Annual Report of the Chair
2011 - 2012
David Bringhurst

2011/12 has been a busy year for USAC. The following is a list of some of our accomplishments:

• Submitted updated Charter and new set of bylaws for Administrative approval
• Conducted Staff Town Hall (May 2, 2012) to discuss progress on 2008 staff survey and re-launch initiatives to address recommendations resulting from that survey
• Planned two Staff Development Days (July 22, 2011 and November 30, 2011)
• Worked with administration in the process to create a new evaluation tool
• Got President and Provost to publicly re-affirm the annual performance review requirement
• Continue to work with administration to encourage staff evaluation of supervisors and address other leadership and professional development initiatives for staff
• We Serve U participation in Big Read (November 9, 2011), Boxtops for Education
• Managed President’s Awards for Excellence process
• Successfully elected new members
• Successfully elected  new Chair-elect in wake of Chair-elect’s resignation
• Participated in two OSCHE meetings
• Closely followed the development of the Mission-Driven Budget allocation model
• Publicly commended administration for last year’s raise
• Publicly communicated to staff about benefits changes
• Participated in HR’s “Benefits 101” initiative
• Participated in Provost review process
• Established a new e-mail repository for staff comments
• Created new process for communicating with unclassified staff (w/ help of C&M)
• Met with the administration about campus safety in the aftermath of the events at Penn State. Nothing has been discussed since that meeting in late November / early December.
• Began discussions about a university advisory council
• Brought issue of the lack of communication when Wright Way Policy manual is updated to the administration. No resolution.
• Drafted and discussed bereavement leave policy. Determined not to pursue this since few universities have such a policy.
• Several other CBES initiatives are in process including policies for calamity days, telecommuting, workload, separation rights