group, the Global Staff Advisory Council (GSAC). The GSAC consists of 29 elected members from all divisions and schools at UMUC—including representatives from each of the regional councils—and directly advises the vice president of Human Resources on personnel and other issues of special interest to UMUC staff.

Hart says the GSAC has focused on organizational issues in its first year, determining its role and crafting, and revising, its bylaws and constitution. She explains that the representatives recognized the need for flexibility and openness to change, based on the needs of their constituents and the challenges faced as a newly formed organization.

“After creating the GSAC bylaws and constitution, we worked on those for the regional councils,” Hart said. “We saw that we needed to adjust the GSAC to be in concert with the regional councils, so we had to make some revisions. We want to remain nimble in this process. We have a big job.”

Being flexible also means holding meetings at hours that suit the needs of the globally dispersed members of the council. The GSAC conducts its face-to-face work via video teleconferences that typically begin at 7 a.m. A WebTycho classroom was established early on to facilitate communications between representatives of the four groups in between meetings. Hart says this approach has worked well.

After establishing the organization’s structure, Hart explains that the first priority for the combined council was to create positive programs for University employees. She is proud of the collaboration between the council and UMUC’s Human Resources Department to identify staff members eligible for the Presidential Awards, which recognize significant accomplishments and contributions by non-academic employees. Recognition for exemplary service includes a top prize of $5,000.

As with the other shared governance councils at UMUC, communications is a key issue in the organization’s second year. Hart says representatives have worked closely with University leadership and that she’s pleased with the group’s progress. She is especially looking forward to launching initiatives, however, that provide an easily accessible means of communication with staffers, one that’s available anywhere, anytime.

“We’re now working with the University’s Communications Department to develop Web site communications,” Hart said. “I’m excited about the possibilities.”

Hart also says the council is developing a mechanism to encourage staffers to bring specific issues to the group’s attention, and that the council will expect proposed solutions to be presented. By establishing a thoughtful process, Hart says, the group will be a more effective voice for its constituency.

“It’s all about participatory management and teamwork,” Hart said. “We can all benefit from our collective knowledge and experience, and that makes the whole organization better and stronger.”